Airbus Group NV purchases Salzburg Bank to aid sales

Airbus Group NV announced that it is making plans for creating an in-house bank by purchasing a regional lender, following the example of companies such as Daimler AG and Siemens AG which provide their customers with financial services.

Airbus Group NV made an official statement today, revealing that it will acquire Salzburg Muenchen Bank from the Raiffeisenverband Salzburg cooperative. The company did not give any details about the price of the agreement, but it said that it is trying to finalize the deal “as early as possible” this year.

This is how Airbus Group NV, the worlds second-largest plane manufacturer, joins the group of some other industrial companies such as for example General Electric Co., which have a banking affiliate to help and encourage customer purchases. After the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008, some airlines were struggling to raise funding as bank lending tightened.

Harald Wilhelm, who is the Chief Financial Officer of Airbus Group NV, said for Bloomberg: “In the coming years the whole group can benefit through increased financing flexibility. Salzburg Muenchen Bank provides us with a good platform to launch our company bank project.”

Obtaining such a banking license would grant the company access to European Central Bank money supply. The project of setting up a bank has been considered by Airbus Group NV, previously called European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co., for more than a year now.

The company commented in its statement, which was cited by Bloomberg: “The main purpose is to increase finance flexibility, facilitate financing of non-controlled joint ventures and offer attractive conditions based on the Airbus Group rating.”

Airbus revealed that the new organization will be renamed to Airbus Group Bank and it will serve all units, including the helicopter and defence subsidiaries.

As reported by Bloomberg, the company also said that while it will gain the capability to tap ECB funds, it has “no need” to do so. The connections of Airbus with different financial institutions has become stronger, while the company is trying to protect itself from the disturbed balance between the dollar and the Euro.

Airbus Group NVs shares rose by 2.07% in Paris by 12:24 GMT to 53.21 EUR, marking a market capitalization of 41.33 billion euros.