I know there is still one day to go, and the regulator hasn't gone pubic yet, but it would seem KLM want out at any price. Maybe even give it away.
From todays 'Times Online'
March 30, 2003
Ryanair cuts Buzz deal by 25%
Frank Fitzgibbon
RYANAIR, Europe’s biggest low-fares airline, will reveal that it has acquired Buzz, the KLM subsidiary, for between €18m and €20m when the deal closes on Tuesday.
This will represent a discount of up to 25% on the €23.9m price mooted when the acquisition was announced at the end of January.
It is understood that the subsequent due diligence process uncovered greater than anticipated losses and higher than expected costs, leading to a reduction in the cash outlay.
The reduction has been accepted by KLM and is not the subject of dispute.
When Ryanair first announced details of the acquisition it annoyed KLM management by claiming that the net cost of the deal was less than €5m.
Ryanair calculated this figure by subtracting the €19m in advance sales that Buzz was carrying in its accounts.
Since then, however, Buzz has taken a decision to refund the entire pre-paid amounts to customers.
Ryanair will still hit the ground running, however, when it relaunches Buzz as part of the Ryanair network on May 1 following a complete closure of the Stansted-based operation in April.
Pre-marketing of the new routes to be developed on the back of the acquisition has netted three months’ worth of sales believed to be more than €20m.
Many of the tickets have been sold at half the rate that Buzz was charging.