IAG International Airlines Group is in exclusive talks with Air Berlin (1991) bankruptcy administrators regarding a potential Niki (Austria) takeover and is likely to ink the deal in the coming days, multiple German and Austrian media reported.
According to Bild am Sonntag, the British Airways, Iberia, Vueling Airlines and Aer Lingus owner offered EUR40 million (USD48 million) for the Austrian airline. Niki Lauda, the airline's founder who was the other bidder included in the final rounds of talks, admitted to Austrian newspaper Kurier that his offer was rejected.
Lauda claimed that IAG intends to integrate Niki into its LCC unit, Vueling.
An IAG offer could be looked favourably upon by the European Commission as it would provide a counterbalance to the Lufthansa Group's dominance in Central Europe, Airliners.de speculated.
According to the Austrian Press Agency (APA), airberlin group administrator Lucas Flöther and Niki management informed the staff in an internal letter that the preferred bidder pledged not to split the company and intends to retain most of the jobs. Lauda underlined that he promised to keep all the employees, numbering around a thousand, as well as all of Niki's aircraft.
Flöther publicly admitted that the negotiations are now conducted with a single bidder but refused to confirm whether it is IAG. The creditors' committee would have asked him to finalise the talks in "the next few days", possibly by year-end, Bild am Sonntag reported.
According to Kurier, the Austrian Ministry of Transport extended Niki's air operator's certificate until January 3 but if no deal is signed until then, the company may be stripped of its slots at Vienna, Düsseldorf and other airports.
Niki was initially included in a EUR210 million bid for Air Berlin's assets made by Lufthansa but the transaction was blocked by the European Commission on anticompetitive grounds. When the proposed takeover fell through, the Austrian airline declared bankruptcy on December 13 and cancelled all flights a day later.
According to Der Spiegel, Lufthansa provided around EUR70 million bridge financing to keep Niki flying between the collapse of Air Berlin at the end of October and December 13.
