Daimler Quells Rumors of EADS Selloff
NEW YORK (
) -- German automaker
Daimler
( DAI) has confirmed that it won't be exercising an option to reduce its stake in
European Aeronautic Defence & Space
(EADS), amid rumors that it would sell off a stake in the troubled company, helping to keep a sensitive balance of voting rights between German and French shareholders.
As a result, Daimler would continue to hold 22.5% of the voting rights in EADS, with an economic interest of 15%.
"The confirmation of the voting-rights structure gives EADS the stability to consistently pursue its strategic goals. Ten years after EADS was founded, Daimler still plays a crucial role in the continuation of this success story of European integration," Bodo Uebber, board member of Daimler AG and board chairman of EADS, said in a statement.
In 2007, Daimler placed its entire 22.5% equity interest in EADS into a company in which an investor consortium holds a one-third interest through a special purpose entity. This is equivalent to the investor consortium holding a 7.5% equity interest in EADS. Currently the investor consortium consists of 15 public and private sector investors, which include
Credit Suisse
(CS) - Get Report
,
Deutsche Bank
(DB) - Get Report
and
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
among others.
Daimler stock is down 1.2% at $46.60, while peer
Toyota
(TM) - Get Report
has edged 0.2% lower to $78.60.
Ford
(F) - Get Report
has plunged 4.2% to $13.20.
Ford recently made the top ten in the J.D. Power 2010 dependability study. Seven of the 10 models with the lowest incidence of problems in the industry are made by Ford and
General Motors
, J.D. Power said.
-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York
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