Baby MBO?
 

I think the only manager with any dosh to buy baby would be SMB, trying to get capital venture funds for a MBO in an airline at this time would be like getting Gordon Brown to cut taxes

BA have a lot more competition out of LHR than LH do out of FRA and MUC/HAM for that matter.

HF - Depending upon their timing, and presuming they are prime-time (BMed ones were not prime), they are more valuable to the marginal player than to BA.

Economically, you would value it more to break into Heathrow, than to add to your current holdings if you think about it in a pure academic sense.

Incorrect - they were forced to buy by all accounts, when the put option was exercised.

BMED slots where primetime slots!!

The big winners here are;

Lufthansa, massive market into the UK Heathrow market, people are sick to death of poor service from BA etc. The Germans are well known for their effeciency.

BA, this will clear their way for the AA deal.

Virgin are the big loosers- left out of the game again!

Roll on Lufty!

Thanks for the info.

I was under the impression that the BMI slots suited a shorthaul op more than a longhaul one. Same with the BMed ones, which is why they were generally used on thinner routes.

To be viable and take market share from BA's longhaul operation will need slots at similar times to their current services (generally evening departures eastbound, morning departures westbound, evening for southbound). The question is, how many of these slots are available from BMI?

Anyone know what the state of play is with Lufty SAS takeover?

You may wish to check out some frequent flyer forums. BA is much preferred to LH by the people who know best.

LH dont even have individual screens on their entire Long haul fleet yet.

Can anyone help with clarification?

It was the understanding of many within bmi that SMB had a PUT option that was exercisable in April/May 2008, and that he did not exercise his option ... and that Lufty had a CALL option to be exercised in Dec 08/Jan 09 ... and obviously have.

This is the reason for the deal being completed by end Jan 09.

There is a big difference between Lufty wanting to buy bmi and having to buy bmi

Any one have more info ?

Having flown both LH and BA long haul out of LHR recently BA is by far the most user friendly.

Agreed - BA has always provided an outstanding service.

I flew with them recently LHR-ORD-LHR. Out in Club, back in economy. The service delivery and attitude of the CC was identical (and first rate) on both sectors.

REHEAT.

This deal is happening now. But it was negotiated quite a long time ago-and things were very different then.

IF it was being negotiated now- methinks the numbers would be very different. Not to mention the sentiment.:ooh:

AltFlaps,

The wording of the press release states that LH are 'required' to purchase the shares, their words not mine, that puts the deals in the PUT bracket not the CALL bracket. Otherwise I think we would have seen press release wording such as 'chose to take','obtained' or 'exercised our option to'.

Interesting question this "buy/sell" option

The Lufthansa press release says (In german) "Michael Bishop habe am 10. Oktober 2008 eine Option ausgeübt, die Lufthansa dazu verpflichte, ..."

(My bold) meaning "was required" in other words Bishop exercised his option and effectively forced LH to honour the agreement.

Efficiency maybe, but service, noooo.

SMB exercised his option according to the Lufthansa release.

The German translations provided on here are correct as far as the meaning is concerned.

S.

ueben - German verb to excercise, ausgeueubt ('eu' in place of the umlaut) meaning has exercised.

Sounds like SMB has his cake and is, indeed, now munching it.

Surely the argument about whether it was a "put" or a "call" (it was a "put") is spurious, in the sense that, because the price was effectively fixed at the inception of the deal (give or take inflation indexing), LH will have always been prepared for either option to reach fruition.

Unlike the UK PLC, I'm sure they've put the money aside for that "rainy day".

As for asset-stripping, what assets have bmi got?

Castle Donnington?

:\

If LH wants to establish an ex-LHR long-haul network this will not happen overnight. The ex-LHR market is a mature market with some very strong and well-established players. It takes a long time to launch new routes and build up a presence.

I think the impact on VS is much greater than BA. VS is now effectively isolated. The public statement by VS offering a deal with LH was odd - very unusual for a company to make an approach in such a public manner instead of behind closed doors.

I'm happy to stand corrected but I believe that Donington Hall is owned by SMB not the airline.