on 12 september 2012 it was reported that bae and eads were in discussions regarding a possible merger. in the event of the merger, bae shareholders would own 40 % and eads 60 % of the new enlarged organisation. a key french eads shareholder lagardere asked eads to rethink the proposed merger plan as the conditions were unsatisfactory. the bosses of bae systems and eads issued a joint statement seeking political support for their proposed 35 billion euro (us$45 billion) merger from the british, french and german governments; and reiterated that the combination is borne out of opportunity, not necessity and the new company would be greater than the sum of its parts. it was reported on 10 october 2012, that the merger between bae systems and eads had been called off.