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Lufthansa bids for bankrupt US airline

Larry Black
Wednesday 16 September 1992 23:02 BST
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LUFTHANSA, the German flag carrier, yesterday became the third large European airline to seek control of a US airline, filing a dollars 400m bid to acquire bankrupt Continental Airlines in partnership with the Los Angeles investor Marvin Davis.

Lufthansa's bid matches one made last month by Air Canada, and a spokesman for the airline in New York stressed that the offer was only tentative, allowing it better access to Continental's financial information. It said no details of the arrangement with Mr Davis had been finalised.

Four groups are now bidding for Houston-based Continental, the fifth-largest US airline, which has been operating under bankruptcy court protection for more than a year. A takeover of Continental would have to be approved by its board and by the bankruptcy court.

Earlier this summer, British Airways announced plans for a dollars 750m investment in USAir, which would give it a 'feed' of American passengers to its transatlantic network. Last week, KLM, the Dutch carrier, filed for regulatory permission to merge its operations with those of Northwest Airlines to form a global carrier.

BA had hoped for US government approval by now for its proposal, but the US Transportation Department said yesterday that it had not made a decision yet.

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