Iberia Shares Tumble as Caja Madrid Stake May Block Takeover
By Charles Penty and Gareth Gore
Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA, Spain's biggest airline, tumbled the most in 3 1/2 years in Madrid trading after Spanish bank Caja Madrid built up its stake, threatening to block any takeover bid for the carrier.
Shares of Iberia fell as much as 27 cents, or 7.9 percent, to 3.16 euros, the steepest drop since March 12, 2004, and were trading at 3.20 euros as of 10:42 a.m. in the Spanish capital.
Caja Madrid will own 23 percent of Iberia after this week agreeing to buy stakes held by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA and Compania de Distribucion Integral Logista SA. Chairman Miguel Blesa said Nov. 20 that the bank has no plans to join in any bid for the Madrid based airline. Iberia last week received an approach worth as much as 3.7 billion euros ($5.5 billion) from investors including billionaire Alicia Koplowitz. Private- equity firm TPG Inc. and British Airways Plc may also bid.
``These are important purchases and it looks like they now have the power to block any potential offer'' said Gonzalo Lardies, a fund manager at Banque Privee Edmond de Rothschild SA in Madrid. ``Without a doubt the move is political.''
By Charles Penty and Gareth Gore
Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA, Spain's biggest airline, tumbled the most in 3 1/2 years in Madrid trading after Spanish bank Caja Madrid built up its stake, threatening to block any takeover bid for the carrier.
Shares of Iberia fell as much as 27 cents, or 7.9 percent, to 3.16 euros, the steepest drop since March 12, 2004, and were trading at 3.20 euros as of 10:42 a.m. in the Spanish capital.
Caja Madrid will own 23 percent of Iberia after this week agreeing to buy stakes held by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA and Compania de Distribucion Integral Logista SA. Chairman Miguel Blesa said Nov. 20 that the bank has no plans to join in any bid for the Madrid based airline. Iberia last week received an approach worth as much as 3.7 billion euros ($5.5 billion) from investors including billionaire Alicia Koplowitz. Private- equity firm TPG Inc. and British Airways Plc may also bid.
``These are important purchases and it looks like they now have the power to block any potential offer'' said Gonzalo Lardies, a fund manager at Banque Privee Edmond de Rothschild SA in Madrid. ``Without a doubt the move is political.''