PARIS
Zodiac Aerospace’s board has accepted a 15 per cent cut in a takeover offer from aero engine maker Safran to create the world’s third largest aerospace supplier after a string of profit warnings from the aircraft seat maker.
The joint announcement follows weeks in which conflicting movements in share prices weakened Safran’s original $9 billion offer and keeps alive plans to forge a major new French supplier to plane makers such as Airbus and Boeing.
Safran cut its offer by $1.3 billion to $7.7 billion to reflect the change in Zodiac’s fortunes but said it was confident of resolving its problems after visiting its plants, including a British factory blamed for the latest profit downgrade.
