Official: France not worried about EADS-BAE merger

PARIS (AP) — A French official says France's government is working out a common position with Germany on the proposed merger between Franco-German aerospace group EADS and Britain's BAE Systems.

France and Germany have long fought for an equal say in EADS, which owns plane maker Airbus. Germany's Daimler holds a 22.5 percent stake in EADS, the French government owns 15 percent and French media company Lagardere has 7.5 percent. Lagardere had complained earlier this week that it felt the merger was not in its interest.

But on Wednesday, an official familiar with the negotiations said the deal had great potential and the government wasn't worried about the talks' prospects. He would only speak anonymously to discuss sensitive negotiations.