FRENCH CAUTIOUS

French officials were not immediately available to comment on the Spiegel report, but sources familiar with the matter denied that the two sides were in agreement on the shareholding or how their relative interests should be guaranteed.

France has so far been cautious about agreeing to German overtures aimed at forging a common position as both countries defend their interests in the successor to EADS, which has often been a source of tensions since it was set up in 2000.

Analysts say there is little overlap between the two companies, which may be good news for getting past antitrust regulators, but not so encouraging for deriving financial gains.

“The complete lack of apparent synergies is the most worrying part of the deal,” said Agency Partners managing partner Nick Cunningham.

There would be few benefits in purchasing costs since each company is already big and only limited cost synergies since the main project on which they work together, the Eurofighter combat jet, is near the end of its development cycle, he said.

A German government source told Reuters on Friday that Berlin will present France with a list of proposals, agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office and the Economy Ministry, that aim to preserve a balance of power between the two countries in the new company.

France directly owns 15 percent of EADS, the maker of Airbus jets, and wants to retain its right to influence group strategy, currently conducted through a complex pact with 7.5-percent shareholder Lagardere.

Germany is not a direct shareholder but sees the transaction as a chance to tighten its grip on a stake currently held by Daimler AG and a group of banks.

The German source gave no further details, but his comments confirmed a newspaper report on Friday which also said Germany was ready to buy up the shares of Daimler and the banks via the state development bank KfW if France kept its own stake intact.