PARIS (Reuters) - Lagardere (LAGA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the French media company which shares control of Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), may exit the aerospace group over the next five years but there is no deadline for a sale, its finance chief said.
Lagardere technically owns 15 percent of EADS, whose fortunes have dwindled in the past year due to A380 superjumbo delays, but is in the process of halving its stake to 7.5 percent.
"Our strategy is to divest the minority stakes we own in EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) or Canal+ (VIV.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), maybe one day: that's the long-term strategy. It is also to own 100 percent of the business we control," Lagardere Chief Financial Officer Dominique D'Hinnin told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit on Tuesday.
Asked how he defined long-term, he said, "In five years, something like that".
Asked whether Lagardere could therefore own no EADS shares in five years' time, he said, "That is a possibility, (but) it is not a deadline".
D'Hinnin said EADS stock was "cheap" at current prices but reaffirmed Lagardere did not plan to take part in any future capital increase of the company.
EADS failed to agree on a capital increase ahead of a shareholders' meeting earlier this month, after Lagardere's fellow German strategic shareholder DaimlerChrysler DCXGn.DE objected to the idea of the French state picking up some of Lagardere's stake, sources close to the company have said.
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