BIG investors in BAE Systems are urging the defence contractor to pursue legal action after production delays in Airbus drastically cut the value of BAE’s 20 per cent stake in the aircraft builder.

The shareholders are understood to be furious that BAE was not told of delays to Airbus’s A380 flagship project until the day before EADS, Airbus’s parent company, made a public announcement.

The delays have been blamed for Sunday’s valuation of BAE’s Airbus stake at €2.75 billion (£1.9 billion), well below the price that the defence contractor had hoped to achieve from a sale of the holding.

The threat of legal action against EADS, which owns the remaining 80 per cent of Airbus, comes as the Franco-German aerospace group continues to reel from the scandal of the A380 superjumbo delays. EADS has shed more than a quarter of its market value, and lost its co-chief executive, Noël Forgeard, and the head of Airbus, Gustav Humbert.

BAE saw its own shares fall by 3 per cent yesterday after the poor valuation. A source close to the company believes that it will use the fact that it was left out of the loop on the A380 problems as the basis of legal action against EADS — a move that many in the City see as inevitable. The threat of a lawsuit could also be used to force EADS to pay more for the BAE stake.

The A380 delays, announced just seven days after BAE decided to sell its stake, will cost Airbus at least €500 million. The damage may worsen if customers demand compensation or cancel orders.

Andrew Gollan, analyst for Numis Securities, said: “It seems that BAE has been somewhat kept in the dark, and as a 20 per cent shareholder and board member that is a bit bizarre. Legal action may be used to force an increased payment, or EADS could agree to pay more.”

Rothschild was asked to determine a fair value for Airbus after BAE and EADS failed to agree a price. Both BAE and EADS have been surprised by the low valuation. Most analysts were predicting a price above €4 billion.

Rothschild’s valuation gives Airbus a market capitalisation of €13.75 billion, which is a 32 per cent discount to EADS’s current share price of €22.28. As Airbus represents the vast majority of EADS’s business, analysts have asked whether Rothschild is undervaluing the jet builder.

BAE’s board is expected to meet in the next few days to decide whether to recommend the sale to shareholders. Many analysts expect BAE to press on despite the low valuation. Some institutional shareholders are understood to be unhappy about selling at such a low price and may vote against a sale. Other shareholders are keen to get out of Airbus before the Toulouse-based company asks investors for funding for its proposed A350 project.

The low sale price will have implications for BAE’s ambitions. The group had hoped to use its Airbus proceeds to return cash to shareholders in the form of a buyback and also make acquisitions.

A share buyback is now highly unlikely, but acquisitions remain probable. Analysts point to a potential $1 billion (£540 million) bid for Computer Sciences in the US.

BAE declined to comment on the prospect of legal action against EADS.

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