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SPAIN/ITALY - TPG focuses on Iberia after failing to buy Alitalia and Qantas

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Texas Pacific Group (TPG) is expected to focus all its efforts on the prospective acquisition of Iberia, after the US buyout house pulled out of the competition for both Alitalia and Australian carrier Qantas yesterday.

It is understood that Iberia's board will meet today to decide whether it should open its books to the TPG-led consortium, which comprises British Airways and Spanish firms Vista Capital, Ibersuizas and Quercus Equity. Rumour has it that Iberia's shareholders are trying to buy extra time to attract other bidders by delaying access to its books.

The news that TPG had failed in its attempt to buy Qantas for AU$ 11bn came shortly before the buyout firm also abandoned the competitive process for Alitalia. The consortium, formed by TPG, US fund Matlin Patterson and Italian bank Mediobanca was apparently unable to comply with the rules and deadlines imposed by the Italian government. In the meantime, Russian carrier Aeroflot (backed by bank Unicredit) and local airline AirOne (supported by Intesa Sanpaolo) remain in the competition.

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