Irish, German firms take EADS to Dutch court
(THE HAGUE) - Two investment companies, Irish and German, asked a Dutch court on Thursday for a probe into the running of European aerospace giant EADS over delays in its plane delivery schedule.
"It is our position that EADS misled the market or was late to inform it of significant delays in the delivery of the A380," Flip Wijers, a lawyer for EADS shareholder Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM), told AFP.
As a result of those delays and again with the troubled A400M military transport plane programme, shareholders in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), mother company of Airbus, suffered heavy losses.
"We believe that, when as a company every new model you introduce experiences two-to-three year delays, something is wrong with your management," said Wijers.
"We requested the court to look into the affairs of EADS for the time period that relates to delays in the A380 and A400M."
ILIM and Germany's Deka Investment argued their separate applications before the companies tribunal in Amsterdam for "an investigation to be ordered into the policies and state of affairs at EADS," a court spokesman confirmed.
A ruling in the matter could take several weeks. EADS is registerd as a company in the Netherlands.
According to Wijers, EADS stocks fell 26 percent on the day in June 2006 that the company announced delays in its A380 delivery.
If the court bid succeeds and a probe finds wrongdoing, his client could then ask for a finding that EADS was mismanaged and follow with a damages suit, the lawyer added.
ILIM manages assets on behalf of multinational corporations, charities and domestic companies.
Deka Investment is a Frankfurt-based privately owned investment manager with savings banks, insurance companies and pension funds as clients.
An independent report on the Airbus A400M project laid blame last week for delays and cost overruns with directors of EADS.
The company has asked the seven countries that ordered the plane to cover 6.4 billion euros (9.0 billion dollars) in unanticipated costs.
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