The French government said Friday it has raised €707 million from the sale of part of its shareholding in Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., the latest step in the simplification of the aero-defence group's ownership structure, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The French government sold 17.6 million shares, equivalent to 2.1% of the group's share capital. The sale was handled by Swiss bank UBS at around €40.17 per share - a premium to the price of recent placements of EADS stock - amid strong institutional demand, said a trader in Frankfurt.
The government had earlier sold a 1.56% holding in the company to EADS itself, raising €482.7 million, taking the total proceeds the government's sale of EADS shares to €1.19 billion.
"These two operations…are part of the active management of the state's investments aimed at protecting the patrimonial and strategic interests of the state while freeing up financial resources for promising new sectors of economic development," the French Finance Ministry said in a statement.
The move is part of a pact sealed in December in which Paris and Berlin agreed to eventually hold 12% of EADS each as private-sector shareholders Lagardère SCA and Daimler AG exited the company. EADS says the shift allows the company to revamp its governance and limit government involvement.
EADS, benefiting from booming demand for its Airbus passenger jets, also bought a 1.95% stake in itself out of the shares Daimler sold as part of a wider share-buyback program worth up to €3.75 billion.
By next year, EADS has said it hopes to have 72% of its shares trade on stock markets, compared with a free float of below 50% in early December.
Read more of this report from The Wall Street Journal.