Does no one follow AC anymore.
Analyst are all making strong buy reccomendations on the stock, and earnings will be record this year. This coupled with the reduced float are going to send the stock into the 20$ range within the next 6 months.
Also, a big hurdle was crossed today:
Canadian approves Air Canada's offer
WebPosted Sat Dec 4 19:10:15 1999
CALGARY - With only days to go before the offer expires, the board of directors at Canadian Airlines has accepted Air Canada's hostile takeover bid to buy the company.
INDEPTH: Airlines
The directors voted to endorse the $92 million deal on Saturday, and are now advising shareholders do the same.
Kevin Benson
Last week members of the board refused to recommend Air Canada's offer, saying they wanted to keep looking for other options. But with the proposal set to expire Dec. 7, time was quickly running out.
"This is a momentous decision for Canadian Airlines," said Kevin Benson, president and chief executive officer of the airline.
In a statement released from head office in Calgary, he called it "the culmination of months of very public negotiation, speculation and uncertainty."
"We believe this transaction will offer more choices to our customers, opportunities for our employees and value for our shareholders," Benson added.
In the end, the board accepted Air Canada's offer of $2 per share because it said the deal gives investors a premium on the average closing price of the stock over a recent three-month period. Shares in Canadian closed at $1.61 on Friday.
Robert Milton
Air Canada's president Robert Milton has already said Canadian would be operated under a separate name, and that all existing tickets and frequent flyer points would be honoured.
Milton has also assured workers that any job cuts at the financially troubled airline could be managed through early retirements and attrition.
But the unions that represent thousands of employees at Canadian have expressed concern because they have no job security guarantees in writing.
Critics of the merger argue that consumers will lose in the end because Air Canada will have virtually no competition on many domestic and international routes. |
