Niki Deal10 Jan 2018 12:03
TCG may still have a chance to buy Niki if the IAG deal failed
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The administrator of Niki said he would press ahead with an agreed sale of the insolvent Austrian airline to British Airways owner IAG (ICAG.L) after a German court ruling fanned concern that the deal could unravel.
A secondary insolvency filing in Austria, which Niki will submit by the end of this week, will safeguard the sale, Lucas Floether said in a statement on Tuesday.
Niki filed for insolvency in Berlin last month after Germany�s Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) scrapped plans to buy the Austrian arm of Air Berlin, grounding its fleet and stranding thousands of passengers.
After hurried talks to find a new owner for Niki before it lost its valuable runway slots, IAG agreed to buy the business and make it part of low-cost unit Vueling.
But Fairplane, a group representing airline passengers, threw a spanner in the works, filing legal cases last week to have Niki�s insolvency proceedings shifted to Austria.
A regional court in Berlin backed Fairplane�s position this week and said it would reverse the opening of insolvency proceedings in Berlin. Niki has filed an appeal against the ruling with Germany�s supreme court, which said on Tuesday it would handle the case �swiftly�.
Niki�s founder, former Formula One world champion Niki Lauda, said on Oe24 TV he stood ready, if given the chance, to offer a fresh bid for the airline together with Thomas Cook (TCG.L) and Condor, after missing out to IAG last month.
�I continue to be interested but the question does not currently arise... The legal situation is not clear,� Lauda said, adding he had previously offered around 36 million euros.
Meanwhile Niki is burning through up to 16.5 million euros ($19.7 million) of interim financing it has been given by IAG�s Vueling, which administrator Floether said would last for only a few weeks.
IAG declined to comment on Tuesday.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iag-niki/airline-nikis-administrator-presses-ahead-with-sale-to-iag-idUKKBN1EY14Q