Brussels, 18/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has approved the creation of the Airbus Integrated Company (AIC), company that will pool the assets and activities linked to Airbus by the British BAES and EADS NV, as well as its 100% subsidiaries EADS France, EADS Germany and CASA (Spain). So far, the parties have coordinated their activities relating to Airbus through Airbus Industries, a European Economic Interest Group under French law, created in 1967, and especially responsible for organising the design, development, certification, production, placing on the market and marketing of its commercial aircraft, as well as after-sales assistance. Now, the partners will regroup under a single and homogenous management all activities linked to the Airbus.
In concrete terms, EADS and BAES will respectively hold 80% and 20 % of the shares in the newly created company AIC, the latter itself holding all the shares of the parties' Airbus operating companies, that is to say, those located in France, Germany and Spain, as well as the United Kingdom. From a competition point of view, the operation will have no major effects that could raise problems on the market for product suppliers to airbus programmes, says the Commission.