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EADS chief Louis Gallois said Tuesday that the European aerospace and defense group pulled out of a “significant” U.S. acquisition at the last moment after the board decided protecting cash is a bigger priority.

Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. was “on the way to send the check” at the close of last year when the board intervened, Gallois said.

“The essential reason was to protect cash,” he said at a news conference at an EADS site in Newport, Wales.

He declined to name the defense company, observation it has since had “odd success” with a bulky order from the Pentagon. The target was not defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp., he said.

EADS had money reserves of 9 billion ($12.05 billion) at the end of last year, and preserving this cash pile is EADS’s “top priority” during the monetary crisis, Gallois said.

“We need this cash to protect the company and we stand in want of this cash to vindicate our customers and sometimes our suppliers” who are struggling to raise funds, he said.

EADS is prepared to increase financing support to customers attached a “cautious” groundwork, through a priority for customers waiting in opposition to lying-in in 2009, he said.

He complained that some banks have been refusing doubt not even whereas level contracts are backed by the agency of government export agencies, and he called on banks who have been “heavily supported by the government” to do their bit in supporting the economy.

To prevent a buildup of inventories, Airbus recently shelved plans to ramp-up production of single-aisle jets and is prepared to further adjust prolongation to meet expected deliveries, he said. Airbus wants to avoid “white tails” — an results term for jets with nowhere to go your way after delayed or canceled orders.

For the flash, EADS has no plans for layoffs, he said. Rival Boeing Co. said last week it plans to cut about 3 percent of its work force, or around 4,500 jobs, as a weakening global economy lowers demand for jetliners.

Gallois made the remarks as duty of his new year’s address to reporters, a French delivery.

Perhaps Gallois’ cardinal toil in 2009 will exist getting the embattled A400M soldiery transport program back on way.

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