Iberia considers other options to BA merger
05.06.09
Iberia has not ruled out a merger with Air France or Lufthansa rather than its planned partner British Airways, Reuters reports that its finance director said yesterday. Whether the comments were part of a negotiating ploy, with talks between BA and Iberia set to take place this week or next, time will tell.
Enrique Dupuy, told journalists that Iberia had not had contact with either the French or German groups regarding a merger, but it had carried out a detailed analysis of a tie-up with both, and he said the results were encouraging. He said: ‘A merger with BA is a good fit for Iberia, but a merger with Lufthansa or Air France would be quite a good fit as well. We have spent a lot of time examining these alternatives, and of course they are not ruled out.'
The planned merger of Iberia and BA, first announced last year, has been delayed by concerns over BA’s pension plan deficit, the global economic downturn, which will see both airlines make losses this year, and the fall of the pound against the Euro, all making valuing the two airlines more difficult. The president of Iberia, Fernando Conte, told El País that negotiations continued, and would have to take into account the British airline’s actuarial evaluation of its pension plans in September.
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