Deciphering the Forgeard-speak

Deciphering the Forgeard-speak

One of the best bits about listening to EADS's French co-chief executive is deciphering the Forgeard-speak. Unlike most grey CEOs, Noel Forgeard is a man who says what he thinks...sort of - his gargantuan ego and impish personality doing battle with his need to toe the corporate line. At a new year lunch for the press in Paris yesterday, his first as boss of EADS, rather than Airbus, he was in vintage form, more or less admitting that he is still pushing for a merger with Thales. \"Off the record,\" he told the audience of about 100 scribbling hacks, and referring to an interview he gave last year about Thales' suitability as a merger partner, \"I don't usually change my mind.\" On his relationship with his German co-chief executive Tom Enders, Forgeard made no bones about the fact that he thinks he should have been given the job as sole boss of the European company. \"Seeking consensus on every issue is hard, he said. \" But Tom and myself have been appointed for five years and we get on very well, even though he is more of an Anglo-Saxon, with a very different background to me. We talk to eachother every day.\" EADS co-CEOs in daily communication shock! Despite having to share the crown with Enders, Forgeard did well out of the EADS succession and has the air of a man pleased with life. One of France's leading industrialists, he has the ear now more than ever of the country's politicians. Although his deputy at Airbus now runs the airframer, few doubt who still pulls the strings on the big decisions. He also is the \"face\" for EADS's defence and homeland security activities in France. If he steers through a merger with Thales - and my guess is that it will happen this year - it will leave EADS, directly or indirectly, as the dominant defence company in Europe's three biggest markets: France, Germany and the UK. It will also create a more horizontally-integrated Airbus, thanks to Thales' avionics business (although this is likely to worry competition authorities). Forgeard may have pointedly said that a Thales merger \"is not a topical issue today - on 9 January\", but his insistence that EADS managers had been instructed not to comment on the matter keeps the rumour mill turning.