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LOT with Air France-KLM/SkyTeam?
Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Three potential bidders are interested in Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT SA, Poland’s national airline, the Treasury Ministry said, declining to comment on a report of interest from Air France-KLM Group.
The investors include at least one airline and at least one financial group, Maciej Wewior, a spokesman for the ministry, said by phone today, declining to name them. Earlier today the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna newspaper reported, without naming its source, that Air France-KLM is among the bidders.
Poland expects LOT to sell new shares to boost its capital, and the government won’t sell a stake, Deputy Treasury Minister Zdzislaw Gawlik told the newspaper today. It isn’t Poland’s “intention” to keep a majority stake in the company, he said.
LOT is seeking an investor as it strives to regain profitability with new labor contracts, more fuel-efficient flights and better service, Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Mikosz said in August. The company had a net loss of 178 million zloty ($63 million) in the first half of last year.
Jerome Nguyen, a Paris-based spokesman for Air France-KLM, had no immediate comment when reached by phone.
Gawlik told Dziennik that one airline and two financial investors had sent written expressions of interest to Morgan Stanley, which is advising LOT on how to raise capital. He didn’t identify the airline except to say it is not Deutsche Lufthansa AG, LOT’s partner in the Star Alliance airline network, the newspaper reported.
LOT is considering several transactions, including a share sale to another airline or private-equity fund, Mikosz said in August.
off of www.bloomberg.com
So, what does this mean? Could there be a possibility that LOT will indeed leave Star Alliance to go to SkyTeam? I thought that there was a possibility of Lufthansa buying the Polish carrier after its purchase of SWISS, Austrian, and Brussels Airlines.
If LOT is purchased by Air France-KLM, what kind of changes will this bring (in terms of LOT's routing stuctures, service on board, etc)?
The investors include at least one airline and at least one financial group, Maciej Wewior, a spokesman for the ministry, said by phone today, declining to name them. Earlier today the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna newspaper reported, without naming its source, that Air France-KLM is among the bidders.
Poland expects LOT to sell new shares to boost its capital, and the government won’t sell a stake, Deputy Treasury Minister Zdzislaw Gawlik told the newspaper today. It isn’t Poland’s “intention” to keep a majority stake in the company, he said.
LOT is seeking an investor as it strives to regain profitability with new labor contracts, more fuel-efficient flights and better service, Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Mikosz said in August. The company had a net loss of 178 million zloty ($63 million) in the first half of last year.
Jerome Nguyen, a Paris-based spokesman for Air France-KLM, had no immediate comment when reached by phone.
Gawlik told Dziennik that one airline and two financial investors had sent written expressions of interest to Morgan Stanley, which is advising LOT on how to raise capital. He didn’t identify the airline except to say it is not Deutsche Lufthansa AG, LOT’s partner in the Star Alliance airline network, the newspaper reported.
LOT is considering several transactions, including a share sale to another airline or private-equity fund, Mikosz said in August.
off of www.bloomberg.com
So, what does this mean? Could there be a possibility that LOT will indeed leave Star Alliance to go to SkyTeam? I thought that there was a possibility of Lufthansa buying the Polish carrier after its purchase of SWISS, Austrian, and Brussels Airlines.
If LOT is purchased by Air France-KLM, what kind of changes will this bring (in terms of LOT's routing stuctures, service on board, etc)?
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