Lagardere sells EADS stake for ¤2.3bn

French media group Lagardere has sold its 7.4% stake in Airbus parent EADS, starting an overhaul in the ownership of Europe’s leading aircraft maker. Lagardere raised ¤2.3bn through the sale, with EADS spending ¤500m to buy 1.6% of its own shares. Societe Generale, the global co-ordinator and book-runner of the sale along with Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, said 61.1-million EADS shares were placed at ¤37.35 each. The price achieved through the accelerated book-building sales process was at the bottom of the initial range of ¤37.35-¤37.95, said traders, and was at a 3.5% discount to Monday’s closing price of ¤38.71.