The main private shareholders at European aerospace firm EADS have reached a deal to appoint a German as the company's sole CEO, the International Herald Tribune newspaper said on Saturday.
Quoting people with knowledge of the negotiations, the IHT said the deal to streamline the group's dual French-German management structure would give DaimlerChrysler, the main German shareholder, and the right to name the chief executive.
EADS has been plagued by disagreements between French and German shareholders, politicians and staff over output delays at its airplane unit Airbus, and new French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been pushing for changes at the group. "The accord is likely to result in the appointment of the current German co-chief executive, Thomas Enders, as sole president and chief executive of EADS," the IHT said.
In a separate report on Saturday, the Financial Times said Berlin had made securing the top job at EADS for Enders a condition for any agreement with Paris over simplifying power-sharing rules at the company.