IAG, British Airways & Niki

Old Dec 1, 2017, 12:51 am
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IAG, British Airways & Niki

Dear all,
I just saw the following article in the online version of the Berlin newspaper B.Z.:
https://www.bz-berlin.de/berlin/uebe...n-tochter-niki
The title (and the story) says something along the lines of that IAG / British Airways are interesting in purchasing Air Niki.
Does anyone here have more information?
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Old Dec 1, 2017, 1:28 am
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IAG did bid for Niki during the AB carve up, but LH’s wider bid was preferred. It’s not impossible that LH will reshape Niki and then sell the bits it doesn’t want, but I would guess the press are reporting old news rather than new developments.

EDIT: Apologies - it does look like new news. LH are supposedly trying to strong arm the EU to reduce the competition concessions they have to make by suggesting the alternative is that they’ll let Niki go bust. But IAG are lobbying behind the scenes to suggest they maybe an alternative: an alternative buyer of Niki. Could be a useful set of circumstances for IAG, or they could just be trying to weaken LH’s position.

Last edited by pauldb; Dec 1, 2017 at 1:40 am
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Old Dec 1, 2017, 1:37 am
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Originally Posted by pauldb
IAG did bid for Niki during the AB carve up, but LH’s wider bid was preferred. It’s not impossible that LH will reshape Niki and then sell the bits it doesn’t want, but I would guess the press are reporting old news rather than new developments.
The new development is, that the European Commission is investigating wether LH should really be allowed to buy Niki. But even if the Commission will rule against LH buying Niki for anti trust reasons, there are more potential buyers e.g. Condor/Thomas Cook.
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Old Dec 1, 2017, 3:42 am
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Niki Lauda has teamed up with Thomas Cook for a renewed bid, as it's looking increasingly difficult for the anti-competition authorities to wave this one through for Lufty.

I would expect IAG to be making representations too, but the Lufty argument about Niki going bust looks to be highly dubious.
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Old Dec 19, 2017, 2:56 pm
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...-idUSKBN1ED179

Sources told Reuters that British Airways parent IAG (ICAG.L) was once again interested in Niki.
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Old Dec 19, 2017, 4:38 pm
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Originally Posted by BApilotinsider
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...-idUSKBN1ED179

Sources told Reuters that British Airways parent IAG (ICAG.L) was once again interested in Niki.
Unfortunately, LH has secured the leases on many Niki aircraft which kicked in when Niki filed for bankruptcy. Caused by LH, of course, so actually quite convenient. One could be forgiven for thinking this was LH's intention all along, or at least one of the planned outcomes of their game of poker with the EU authorities. German domestic fares have radically increased since LH has regained their near monopoly and it must be a real opportunity for an IAG airline (not BA since they're leaving the EU) to serve that lucrative market. EZ and FR do not seem to have the appetite.
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Old Dec 19, 2017, 5:53 pm
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Just for fun, let us re read the thread I posted back in 2014

should BA buy Niki?
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Old Dec 19, 2017, 11:32 pm
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It would certainly shake up the market a bit, but I recall BA Deutschland was not a roaring success, still a LCC with lots of codeshare flights to IAG hubs could I would have thought be viable.
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Old Dec 23, 2017, 8:35 am
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BERLIN (Reuters) - IAG (ICAG.L), the owner of British Airways and low-cost carrier Vueling, is one of the four bidders selected for the final stages of talks over the assets of insolvent Austrian airline Niki, three people familiar said.

IAG had made an offer for Niki as a whole and was the frontrunner in talks for the carrier, the three sources told Reuters. If no deal is struck with IAG, it is possible that Niki will be carved up among several buyers.

British tour operator Thomas Cook (TCG.L) and Niki’s founder, former Formula One world champion Niki Lauda, are also among the four, Lauda told German daily Handelsblatt.

The administrators running the process aim to agree a deal by the end of next week, one of the administrators said on Friday. They did not confirm the identity of the bidders.

Last edited by Prospero; Dec 29, 2017 at 8:49 am Reason: reduced extent of quoted copyrighted material, in accordance with FT Rules
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 6:50 am
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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - British Airways owner IAG (ICAG.L) is negotiating exclusively with Niki’s insolvency administrator to take over the collapsed Austrian airline, a source close to the process said on Thursday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...siness+News%29

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Old Dec 28, 2017, 6:57 am
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Very interesting indeed. Niki seemed to be a bit of a leisure carrier, with a view business routes (like ZUR) thrown in. I wonder what the attractiveness is for IAG? Slots?
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 7:19 am
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According to speculation in German media Niki will be merged with Vueling.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 8:21 am
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Because of the degree of monopoly power LH group exerts the German market is very lucrative, so those routes are valuable to a company who can compete with them. Interesting move for IAG, but I suppose these opportunities don't come along very often.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 9:16 am
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Will be interesting price negotiations now that Lufthansa have sullied the Niki brand by grounding it. Guess that will play into IAG's hands to drive down the price?
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 9:43 am
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I'd love to see Niki come back, then I would have an alternative to LX on ZRH-VIE. Though, perhaps it would be more realistic that VY would end up taking the routes that Niki had?
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