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Us Airways American Merger

March 24, 2012 by · Comments Off on Us Airways American Merger 

Us Airways American Merger, US Airways Group Inc., seeking support for a possible American Airlines merger, is discussing a takeover plan with some creditors of the bankrupt carrier and their advisers, people with knowledge of the talks said.

Executives have laid out details of US Airways’ proposal for a combined airline to some members of the unsecured creditors committee and gotten a positive reception, said the people, who declined to be identified because the terms aren’t public. The goal would be to complete a merger before American parent AMR Corp. exits Chapter 11, the people said Thursday.

US Airways has been making the overtures as American works toward its stated target of leaving court protection as an independent airline. Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways has said it learned the value of labor and creditor backing after its hostile bid for Delta Air Lines Inc. collapsed in 2007.

“This is all part of the bigger plan to win the hearts and minds of the major stakeholders of AMR,” Hunter Keay, a Wolfe Trahan & Co. analyst in New York, said Friday. “There’s probably a lot of fear and uncertainty among the unsecured creditors committee right now and they are exploring their options.”

AMR remains focused on its own plan “to achieve revenue growth and a highly competitive cost and debt structure,” a spokesman, Andy Backover, said in a statement. A US Airways spokesman, Todd Lehmacher, said the airline had no comment.

US Airways shares rose 3 percent to $7.55 on Friday. AMR’s 9 percent notes due September 2016 jumped 11.75 cents to 42.75 cents on the dollar.

US Airways Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker has acknowledged hiring advisers to weigh a bid for Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR, which filed for Chapter 11 on Nov. 29 and won U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval Thursday to extend its sole right to file a reorganization plan until Sept. 28, from the end of March. Nothing bars potential suitors from talking with the nine-member creditors’ panel or other parties in the bankruptcy.

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