About

Airbus is one of the most prominent companies in the aerospace and defence sectors, operating a number of companies that produce aircraft, spacecraft and associated systems for the military and civil markets worldwide. However, it is airline products and aircraft that the company is perhaps best known for and Airbus now boasts a roughly 50-50 split with American giant Boeing for the incredibly lucrative global airliner market. John Harrison, group general counsel and corporate secretary, is the most senior lawyer within Airbus’ ranks and presides over a large legal team of around 400 individuals, having successfully transformed it from being purely a legal department to one also dealing with compliance for the group. The group legal department had a busy 2016, handling two of the five largest transactions in the aerospace and defence sector, and some of the most high-profile of the entire business calendar. Firstly, the team successfully supported the business in monetising its 23% stake in Dassault Aviation for €2.38bn. Secondly, it sold its Defence Electronics activities to KKR for a value of approximately €1.1bn. These significant sums provided new strategic options for the business to invest in new areas. In addition, Airbus further placed $1.5bn in US dollar bonds in April 2017 with proceeds to be used for general corporate purposes. Head of corporate affairs David Zakin and head of mergers and acquisitions Edouard Eltvedt are also particularly proud of the group’s role in successfully producing a joint venture (JV) with Safran, to create Airbus Safran Launchers. This JV will produce the Ariane 6 launch vehicle and maintains ‘Europe’s independent access to Space’, according to Zakin. He sums up the corporate culture at Airbus extremely positively: ‘Excellence, the ability to succeed in a competitive environment and high performance are expected from everyone. The team understands the financial aspects of the company’s operations and contributes to these financial objectives. Team spirit and ethics are prioritised, and contribution to innovation and the simplification of processes are at the heart of all that we do’. Zakin describes how Harrison’s presence on the executive committee ‘shows the importance of legal and compliance within the organisation. The legal team at Airbus has a direct influence on business matters and corporate governance best practices’, he says.