New Bed Partners?

[DEFCON4]

Qantas and British Airways may invest in JAL
Thursday, 17 September 2009



In a report from Dallas in The Street it appears that while American Airlines partner, AMR is battling to ensure its continued partnership with troubled Japan Air Lines, other partners in the Oneworld alliance are also considering investing in JAL, with both British Airways and Qantas reportedly potential investors, according to an unknown person familiar with the negotiations between AMR's American Airlines and JAL.

The reports say that in particular, British Airways is "deeply preoccupied" that JAL could partner with the SkyTeam alliance, which includes its rival AirFrance as well as Delta, the person saying, "All of the members of Oneworld, led by American, are profoundly interested in intensifying the relationship with JAL”.

"American Airlines is extraordinarily motivated to maintain a successful partnership with JAL that is more than 10 years old, to keep them in Oneworld and to move forward with more intensive joint operations," the person said, adding, "American will always make an offer superior to whatever Delta wants to do."

A British Airways spokeswoman declined to comment and a Qantas spokesperson was not immediately available.

Financially troubled JAL is seeking to restructure and to raise funding from banks, investment funds and others including airlines.

It wants about $US300 million to $US500 million from an airline partner or partners, as a share of the $US2.7 billion it reportedly needs.

The airline investment is viewed as an industry vote of confidence that would inspire other investors to participate.

JAL has the largest hub at Tokyo Narita, Asia's key airport because of its importance to Japan and its web of connections throughout the continent.



Source = e-Travel Blackboard: J.A.J

[blow.n.gasket]

Must be a real key airport! Might explain why Qantas hardly goes there anymore!:uhoh:

[Eastwest Loco]

Qantas an BA may invest in JAL??

Well, that does put a whole new slant on things!!:E:}

Best all

EWL

[bulstrode]

ALAN Joyce may be in Ireland this weekend to help out the old country, but his team is closely watching events in Tokyo as One World partner American Airlines talks to JAL about a possible merger. Reports yesterday raised the chance that British Airways and Qantas may support the American buyout but any such move is way down the track.
American has plenty of incentive to help JAL, starting with the fact that its arch-rival Delta has already engaged in takeover talks and including the fact the US and Japanese governments are reviewing the air traffic agreements between the two countries.
The official Qantas line is simply that it is not engaged in any merger discussion with any other airline right now. Indeed, Joyce has gone out of his way recently to downplay merger talks, in part of course because the loss-making airline is not exactly flush with cash. But opportunities can arise, which is why Qantas is indeed monitoring events closely.
Qantas's stock price rose 5 per cent yesterday to $2.80, its highest level all year, inspired in part by a rally in US airline stocks on Thursday night and an RBS upgrade of the stock.
RBS analyst Mark Williams put a short-term buy on the stock with a $3.20-a-share price target.

[Going Boeing]

TOKYO, Dec 3, 2009 (AFP) - American Airlines, the oneworld alliance and private equity firm TPG on Thursday offered to invest 1.1 billion dollars in struggling Japan Airlines (JAL).

The US carrier said at a Tokyo press conference that their total financial assistance, including the revenues the investment would generate, would be worth more than 1.8 billion dollars.

In a statement, they said that "the total incremental financial support from American, oneworld and TPG is in excess of 1.8 billion dollars and far exceeds any other available proposition."

JAL, Asia's biggest carrier, has been hovering on the brink of bankruptcy in a crisis blamed on its huge pension costs, mismanagement and the wider aviation industry downturn caused by the worldwide economic slump.

American Airlines and its rival Delta Air Lines have both sought to buy stakes in JAL, which is seeking to restructure under the supervision of the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan.

Delta Air Lines, the world's largest carrier and a member of the SkyTeam group of airlines, has previously announced an offer of a financial package worth more than one billion dollars for JAL.

Delta president Edward Bastian, who was also in Tokyo Thursday, said the company and its global alliance partners are ready to offer third-party additional funds to JAL, Kyodo news agency reported.

"If there was interest by the government in raising more money than that (the one billion dollar package) by introducing outside, third-party investors, we would be happy to support that effort as well," he was quoted as saying.

by Lachlan Carmichael © 2009 AFP

We all remember TPG - they're the bunch of pr1cks who along with Macquarie Bank and Allco would have bought Qantas, burdened it with excessive debt and caused it to fail during the GFC, putting over 30,000 loyal staff out of work. Would have succeeded too except for the insight of two Aussie fund managers and the greed of an American fund manager.

[Taildragger67]

GB,

Agreed on that assessment, but to be fair, weren't they also the crowd which got into Continental and saved it from going under?

Not passing comment on their Qantas tilt, more just saying that they might have a track record of doing ok with struggling carriers (but keep them right away from anything which is actually running (and I say 'running', in contrast to 'being run') reasonably well!).

[moa999]

We all remember TPG - they're the bunch of pr1cks who would have bought Qantas, burdened it with excessive debt and caused it to fail during the GFC, putting over 30,000 loyal staff out of work. Probably wouldn't have lasted to the GFC, when oil neared a ton it would have been close. Then into the hands of the banks (with Allco, TPG and Macquarie walking away) and a government bail out with new equity raised

except for the insight of two Aussie fund managers.
Disagree. The only reason the Aussie fund managers didn't sell was because they thought the price wasn't high enough :rolleyes:. Methinks the oil price spike and the GFC put paid to that idea

and the greed of an American fund manager.
Agreed. Wanted to stay in for a mop up bid yet let the initial stage go through.Unfortunately these sharks probably made money as the qantas share price went uo for a while post bid

[Going Boeing]

TOKYO, Dec 6, 2009 (AFP) - The Japanese government is expected to guarantee about 700 billion yen (7.73 billion dollars) in loans and other funds provided by financial institutions to help ailing Japan Airlines, a report said Sunday.

The government will allocate the funds through the extra budget for the fiscal year to March, which is expected to be approved this week, the Nikkei business daily reported without citing sources.

The loan-guarantee plan is designed to prevent JAL from having to suspend scheduled flights due to a shortage of operating funds, the paper said.

JAL, which last month reported its fourth straight quarterly loss, has been hovering on the brink of bankruptcy in a crisis blamed on the global aviation industry downturn, mismanagement and its huge pension obligations.

The recipient of three government bailouts since 2001, the airline has said it plans thousands of job cuts and a drastic reduction in routes.

It is seeking more public funds as it restructures under the supervision of the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan.

by Jun Kwanwoo © 2009 AFP