22 Mar 13. Sweeping corporate changes being planned at European aerospace group EADS (EAD.PA) will take effect in the first few days of April rather than immediately following a March 27 shareholder meeting, a company spokesman said on Thursday. The pause of several days is needed to ensure changes in the shareholder structure are formally approved by the Dutch company registrar, which is closed over Easter. Only when this has taken place will the appointment of a new board formally take effect, which means investors are unlikely to hear the keenly awaited details about plans for a share buyback until the first week of April at the earliest. The extraordinary general meeting will vote on new articles of association, the authorizing of a share buyback of up to 15 percent and the composition of a new board expected to be chaired by former Thales chief executive Denis Ranque. After a decade of Franco-German control under a pact between France and two industrial partners, French media group Lagardere (LAGA.PA) and German carmaker Daimler (DAIGn.DE), EADS is re-inventing itself to allow the industrial shareholders to exit and the German government to take part of Daimler’s stake. The structure boosts the free-market float from 50 percent to 70 percent of the shares and caps combined French, German and Spanish government stakes at 28 percent – below the 30 percent threshold for triggering a mandatory bid. Any government shares above 28 percent will be placed in a foundation granting the governments dividends but no control over the votes.
(Source: Reuters)

21 Mar 13. Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG.A) (NYSE: MOG.B) has acquired Aspen Motion Technologies (Aspen), a subsidiary of Pentair (NYSE: PNR), located in Radford, Virginia. The purchase price is approximately $34m in cash. Aspen, founded in 1996, is a designer and manufacturer of high-performance permanent magnet brushless DC motors, integrated digital controls and motorized impellers for motors. Aspen also specializes in custom motor designs for end product integration and significant product enhancement in a variety of high-performance industrial applications. Revenues for 2012 were approximately $36m. The acquisition is expected to add approximately $20m for the seven months remaining in Moog’s 2013 fiscal year, ending on September 28 and will be neutral to Moog’s 2013 earnings per share due to first year purchase accounting adjustments. (Source: Yahoo!/Marketwire)

20 Mar 13. The Düsseldorf-based Rheinmetall Group has set itself ambitious growth and earnings targets. Under its “Rheinmetall 2015” strategic program, which is primarily focused on internationalization, product innovations and cost, the company intends to expand its leading position in a range of markets on a sustainable basis. From 2015 onwards, the Group also intends to generate average annual sales growth of between 3% and 5% combined with significantly improved profitability. The company will introduce restructuring measures as part of “Rheinmetall 2015” that will impact the income statement for the current fiscal year by between €60 m and €80m. The full saving effects of €55m to €70m each year will become apparent from 2015 onwards. The company also aims to improve free cash flow on a sustainable basis. Furthermore, it intends to continue to exploit opportunities to make acquisitions. The dividend policy followed to date will be maintained, with a payout ratio of at least 30%. As a leading European systems supplier for military technology, Rheinmetall Defence continues to operate in a growth market – even though national defence budgets are increasingly subject to fluctuations. The strategic priority of Rheinmetall is therefore expanding its presence in high-growth regions. The company sees particular potential in markets outside Europe such as in Asia and Australia. Rheinmetall will consolidate its local presence in international growth regions and systematically pursue the internationalization strategy that has