July 10, 2000: While critics thought the three-way defense maker merger that formed European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. would have never got off the ground because of nationalism and antitrust concerns, EADS like Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose not only flew but even launched a successful IPO. EADS offered 144.8 million shares at €19 a share valuing the new company at €15.3 billion ($14.5 billion). EADS was formed by the merger of Germany's DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG, Aerospatiale Matra of France and Spain's Construcciones Aeronauticas SA. Of course, today's EADS is lagging in part because of its involvement in AirBus, which itself has a Spruce Goose in the works it calls the A380.—Matthew Wurtzel
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