bhd-lonFLYer
I could see four possible contenders
Lufthansa
Existing Management
Virgin/ Sir Richard Branson
Private Equity
It would be easy to say Lufthansa but like i said their is a limit to what they will be allowed to own in terms of what competition authorities will allow so they will need to make a decision.
Sir MB has made it public knowledge he wants to keep hold of his airline so may try and raise the capital to buy it to secure him 70% plus one share
Sir RB has long said he sees BMI as a good fit for his long haul activities and the prospect of getting hold of those slots at LHR
And an outside is Private Equity which you cant rule out these days, they may play the long game with a view to getting hold of the whole airline to then sell off the slots - but thats a v slim chance.
I doubt BA would be allowed to buy them or buy a stake in them?
The above is only my opinion of possible purchasers but it could be none of those four and someone completely different.
I also have to say i am surprised SAS want to sell off Spanair - i can understand the BMI stake as i dont think it brings in too many benefits apart from codesharing and some shared revenue which could continue and the sale would help to improve SAS's cash flow, but looking at SAS annual report, Spanair has really performed well in the last year and has a very bright future and there seems to have been a raft of routes launched by Spanair to Scandinavia so would have thought its good to keep hold of, but then again if SAS policy is to push its home region it might consider this the best time to sell, i just hope it doesnt get bought out by another spanish airline and merged in!.