U.S Airways ups Delta Bid
US really must want Delta. Honestly from my point of view I'd love US to gobble up Delta and expand their network and services. This would be great for the Star Alliance. I can't see how the creditors at this point will turn down the offer. It gives them almost immediate return on their investment with a carrier backed by some big players.
Quote:
Reuters
US Airways raises offer for Delta Air to $10.2 bln
Wednesday January 10, 7:36 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE:LCC - News) said on Wednesday it raised its takeover offer for larger bankrupt rival Delta Air Lines Inc. (Other OTC:DALRQ.PK - News) to $10.2 billion in cash and stock.
The new bid offers $5 billion in cash and 89.5 million US Airways shares. The original offer, made in November and rejected by Delta last month, was for $4 billion and 78.5 million US Airways shares.
US Airways said the offer would expire on February 1, unless it gets support from Delta creditors to perform due diligence and postpone a February 7 hearing that would start the voting on Delta's stand-alone plan.
"While our original proposal offered substantially more value to Delta's unsecured creditors than the Delta stand-alone plan, we are making this revised offer to eliminate any doubt," said US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker in a statement. "It is time for this process to move forward."
US Airways expects the acquisition of the larger Atlanta-based carrier to be accretive to earnings per share in the first full year after completion.
Delta and its official committee of unsecured creditors weren't immediately available for comment.
The raised offer came after US Airways on Monday bolstered the financial muscle behind its bid by adding Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - News) as a financial backer alongside Citigroup (NYSE:C - News).
