BAE and EADS call off £28bn merger: reaction BAE shareholders need to ask management where they go from herebecause clearly in agreeing to do this merger there was an implicit admission that maybe their focus on defence was perhaps a failed strategy. Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers: One of the surprises is probably that the general feeling was that they were at least looking to increase today's deadline. It was clearly a question of shareholder and political issues and they were insurmountable given the time that we had. EADS were going to have the slightly larger representation in the new company so what they haven't got now is that distraction to the business that they would otherwise have. The market perceived that BAE would get a better part of the deal. It was also mooted that should the deal go ahead it might lead to further consolidation in the sector, which now looks less likely. Ian Waddell, Unite officer for aerospace and shipbuilding: The highly skilled workforces of both companies are the beating heart of British manufacturing. A merger, with a jobs guarantee, would have created a strong new company that could have protected the UK's long term interests. There was an industrial logic to the merger, but national and political interests proved to be the stumbling block. The UK government now needs to strengthen its 'golden share' and send a powerful message that it backs British manufacturing and BAE systems. Etienne de Durand, director of security studies at IFRI: Given the overall context it does not surprise me this failed - it was always going to be a risky project. Franco-German relations were already difficult because on the big issue, notably management of the eurozone crisis, the two sides don't see eye to eye either on the timing or the substance. We see of course that it is Germany that has leadership on political and economic questions in Europe. France is in the pilot's cabin but it has not got its hand on the wheel. And that creates difficulties. The impression you get is that on neither side of the Rhine were politicians very happy with the EADS-BAE tie-up. It seemed to both sides as if they were being taken for a ride by the other.