Talks over a European supermerger between EADS and BAE Systems reached a political crunch point on Friday as Britain, France and Germany attempted to narrow differences on a $45 billion proposal to create the world's largest aerospace and arms group.
Europe's two largest aerospace groups headed into the weekend with the fate of their planned merger hinging on a high-level accord over state shareholdings in the group. Time is running out before a UK deadline of October 10 for a deal. EADS and BAE denied a report by Germany's Der Spiegel magazine that the talks had collapsed. "We have been informed by the governments about the status of the discussions, but in no way have we been told that the deal is off," a spokesman for Airbus parent EADS said.
"We continue to work towards the October 10 deadline that we have been given by the UK government," he added. Der Spiegel reported in its online edition that Britain, France and Germany, whose approval is necessary for the record aerospace merger to go ahead, had failed to agree.
A French government source described the report as "unfounded". German officials declined to comment. A number of potential stumbling blocks have emerged since the proposed tie-up was announced last month. These include conflicting political interests in Britain, France and Germany, as well as some shareholders' dissatisfaction with the terms.