SAS group sells sister airline Spanir

SAS group has finally managed to sell Spanish subsidiary airline Spanair.

The sale price will be a nominal €1 and the buyer is a consortium of Spanish businesses and public bodies as well as banks mostly from Catalonia.

SAS said it sold 80.1 percent of Spanair  but  will still be responsible for Spanair debts following the deal and will provide assistance for the transition and turnaround of the carrier.

‘In summary, the financial effects from Spanair’s 2008 result and this transaction on the SAS Group in 2008 will be a negative effect of 4.895 billion crowns reported as discontinued operations in the 2008 financial statements,’ SAS said. Of that total, 2.72 billion crowns was booked in the first three quarters of last year while 2.18 billion will be accounted for in the fourth-quarter results. The fourth-quarter charge consists of a 712 million crown capital loss, 907 million for one-off restructuring costs and an additional 560 million for Spanair losses in the quarter.

The consortium groups Catalana d’Iniciatives — a private equity group including some of Spain’s biggest banks and builders — with regional tourist authorities, a Barcelona exhibition centre and businessmen in local tourism.

MADRID (Thomson Financial) – Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA has hired Morgan Stanley to prepare an upcoming bid for SAS’s Spanair, Cinco Dias reported, citing unnamed sources.

Air Nostrum is also studying a separate bid for the airline, although it and Iberia were in talks for a joint bid in the beginning, it noted.

The deadline for presenting letters of intention to bid is Feb 15.

Iberia is reportedly interested in the air carrier to consolidate the domestic market, seen as over-saturated and unprofitable.

However, it could face competition problems as it would likely take over Spanair’s slots in Barcelona’s El Prat airport, giving it a dominant position as with the T-4 terminal in Madrid.

Spanair is already the target of a bid by Grupo Marsans, while a Catalan consortium Promobarna, made up of the owners of Gadair, a savings bank and an Arab bank, is reported to be studying a bid.

The Portuguese carrier TAP has denied its interest, although its chairman, Fernando Pinto, continues to be enthusiastic to take part in an Iberian project, the newspaper said.