Reuters reporting Cathay Pacific interest in BA with latter's share price up 4.3%
LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Shares in British Airways (BAY.L:
Quote,
Profile,
Research) jumped 4.3 percent in a weak market on Wednesday on market talk that Cathay Pacific (0293.HK:
Quote,
Profile,
Research) was planning a bid, traders said.
British Airways said it did not comment on rumour and speculation.
British Airways shares were up 5 percent at 148.8 pence by 1529 GMT, the top gainers on the FTSE 100 benchmark
.FTSE, which was down 4.5 percent.
"A bid by Cathay Pacific for British Airways makes sense ... BA has a huge network in Asia that it could just replace with Cathay Pacific's," an analyst said, although a second analyst added that current rules dictate that non-European Union investors cannot own more than 49.9 percent of an EU airline. (Reporting by Sitaraman Shankar and John Bowker; Editing by Paul Bolding)