AFAIK they agreed to buy the BMI group, encompassing Mainline, Baby and Regional, less whatever Lufty could dispose of seperately.
Not really. The preliminary negotiation was ONLY for BMI mainline as neither BMI Baby nor Regional were compatible with the BA route structure. Also the only 'tradeable' assets that the BMI group contained were the slots.
The original agreement for £178 million was ONLY for BMI Mainline. The agreement between LH and IAG was that LH would dispose of/sell both Regional AND Baby. This they failed to do thus the cost of the acquisition was reduced as a penalty for leaving IAG the responsibility of disposing of Baby and Regional.
There was no 'hoodwinking' going on but people seem to think that IAG have some innate responsibility to protect jobs in two companies that LH threw to the wolves.