Potential suitors circle American Airlines

[Mr Eagle]

Potential suitors circle American Airlines: sources
3:12 PM ET 01/12/12

US Airways Group (Symbol : LCC) and private equity firm TPG Capital are among several parties interested in potential bids for AMR Corp , the bankrupt parent of American Airlines, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
These parties have been following AMR's bankruptcy proceedings closely to evaluate a prospect for a merger or tie-up with American Airlines, the sources said.
The sources, however, cautioned that any deal is unlikely to materialize before AMR is close to completing its court restructuring, which could take a year or longer.
The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday that Delta Air Lines & TPG are weighing a separate bid for AMR, and added that Delta hired Blackstone as its financial adviser.
Delta has conducted an antitrust analysis on a possible tie-up with AMR and concluded that with some concessions, such a deal has a good chance of getting approval from regulators, according to the report.
Sources have told Reuters that while some assets such as American Airline's Latin American routes could be attractive to Delta, any takeover attempt for the full company has a remote chance of winning antitrust approval.
Speculation on a possible tie-up with AMR has been rampant since the No. 3 U.S. airline filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in November.
Delta and AMR both characterized the Journal report as "rumors" and "speculation." Blackstone was not immediately available for comment. TPG declined to comment, while U.S. Airways , formed from a 2005 merger with America West Airlines, has consistently declined to comment on its prospects for an AMR merger.
The U.S. airline industry, battered for years by overcapacity and volatile fuel costs, has found renewed stability recently because of capacity cuts and mergers.
Proponents of airline consolidation say mergers are an effective remedy for overcapacity. The most recent merger of major U.S. airlines was in 2010 when United Airlines bought Continental Airlines to form United Continental
In December, AMR Chief Executive Tom Horton warned employees in a letter that "opportunists" could attempt a merger with the airline as it restructures.
"We will have some input in the process from several interested parties, and we need to get used to that," Horton said in the letter.

 

[jimntx]

How many times is this exact same set of rumors from the exact same source going to be posted in a new thread? Does anyone at LCC ever read any of the other posts to see if just possibly someone else has also read the WSJ and posted the information/rumor/speculation before you did? Or, do you all just assume that you are always the first to know, and it is your responsibility to tell the world?

 

[USA320Pilot]

AMR as ‘Last Plum’ Stirs Airline Merger Interest

AMR Corp.'s reorganization in bankruptcy has made the American Airlines parent a possible acquisition target for US Airways Group Inc. and buyout firm TPG Capital in what may be a final round of industry consolidation. TPG, led by David Bonderman, is in the early stages of an evaluation, and US Airways has hired advisers to assess a potential bid, people familiar with the matter said yesterday. Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) is using Blackstone Group LP (BX) to help study options for Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR, one person said.

Click here to read the story.

 

[Mr Eagle]

How many times is this exact same set of rumors from the exact same source going to be posted in a new thread? Does anyone at LCC ever read any of the other posts to see if just possibly someone else has also read the WSJ and posted the information/rumor/speculation before you did? Or, do you all just assume that you are always the first to know, and it is your responsibility to tell the world?

STOP your Rants, Get Back to work your on company time. BEACCCH

 

[USA320Pilot]

Delta-American Might Fly

A merger between American and U.S. Airways — about which speculation began the second American’s parent AMR filed bankruptcy papers — would be more palatable to regulators. The resulting market share, 22%, would be on a par with United Continental and Delta as it now stands. Still, even the possibility that Delta could get a deal done should scare U.S. Airways. At 9% market share, it looks pretty marginal already. Further consolidation without it’s involvement would only make that worse.

Click here to read the story.

 

[USA320Pilot]

Delta-AMR merger wouldn't fly with regulators

A wave of airline mergers that started in 2005 has still left the industry with one airline too many, says airline analyst Ray Neidl of Maxim Group. He tells MarketWatch Radio that the industry could use a Delta/AMR merger, but that regulators would balk at such a deal.

Click here to read the story.

 

[Jester]

Delta-AMR merger wouldn't fly with regulators

A wave of airline mergers that started in 2005 has still left the industry with one airline too many, says airline analyst Ray Neidl of Maxim Group. He tells MarketWatch Radio that the industry could use a Delta/AMR merger, but that regulators would balk at such a deal.

Click here to read the story.

Ray Neidl is probably one of the sharpest guys in the industry who opines publically on such matters. He hedged himself by saying that in AA's current form, a merger would probably not cut regulatory muster, but with some 'carve-outs" a deal may be possible. North Altantic routes would need to be pared back, in particular JFK. In a hypothetical merger the hubs would be LAX, SLC, DFW, ATL, MIA, MSP, DTW, ORD, JFK?

Would SLC and LAX dominate the west coast and mountain region? No, not with UA in SFO, LAX and DEN and SW operations in LAX and DEN.

Would DFW, ATL, and MIA dominate the Southern region? Not likely with US in CLT and SW new hub in ATL.

Would upper midwest be dominated by MSP, DTW and ORD? Maybe, but UA is huge in ORD, and that maybe one of the carve-outs (dump DTW or MSP).

Would the NYC (JFK and LGA) area be dominated by a merger? Not likely with UA in EWR and JB in JFK.

Would the Latin American routes (DFW and MIA) be dominated by a merger? Not likely with UA in IAH.

The big issue will be capacity, which according to Neidl, would be around 40% of the nation's total, and how far would that need to be cut back to make it workable under the Feds? Airlines appear willing to give-up a great deal to get what they want, as the swapping of slots betweeen US and DL with DCA and LGA demonstrated. I think a deal is quite workable actually, and it keeps AA with the idea of "premier" hubs in DFW, ATL, MIA, LAX, JFK, LGA and ORD, as I do not really see the value of what US brings to merger with PHL, CLT and PHX as secondary tier cities.

So Analyzes Jester.

 

[USA320Pilot]

Millstein, Barclays Land US Airways Gig

Click here to read the story.

 

[USA320Pilot]

Delta Deal For American? Fat Chance

A Delta bid, either for all of the airline or some of its assets, would likely involve breaking up the airline. That is the last thing thing American management, and some of the airline's creditors -- particularly labor creditors -- want to see, because significant job losses would almost inevitably result.

In a report issued Friday, Wolfe Trahan analyst Hunter Keay wrote that either Delta or US Airways would benefit from becoming larger in a merger, but he said a deal with US Airways is more likely. Among the reasons he cited: In a Delta merger with American, the threat to Oneworld's existence would be grave and the combined pension plan that resulted would be underfunded by an "oppressive" $15 billion to $20 billion. Additionally, such a merger would create significant overlap in key markets, particularly New York.

Click here to read the story.

 

[AAviator]

TPG+IAG+B6+AS.

You heard it here first.

 

[BoeingBoy]

I know one thing without a doubt - if every article about potential mergers with AA gets posted this thread will be 40-50 pages long before AA finishes writing it's POR....

Jim

 

[JFK Fleet Service]

I think TPG/US + IAG with B6 much later is a more realistic scenario.Given the past "Performance" (To use the term loosely) of the brain trust in DFW,the AS network would be destroyed almost instantly as they tried to get ADK-ORD to work on an Eagle RJ then wonder why customers were fleeing in droves.

AS is happy being a code share wh@re, leave it at that.

 

[nevergiveup]

$5-6 per share, heavy on the east coast, cheap labor, profitable, international routes.......Bernie Madoff makes bid for US Airways from prison!

 

[SparrowHawk]

$5-6 per share, heavy on the east coast, cheap labor, profitable, international routes.......Bernie Madoff makes bid for US Airways from prison!

Nooooo The Airline biz is a suckers bet. Old Bernie rigged the deck thus his imprisonment


You get rich in aviation using other peoples money.

 

[USA320Pilot]

3 Suitors for American Airlines

Merger of LCC and AMR

We see this as the hottest pair in the industry as it would be in the best interest of the customers. Both companies are struggling to remain competitive amid steeply rising fuel prices and a weak travel demand environment. US Airways, the fifth largest U.S. airline, has long-standing problems with its pilot union. Troubles at American Airlines have intensified due to high labor costs and a debt-heavy balance sheet. We believe the AMR-LCC merger deal could change the competitive dynamics of the airline industry. US Airways has been looking for a merger candidate following its bankruptcy protection filing in 2002. The company failed to acquire Delta, when it went bankrupt in 2006. As a result, US Airways might take American Airlines’ bankruptcy as a great opportunity to take over its larger rival.

Click here to read the story.


Passed over by other airlines mergers, American Airlines looks more attractive in bankruptcy

Wolfe Trahan & Co. analyst Hunter Keay put the chances of AMR emerging from bankruptcy as a stand-alone airline at no better than 20 percent. He thinks that with Delta's access to borrowing and US Airway's connections to deep-pocketed TPG, there could even be a bidding war for AMR.

"The combination that makes the most sense is US Airways with American because they both need a bigger presence to appeal to business travelers," said Saranthi Syth, an analyst for Raymond James Financial Inc.

Click here to read the story.