15th Mar 2018 06:59
Airbus is GKN's single biggest customer, according to the newspaper.
Melrose - a FTSE 250-listed industrial turnaround firm - on Monday raised its offer for GKN to
Airbus' Chief Operating Officer for commercial aircraft division Tom Williams told the FT that the possible change in ownership at GKN was troubling because a turnaround specialist would be too focused on the short term.
"It would be practically impossible for us to give any new work to GKN under such an ownership model when we don't know who will be the long-term investor," Williams told the FT.
According to the newspaper, Williams did not name Melrose specifically, but it is the only company bidding for GKN, and one person close to Williams said he had serious questions on Melrose's commitment to long-term research and development.
Melrose has rejected allegations that it was a short-term investor. "Melrose manages and invests in its businesses and its customer relationships as if we were to own those businesses for ever," the company told FT.
"We arranged some time ago to talk to Airbus at a very senior level to make exactly these points and this conversation is scheduled to take place very shortly," Melrose said in a statement, according to the FT.
https://www.ft.com/content/291893d0-27a8-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0?emailId=5aa99457768ad90004ebaa65&segmentId=3d08be62-315f-7330-5bbd-af33dc531acb
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