THREE months of bitter wrangling over who would take control at Europe’s largest aerospace and defence group ended at the weekend as EADS named Thomas Enders and Noël Forgeard as co-chief executives.
Gustav Humbert was appointed chief executive of Airbus, the Toulouse-based jet maker which EADS controls.
The appointments end a protracted period of instability at the aerospace companies as French and German shareholders argued furiously over the succession plan.
Arnaud Lagardère and Manfred Bischoff, EADS co-chairmen, had been acting as interim chief executives after a board meeting in May declined to endorse the appointments of Herr Enders and M Forgeard, who remained as chief executive of Airbus until Saturday.
Concerns over the balance of power at EADS prompted DaimlerChrysler, a holder of 30.07 per cent of the shares, to refuse to allow M Forgeard to combine his Airbus post with that of EADS co-chief executive until a successor was found.Herr Enders and M Forgeard will immediately become co-chief executives for five years.