BA consortium abandons Iberia interest

British Airways today said it was no longer involved in plans for a takeover of Spain’s Iberia, the fourth-largest airline in Europe.

BA’s five member consortium, which was led by the US buy-out group TPG, withdrew its interest after a hostile reception from Iberia’s 10% shareholder Caja Madrid, which is reportedly keen to keep the airline out of foreign hands.

The consortium said the “consensus and friendly terms that we considered essential for this project are no longer in place”.

A statement today added: “We have thus decided unanimously to withdraw our indication of interest for the company.”

BA said yesterday it would not exercise options to take up the holdings of two other major Iberia shareholders, financial group BBVA and logistics firm Logista. The stakes are likely to go to Caja Madrid, a Spanish savings bank.

BA acquired its 9.95% holding in Iberia as part of a joint investment made with American Airlines in 1999. At that time it was agreed that if any of the core shareholders in Iberia wanted to sell their shares, the remaining core shareholders had the right to buy.

Iberia is Spain’s largest air transport group and the fourth-largest in Europe. It is also a significant provider of services on routes between Europe and Latin America, with the most flights and destinations. The group employs around 25,000 people.

BA chief financial officer Keith Williams said yesterday that BA’s position as Iberia’s key industrial partner remained important and that it was not dependent on an increase in shareholding.

“We will enter into discussions with Caja Madrid in order to maximise the value of our relationship with Iberia,” he added.

BA previously ruled out making a bid of its own for Iberia, but said in May it could work in conjunction with buy-out groups such as TPG.