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Non-Tech : Virgin Express (VIRGY) Richard Branson's European Airline -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (51)	11/9/2001 1:55:53 AM
From: ms.smartest.person	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 62

UPDATE 1-Sabena sees no investors for whole group - memo October 31, 2001 2:51:00 PM ET (adds background) By Bart Crols BRUSSELS, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Troubled Belgian flag carrier Sabena told staff on Wednesday that no investors were likely to take over the whole airline group but it hoped to continue limited activity through a subsidiary, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters. "It is becoming increasingly clear that we will not find any investors willing to invest in the whole of Sabena," Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller wrote in a letter to staff, adding that Sabena's financial situation "looks dramatic." But Mueller said there was a strong chance that some of the airline's activity would be maintained in Brussels, preserving about half of the 12,000 jobs. "This would be based on regional activity (Sabena's short-haul DAT subsidiary) to which several medium-haul and long-haul flights would be attached," he wrote. Mueller said Sabena, which is currently working under bankruptcy protection, was talking to potential investors but they refused to acquire Sabena's debt of more than 90 billion Belgian francs ($2.01 billion) and insisted a new company would also have to be profitable in the short term. A Sabena spokesman confirmed the authenticity of the letter. Sabena has made a profit only once since 1958 and was in trouble well before the entire airline sector was rocked by the September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States. IN TALKS WITH VIRGIN EXPRESS British entrepreneur Richard Branson met Mueller and Belgian Public Enterprises Minister Rik Daems on Monday to discuss the possibility of Branson's Brussels-based discount airline Virgin Express (VIRGY) merging with DAT, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. The talks included a range of options, including a closer alliance between DAT and Virgin. Belgium's top ministers discussed Branson's proposal on Wednesday but made no decisions, a government source said. Sabena, which went into two months' bankruptcy protection in early October, has been talking with Virgin Express and other interested parties in a bid to keep flying. It is working on a recovery plan to set up a new company to be presented to creditors and a commercial court by November 8. The government, which owns 50.5 percent of Sabena, gave the airline a one-month EU-approved 125 million euro bridging loan this month. Sabena filed for bankruptcy protection on October 3 after failed Swiss aviation group Swissair backed away from a pledge to inject more cash into the airline. Swissair owns the other 49.5 percent of Sabena. DAT flew 37 percent of Sabena's European flights and carried 3.3 million passengers out of nearly 11 million in 2000. REUTERS © 2001 Reuters news.moneycentral.msn.com