Edouard Eltvedt named head of corporate legal affairs at Airbus

Corporate law, stock markets, M&A, antitrust, restructuring, insurance law, real estate and governance: these are the issues that will tax Eltvedt and his team of 30 lawyers in the months and years to come.

Eltvedt has an exemplary in-house pedigree, and was in charge of M&A matters at Europe’s largest aerospace company from 2015 to 2017. He was then tapped by Harrison, Airbus’ general counsel, to help co-ordinate the company’s legal response, after it became embroiled in an international corruption investigation in 2016, which saw the company agree to pay $4 billion in damages after lengthy court proceedings.

Having earned his wings, Eltvedt now switches floors at Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse, France, where the majority of the legal team are based, aside from a small team of German-based real estate specialists.

As vice president of special projects, Eltvedt led a project with Bombardier to engage in a joint venture with regards to the Canadian aircraft manufacturer’s C-Series aircraft

As befits a major manufacturer of commercial aircraft, Airbus has a jumbo-sized legal team with no less than nine separate divisions, each under Harrison’s supervision who, in addition to being the top legal official at Airbus, is chairman of Airbus UK and a member of the executive committee. Other division heads include: Clarisse Derré (governance); Bertrand Milhiet (M&A and real-estate law); Laura Bellvert (competition law); Baudouin de Cidrac (corporate).

Speaking to Leaders League, the former Hogan Lovells and Gibson Dunn lawyer stated, “I have the privilege of getting to work with a team that I know well, and with whom I have carried out numerous projects in my previous functions at Airbus. It is an exceptional team, brimming with expertise. We have a vast remit, but will work closely on each subject and discuss them on a regular basis.”

When Eltvedt was vice president of special projects at Airbus, he led the project with Bombardier to engage in a joint venture with regards to the Canadian aircraft manufacturer’s C-Series aircraft, which saw the Bombardier-designed aircraft join the Airbus fleet as the A220, a move Aviation Week magazine called, “both the deal of the century for [Airbus] and a lifeline for Bombardier.”

In his new role, Eltvedt will be handling cases related to securing the supply of titanium and the group’s investments in decarbonization.