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Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Jim Cunningham (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 22 October 2012 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

BAE Systems/EADS Merger

Question

I first pay tribute to the former Minister with responsibility for procurement. When we had problems and needed meetings to resolve difficulties, he was one of the very first to arrange such meetings. We never had a problem. Having said that, why did the Secretary of State not take into consideration the

shareholding issues experienced by BAE and its associates? Does he not understand that this has caused a lot of unease among them?

Answer

I am not quite sure what the hon. Gentleman means by saying that I did not take account of shareholding issues. The Government made it clear that we understood the reasons why the companies were attracted to a possible merger and that we were willing to listen to the arguments for it, subject to setting out clear red lines about the UK’s national interest with regard to national security, our technology base and protecting jobs. It subsequently became clear that the UK’s red lines could not be satisfied while simultaneously satisfying those of the French and German Governments. It also became clear—I think that this is the point of the hon. Gentleman’s question—that not all the shareholders on either side of the transaction were satisfied that it made sense.

Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
551 c681 
Session
2012-13
Oral question type
1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Mergers BAE Systems EADS
Link
View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk