[閒聊] 誰會買下維珍航空(Virgin Atlantic)呢?

看板Aviation (航空板)作者nyrnu (~新年快樂,萬事如意~)時間14年前 (2011/03/01 23:23)推噓3(3推 0噓 4→)

留言7則, 6人參與討論串1/1

誰會買下維珍航空(Virgin Atlantic)呢? 隨著Virgin Atlantic 體認到他必須與其他聯盟或航空公司進一步合作後 (長榮也是), 一些潛在的買者就開始抬面下動作了, 一般認為可能的buyers 是 1. Air Farnce-KLM (Skyteam)- 已委託高盛開始認真評估了 2. 以德航聯合新加坡航空與英國BMI 為主力的星空聯盟 3. Etihad Airways: 已表示對澳洲的Virgin Blue有興趣, 若能同時拿下英國的Virgin, 那有機會建立一全球性品牌與航空網路. 4. 連英航CEO 也開始放話了, 敵意併購的前睄戰? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights or use this link to reference the article - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ae624a26-4110-11e0-bf62-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1FMTbYHx0 Virgin needs merger to secure flight path By Mark Kleinman Published: February 25 2011 20:39 | Last updated: February 25 2011 20:39 Not for the first time in his career, Sir Richard Branson may be approaching the end of the runway. Four months after hiring Deutsche Bank to carry out a strategic review at Virgin Atlantic, the number of parking stands available for a suitable merger looks limited. EDITOR’S CHOICE Branson considers reducing airline stake - Jan-17.Walsh dismisses talk of IAG acquisition plan - Feb-25.Milestone passed as RBS looks to its core - Feb-24.Pinewood shareholder attacks Grade - Jun-29..Unlike the occasion in 1999 when a deal to sell almost half of his company to Singapore Airlines (for what turned out to be a bumper price) was proposed on a restaurant napkin, the Virgin founder will this time be pressed into more formal negotiations. Sir Richard does hold some important cards. Virgin Atlantic’s ownership of 3 per cent of Heathrow’s landing slots is attractive to the SkyTeam Alliance led by Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines, which has been working with Goldman Sachs on a takeover proposal for several months. Similarly, Virgin’s transatlantic routes would be a useful addition to the Star Alliance (of which Singapore is a member), which could be re-engineered by Lufthansa to use its BMI subsidiary as a feeder network for Sir Richard’s airline. The third alternative for Virgin would be to agree a deal with one of the major Gulf-based carriers. Etihad, of Abu Dhabi, has expressed publicly an interest in extending its relationship with Virgin Blue in Australia, which would help it fulfil a desire to create a global brand. Alternatively, Sir Richard might eschew a full merger or sale of Virgin Atlantic in favour of joining one of the major alliances. That, though, would risk diluting the Virgin brand while not providing the expansion capital required for an independent carrier to compete with a new wave of aviation industry powerhouses. There may also be another, nuclear, option: selling to British Airways’ new parent company, International Airlines Group, an idea cheekily raised this week by Willie Walsh, its chief executive. Even if that idea repels Sir Richard, sitting out the next wave of airline mergers looks like the least viable option if he wants to secure Virgin Atlantic’s long-term future. Value investor? The notion that UK taxpayers extracted a bargain from their rescue of Royal Bank of Scotland is not among the readily quoted axioms of the banking crisis. Two-and-a-half years after it took place, though, there is a good chance of it becoming true. The bank’s participation in the Asset Protection Scheme (APS), designed to provide state insurance for ￡280bn of toxic loans, has thus far been a welcome contributor to Treasury coffers, costing RBS more than ￡2bn in fees. Talk, however, of an early exit from the APS looks misguided. RBS emphasised this week the economic benefit it believes it derives from its continued involvement, particularly given that its membership is already funded until next year. Could there, however, be an alternative solution to managing the ￡195bn of loans still insured through the APS? I am told that Stephan Wilcke, chief executive of the Asset Protection Agency (which administers the APS), has in recent months discussed with Treasury officials the idea of establishing a separate RBS ‘bad bank’. The structure of such an entity is unclear, although people familiar with the idea say it would have been run by Mr Wilcke. It could have had advantages: by removing the entire non-core division from RBS’s books, it would allow an instant acceleration of the clean-up of the bank’s balance sheet. That said, a new bad bank would require a fresh government guarantee, which would set alarm bells ringing in Brussels and Whitehall. For that reason, among others, the proposal is understood to have been rejected by the Treasury. RBS’s gradual self-erosion of its vast non-core empire marches onwards. Die another day As the proud home of the James Bond film franchise, the studios at Pinewood are accustomed to staging dramatic exits. Is Michael Grade, chairman of Pinewood Shepperton, about to join the ranks of characters such as Oddjob, Scaramanga and Jaws? Unenthused by Pinewood’s share price performance since its 2004 flotation, some investors, including Crystal Amber, which owns nearly 28 per cent, wish that were so. Yesterday, the shares closed at 142p, compared with the listing price of 180p. Pre-tax profits have fallen by about 50 per cent since Pinewood’s first year as a public company. Nonetheless, those close to Lord Grade of Yarmouth say he is more likely to audition to replace Daniel Craig as 007 than he is to voluntarily end his 11-year stint at the helm of Pinewood. That is despite the increased demands on his time as one of David Cameron’s newly-ennobled peers and position as chairman of Ocado, the online grocer. I am told that, contrary to recent suggestions, Crystal Amber has not reversed its position on Lord Grade and is continuing to press the company to identify a successor. A positive set of annual results next month might go some way towards strengthening the position of Peel Holdings, the company’s other major shareholder, which continues to support the former ITV chairman. Nevertheless, Pinewood’s annual meeting in June looks like offering the scene for a battle of which even Bond in his Sean Connery heyday would have been proud. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ ae624a26-4110-11e0-bf62-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1FMR0mEg2 -- 航空/鐵道/都市資料找不到? Well, the opinion may be on the way! -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 114.25.11.20