BOMBARDIER GIVES FULL CONTROL TO AIRBUS

BOMBARDIER GIVES FULL CONTROL TO AIRBUS -
By Bernard Bujold - 
Bombardier sold 50.01% of its assets in the C SERIES project to Airbus. 
While some are delighted by the rescue of the Quebec company by a European giant, other observers fear the same fate for the jewel in Quebec as that experienced by Alcan ... 
The new limited partnership controlled by Airbus will continue to operate with the Government of Quebec as its third largest shareholder. 
And to circumvent the trade block with the United States, Airbus is committed, once the transaction is completed by the end of the second quarter of 2018, to transform its plant in Mobile, Alabama, into the assembly plant of the C Series. The aircraft that will be assembled there will be considered as US aircraft and will thus be able to escape US countervailing duties. 
The strangest clause of this surprise transaction remains the two options granted to the two largest shareholders of the new limited partnership, Airbus and Bombardier, which they can each exercise at their convenience. Indeed, seven and a half years after completion of the transaction, at the end of 2025, Airbus will have the option of making an offer to acquire all of the shares held by Bombardier in the C Series at fair market value . Conversely, by the end of 2025, Bombardier may require Airbus to redeem its entire interest in the C Series at its fair market value. Beginning in 2023, the 19% interest that Investissement Québec holds in the C Series may be acquired by the limited partnership, and ultimately by Airbus. 
In other words, Bombardier clearly intends to dispose of all its shares in the C Series once the program reaches its alleged full production rate by 2025, leaving Airbus the sole prime contractor for the program. 
SEE STORY THE GAZETTE