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Swissair secures Lot stake
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October 20, 1999: 8:28 a.m. ET
Polish government to sell 38% of carrier by year end; BA, AMR disappointed
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Swissair emerged victorious Wednesday in the bidding battle for Lot Polish Airlines, eastern Europe's largest and most profitable airline.
Swissair parent SAir Group was named as the preferred bidder to take a 37.6 percent stake in the carrier, beating off rival offers from Lufthansa and American Airlines.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year after a stalled privatization process which has dragged on since the early 1990s.
The choice of Swissair surprised many analysts who had expected the Polish government to side with a bid from a carrier tied to one of the major global alliance groupings.
Lufthansa boosted the position of its Star alliance Wednesday with plans to take a 20 percent stake in British Midland, the U.K.'s third-largest carrier..
BA and AMR Corp.'s (AMR) American Airlines, which lead the rival oneworld alliance, already have commercial ties with Lot.
SAir Group released no financial details of its offer for Lot, which carried 2.5 million passengers last year and generated revenue of $613 million. Analysts valued the whole airline at between $250 million and $300 million.
However, analysts suggested that the Swiss offer gave Lot more independence within Swissair's own Qualiflyer airline alliance and was backed by a range of technical support packages.
Swissair's strategy remains in a state of flux following the collapse of its own Global Excellence deal with Delta Air Lines (DAL) -- which has now joined Air France -- and Singapore Airlines, a defector to the Star camp.
Qualiflyer encompasses 10 smaller airlines -- including Belgium's Sabena and TAP Air Portugal in which SAir already has stakes. After announcing a limited commercial alliance with American Airlines last month, some analysts believe that Swissair will eventually join the oneworld camp.
SAir Group shares were fractionally ahead in Zurich trading. 
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