Report: Delta, US Airways assessing bids for American Airlines
UPDATED: Friday, Jan. 13, at 7:55 a.m. ET
The Wall Street Journal has updated its story to include US Airways as one of the companies assessing a bid for American Airlines parent AMR.
In its latest version of the story, the Journal writes:
People familiar with the matter said Delta Air Lines Inc., US Airways Group Inc. and TPG Capital separately are studying bids for AMR Corp., which two months ago became the last of the big "legacy" airline operators to file for bankruptcy-court protection after a decade of industry consolidation.
Initially, the Journal"s report confirmed only Delta and TPG Capital as assessing a bid for AMR.
AMR, American"s parent company, filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 29.
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Still, any potential bid for American parent AMR would likely be at least several months away, says the Journal. That"s because AMR is expected to use the bankruptcy process to unload debt and other obligations that a potential suitor presumably wouldn"t want to take on.
As for antitrust concerns, the Journal"s sources tell it that Delta has run its own analysis on whether regulators would ever sign off on such a deal. The airline has concluded that it could probably win regulatory approval if it made concessions, the Journal reports.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Delta, TPG assessing bids for American Airlines parent (The Wall Street Journal)OTHER NEWS: "Behind the scenes" video: Your bag"s journey on Delta
The Journal"s sources say Delta has hired Blackstone Group as its financial adviser to help it assess a bid for AMR.