(Adds company/CEO quotes, Hollande comment, sources, analystcomment)
* Companies say they have ended talks
* Sources said Germany opposed the $45 billion aerospacemerger
* BAE shares down 0.65 per cent, EADS up 4.4 per cent By Sophie Sassard and Jason Neely
LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - EADS and BAE Systems called offthe world's largest defence and aviation merger on Wednesday,and pinned the blame on Germany for wrecking the $45 billiondeal.
BAE said it had become clear that the interests ofthe French, British and German governments could not bereconciled with each other or with the objectives that BAE andEADS established for the merger.
"BAE Systems and EADS have therefore decided it is in thebest interests of their companies and shareholders to terminatethe discussions and to continue to focus on delivering theirrespective strategies," BAE said in a statement.
Securing such an enormous and complicated cross-border dealin a sector where commercial considerations are typicallytrumped by political, economic and national security concernswas always going to be desperately difficult.
The companies had until 1600 GMT on Wednesday to declaretheir intentions and either scrap the merger, ask Britishregulators for more time or finalise their plans to create agroup employing nearly a quarter of a million people that couldbetter compete with U.S. rival Boeing .
When asked if he had encountered more problems with theGerman than the French government, BAE Chief Executive Ian Kingsaid: "That would be an accurate representation."
A source close to the talks was more emphatic.
"Germany blocked the deal, although all demands from theGerman side were met," the source said, adding:
"Top German negotiator Lars-Hendrik Roeller was the one whoformulated all demands and said no in the end." Roeller isChancellor Angela Merkel's senior economic adviser.
Before the talks collapsed, several sources close to thedeal said Merkel opposed the proposal but they did not know why.
EADS said it was still not clear why Germany had objected.
"No firm reason has been given for the German opposition,"an EADS spokesman said. "I suggest you speak to them."
The German government did not immediately have any comment.
Sources said Germany had wanted parity with France in theshareholding of the new group, plus the basing of some companyheadquarters in the German city of Munich.
"France and the UK agreed that Germany have the samestakeholding as France in the merged group. Separately, vastguarantees were given regarding safeguarding national securityinterests, sites, jobs. The topic of headquarters was beingdiscussed very emotionally, but not an issue big enough to letthe deal fail," a source close to the transaction said.
French President Francois Hollande said the decision to endmerger talks lay with the companies, and his government'sintervention was limited to stating its conditions.
"It was absolutely heading in the right direction," aBritish source familiar with the deal said. "There was verysignificant (British) progress with France. There wasn't thesame progress elsewhere."
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BAE SHARES DOWN, EADS UP
At 1310 GMT BAE shares were down 0.65 percent at 322 pencein London, while EADS shares were up 4.4 percent at 27.225 eurosin Paris.
Brinkmanship is common in European negotiations, andFranco-German-led EADS - whose full title is the EuropeanAeronautic Defence and Space Company - was itself only createdafter talks about its structure collapsed and were resurrectedweeks later.
"It is, of course, a pity we didn't succeed, but I'm glad wetried. I'm sure there will be other challenges we'll tackletogether in the future," said Tom Enders, EADS chief executive.
Sean O'Keefe, chief executive of EADS North America,underscored that EADS remains committed to its goal of expandingits presence in the U.S. defence markets.
"The fact that this did not work its way to completion ...does not mean there will be any slowdown of any effort to lookmore broadly at other opportunities that may come along," hesaid.
The merger had faced growing unease from investors in bothcompanies who complained they were lacking information. Manypeople bought shares in EADS on the strength of its growingAirbus civil unit, rather than its defence ambitions, while BAEinvestors were attracted by its dividend yield.
"While BAE's long-term prospects could still be quiteexcellent, the failed merger will leave the firm much moreexposed to uncertain factors beyond its control, such as majordeclines in the U.S. defence budget and potential losses in anincreasingly competitive international defence market," saidDavid Reeths, director of consulting at defence analyst IHSJane's.
BAE CEO King and Chairman Dick Olver said after the mergertalks ended that the company's dividend policy would continueand that it was not looking for a tie-up with another company.They also said management would be staying in place.
Germany does not currently have a direct stake in EADS, butis represented by industrial ally Daimler AG , whichholds just over 22 percent. France holds an identical stake,split between the state and French publisher Lagardere. Daimler said it still aims to reduce its EADS stakethis year despite the failed merger talks.
The British government holds a golden share in BAE thatallows it to block foreign takeovers.
Adding to the hurdles facing the deal, BAE's largestshareholder, fund manager Invesco Perpetual, with 13.3 percent,had said it was not convinced of the strategic rationale for thecombination.
A source with the Spanish government, which holds a 5.5percent share in EADS, said: "In the short term this guaranteesSpain's stake in EADS from being diluted, but of course a biglong-term opportunity has been lost."
(Additional reporting by Matthias Blamont, Arno Schuetze, PaulTaylor, Andrea Shalal-Esa, Tim Hepher, Mohammed Abbas, KateHolton and Paul Sandle; Writing by Will Waterman, editing byPeter Millership)
((tim.hepher@thomsonreuters.com)(+33 1 49 49 54 52)(ReutersMessaging: tim.hepher.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))
Keywords: EADS BAE/