German-U.S. auto giant DaimlerChrysler announced on Friday that it has sold 7.5 percent of its shares in the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), which produces Airbus planes as well as missiles and fighters.

Under the deal, DaimlerChrysler placed its entire 22.5 percent EADS stake into a new company and a consortium of investors, which include seven private investors and eight public ones.

The world's fifth largest carmaker said that it will retain its present voting rights in the EADS.

DaimlerChrysler will gain 1.5 billion euros (about 1.95 billion U.S. dollars) from the sale to focus on building cars and reorganizing the Chrysler division. The money transaction will be executed in the first quarter of 2007.

The shares of DaimlerChrysler on the Frankfurt stock market went up after the company announced the news.

The German investors, including Allianz, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, and several state banks, were urged by the government to buy the shares. DaimlerChrysler said that the agreement "has been coordinated with the German government."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has insisted that the 7.5-percent stake should remain in German hands and must not be allowed to fall into French or Russian hands.

Source: Xinhua