As expected, EADS signed a €16.6 Bn deal with UK to supply 14refuelling tankers.

The Ministry of Defence told reporters in a news conference that it hadsigned a 27-year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deal with the Air Tanker consortium, whichalso includes Rolls-Royce Group PLC, Cobham, Thales UK and VT Group. EADS itself is toget a 40% share in the sales of the contract. The consortium will supply modified A330s (thesame airplanes that were chosen by the Pentagon a few weeks ago) to replace old Tristarand VC-10 models of the RAF. Indeed, Louis Gallois commented that “this victory furtherdemonstrates the A330 as the platform of choice for the world’s refuel ling fleets and comeson the back of our recent success in the US market”. For the Financial Times, it is indeed afurther boost for the group’s ambition to become the global provider of choice of the tankers.Louis Gallois added that “This award strengthens our ongoing commitment to grow ourbusiness in the UK in the long-term”. The agreement is the result of a complex financialarrangement, signals Le Figaro. This is the largest private financing scheme ever agreed inthe military field, and the RAF will have the possibility to rent the airplanes. Phil Blundell,CEO of the consortium, explained that the deal had taken so long to be sealed because ofdifficulties in securing finance and the complexity of the project. Reaching such agreementturned out to be challenging in the context of financial turmoil, he said. On the whole, thetransaction is expected to create 600 jobs AFX,
AFP, (27/03) Le Figaro Economie, La Tribune, LesEchos, Aujourd’hui en France, Liberation, L’Agefi, Financial Times, Suddeutsche Zeitung