Spirit AeroSystems Strikes Out

Well, so much for the rumors. On Wednesday, board members at Airbus parent company EADS chose three European companies as the preferred bidders for six manufacturing sites -- flying in the face of reports from a German newspaper stating US-based Spirit AeroSystems was likely to be awarded four sites.

In a move likely intended to appease members of the European consortium, the winners were instead divided amongst EADS member states. France's Latecore SA, Germany's MT Aerospace AG and Britain's GKN PLC will be awarded the plants, reports The Associated Press.

"The three partners had better offers commercially and technically, were more aggressive than Spirit in last round of negotiations," said Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath.

The spokesman also insisted politics did not play a role in the choice, and that both Airbus CEO Thomas Enders and EADS chief Louis Gallois signed off on the board's choices.

Details of the sales still need to be worked out. In an official statement, EADS said it hopes to make "substantial progress" on the deals in the first quarter of 2008.

Five of the plants being sold are Airbus sites, while the sixth is part of EADS Defence and Security. The plants employ 7,400 people. One of the Airbus facilities -- Britain's Filton plant -- will be sold off completely, while five other sites (Meault and Saint-Nazaire in France, and Nordenham, Varel and Augsburg in Germany) will be held by joint ventures between EADS and the winning bidders.

As ANN reported, Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper said Sunday Enders considered Spirit AeroSystems the top candidate for four of those sites,  because of its expertise in carbon fiber technology, an important factor in the construction of future models of jets.

Apparently, not so much.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.eads.com