FRANKFURT (AFX) - The German states of Lower Saxony, Bremen and Hamburg are planning to take stakes in EADS to maintain the European aerospace giant's delicate Franco-German balance of power, the dpa news agency reported.
The agency cited Lower Saxony's chief minister Christian Wulff as saying that his state will 'contribute actively' to keeping EADS's Franco-German power structure intact.
It also quoted a spokesman for the Senate of Bremen as saying: 'It's clear, Bremen will take part in a solution just like Lower Saxony and Hamburg'.
Hamburg has already announced it would invest in EADS, dpa said.
A report in yesterday's Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung daily said Lower Saxony will invest 80 mln eur in EADS for a three- or four-year period.
Germany is currently represented in EADS through a 22.5 pct share held by German-US auto giant DaimlerChrysler AG.
French interests are controlled by the holding company Sogeade, which holds 15 pct controlled by the French state, and 15 pct by the media and defence group Lagardere, which also plans to sell 7.5 pct, reducing the French stake to 22.5 pct.
However, DaimlerChrysler wants to reduce its stake to 15 pct, raising the question of what would happen to the 7.5 pct stake being put up for sale.
Earlier this week, a German government spokesman told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that an agreement had finally been reached on the sale of the EADS stake, with a deal to be announced next week or the week after.
According to dpa, it is still unclear how the 7.5 pct stake would be divided between the German states and other investors that may also want to acquire some of the shares.
Previous media reports said that Deutsche Bank AG, Commerzbank AG, KfW Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau and Goldman Sachs are part of a consortium planning to buy the stake. newsdesk@afxnews.com dpa/jfb/cml COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2006. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited