Airbus buys German lender to boost financing options

[PARIS] Airbus Group pressed ahead with post-Lehman plans to acquire its own banking licence, saying that it would buy small German lender Salzburg Muenchen Bank AG to boost its financing options.

The European aerospace group, formerly known as EADS, first disclosed the plans in 2012 after becoming concerned about where to place its large cash pile during the credit crisis.

Owning a banking licence would allow the world's second-largest aerospace group to deposit funds with the European Central Bank, as well as potentially draw on ECB funds.The plan follows in the footsteps of engineering companies such as Siemens, whose banking licenses have allowed it to tap the ECB's low-interest loan programme directly.