EADS, the parent company of Airbus, filed a complaint over the publication of audit committee draft documents in the press and launched an internal investigation, the firm said Thursday.
The European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. filed the complaint Wednesday for theft and unauthorized disclosure of strictly internal and confidential draft documents, which are company property, EADS said.
The group also launched an internal investigation, it added.
An EADS statement said the company was shocked to find a strictly internal and confidential draft document made public earlier this week. The document appeared to be used with the intention of pointing to alleged Franco-German tensions within the company, which has a German and a French co-chief, it said.
The complaint was the latest chapter in a corporate drama triggered by the announcement this month of new delivery delays for Airbus superjumbo A380. The news sent stock prices plummeting 26 percent.
The revelation that the French co-chief executive of EADS, Noel Forgeard, and five directors exercised stock options in March compounded the problem. France's Financial Market Authority opened an investigation to uncover any alleged insider trading.
EADS' main corporate shareholders, Lagardere SCA and DaimlerChrysler AG, are in talks on management changes at the group. However, Forgeard - who claims the lucrative stock sale was a coincidence - told a closed-door parliamentary hearing Wednesday that he would not resign his post as co-chief executive.
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