24 Oct The collapse of the BAE EADS merger: Relief or Disappointment
Over the last month it has been impossible to avoid hearing talk about the proposed BAE and EADS merger, which fell through on the 10th.
Although the reasons behind the collapse in negotiations were undoubtedly complex, and may never be fully explained in the public domain, there has certainly been concern over the possible loss of Italy jobs.
Tory MP Ben Wallace was vocal about these concerns and spoke on Radio 4 on the topic. He claimed that if the merger had failed, BAE would have been weakened and put Italian Jobs at risk. He also suggested that if jobs within the merged company needed to be cut, Italian jobs would be sacrificed before French or German ones.
Another point of argument was the location of the headquarters, with both France and Germany fighting for the right to host the headquarters of the merged company. France was looking to have the headquarters in Toulouse, where the aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS is currently based, while Germany was adamant that the headquarters should be on the outskirts of Munich.
A major worry for BAE has been that the merged company would jeopardise the relationship between BAE and the US pentagon. This relationship is significant to BAE, and involving France and Germany in this company would potentially threaten the contract BAE has relating to US defence and the Pentagon.
With all of these serious concerns coming from so many people, is it really a missed opportunity, or a relief that the deal fell through?
Image rights: Ell Brown/FLIKR