Air Transport

The consortium involving British Airways (BA) and TPG that was mulling a bid for Spanish carrier Iberia has formally withdrawn interest.

Oneworld alliance carrier BA says in a stock exchange announcement: “As a consequence of the recent decision taken by Iberia’s core shareholders, the consortium formed by British Airways, Ibersuizas, Quercus, TPG and Vista Capital has come to the conclusion that it is not possible to pursue a potential takeover bid since the consensus and friendly terms that we considered essential for this project are no longer in place.

“We have thus decided unanimously to withdraw our indication of interest for the company.”

BA earlier this year joined TPG and others in a consortium that was mulling a bid for Iberia.

Spanish financial services group BBVA recently said it had agreed to dispose of its 6.99% stake in Iberia to fellow shareholder Spanish savings bank Caja Madrid. Caja Madrid also said it planned to acquire the 6.42% Iberia stake held by Spanish logistics firm Logista.

BA owns nearly 10% of Iberia.