EADS Cuts Public Offering Price

European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. said its initial public offering would be priced at $18, below expectations that were trimmed to lure price-sensitive institutional investors. Shares in the aerospace giant are due to start trading today in Madrid, Paris and Frankfurt. It will the first simultaneous stock offering in three European countries. EADS is the product of a corporate merger between France’s Aerospatiale Matra, Germany’s DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and Construcciones Aeronauticas of Spain. It is the world’s third-largest aerospace company, behind Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., with a product line ranging from satellites to fighter jets. It also holds an 80% stake in Airbus Industrie, the European passenger jet consortium, and has made no secret about plans to clip the wings of U.S.-based Boeing with its A3XX super jumbo, the biggest passenger jet ever built. EADS is issuing 144.8 million shares, or 30% of its total shares, raising about $2.6 billion on the three exchanges.