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EADS to Shake Up its Board

Tuesday 26/09/2017 - Source: MSN Money


EADS is expected to announce soon that it has recruited Sir John Parker, chairman of National Grid, the UK electricity and gas transmission group, and Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian steel entrepreneur, as non-executive directors.

The appointments are part of an effort to transform the corporate governance of Europe's leading aerospace and defence group and internationalise the board by reducing the representation of its Franco-German shareholders.

The appointment of Sir John as the first UK board member follows heavy lobbying by the British government, which has been important in funding Airbus.

EADS signed an agreement with the UK government last week as part of its efforts to win more British defence contracts and gain more support for research and development.

The board changes follow a breakthrough reached at the Franco-German summit in July, when Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, and Angela Merkel, German chancellor, agreed to end years of infighting between EADS shareholders.

The system of French and German co-chairmen and chief executives was put in place in 2000 when EADS was formed from the merger of parts of the French, German and Spanish aerospace industries. It has proved unworkable in the past three years with tensions between French and German interests and between the main French shareholders.

The pressures have increased in the face of industrial problems and heavy losses at Airbus.

EADS is expected to hold an extraordinary meeting of shareholders on October 22 to approve the agreement reached between Mr Sarkozy and Ms Merkel, under which there will be a single chairman, Rudiger Grube, DaimlerChrysler corporate development director, and a single chief executive, Louis Gallois.

As part of the pact, DaimlerChrysler and Sogeade are each relinquishing two seats on the board to allow the election of four independent directors.

Apart from the chief executive, there will be no other executive directors. Tom Enders, the German former co-chief executive, has stepped down to become chief executive of Airbus.

It is understood other board members will include Michel Pebereau, the French banker and chairman of BNP Paribas who is already on the board; Dominique d'Hinnin, finance director of Lagardere; Hermann-Josef Lamberti, chief operating officer of Deutsche Bank; and Rolf Bartke, chairman of the supervisory board of Kuka, the German industrial robotics group.


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