Berlin's EADS problem may be taking an interesting turn. The government was quick earlier this month to deny Financial Times reports that it was, however reluctantly, moving toward nationalisation as the way to relieve Mercedes-Benz carmaker Daimler of the burden of owning Germany's 22.46% share of the company behind Airbus and Eurocopter - carefully balanced by exactly 22.46% held by the French state and its proxy, the media group Lagardere.
But now Der Spiegel
says representatives of the Qatari government have been to Berlin to
discuss a purchase by the Gulf state of a 7.5% share, which is,
conveniently enough, the amount held on Daimler's behalf by a consortium
of German banks - who understandably want out of an "investment" that
pays paltry dividends and that they are not free to sell. Sources in
Germany suggest that the meetings have been real, though we have no idea
whether Berlin considers a deal as either desirable or even politically
possible.
The EADS problem is a real one for the German government, though. Daimler won't want to buy those shares back, so Berlin needs to come up with some solution over the next several months. Neither trade nor institutional investors can be found within Germany, so the Qataris may be the only alternative to nationalisation, which is strongly opposed on ideological grounds by some partners in Germany's governing coalition.
Unfortunately, one key reason that Berlin and Paris opted to control nearly half of EADS when they formed the company a decade ago out of national aerospace champions was to prevent foreign takeover of a European strategic asset. So, even if the Germans decide that Qatar's offer looks attractive, they may struggle to convince the French to permit such a sale. Surely, Qatar would expect to see investment in its own nascent aerospace industry in exchange for its investment.
However it works out, full marks to Der Spiegel for summing up the situation perfectly. The strapline over its story reads: Industrial Politics.
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