Turkish Airlines closer to buying Polish LOT-paper

Turkish Airlines has examined the financial condition of Poland's flag carrier LOT ahead of a potential bid, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

» Airlines - W | Monday, April 23, 2012 • Reuters

Polish daily Rzeczpospolita, without naming its source, said the Turkish carrier conducted due diligence of LOT in March. The paper estimated LOT's value at around 2 billion zlotys ($630.4 million).

A spokeswoman for Poland's Treasury Ministry, which oversees state assets, declined to confirm the report, but said the ministry has held some discussions with Turkish Airlines in recent months.

The treasury will pick an adviser for the sale process in May, she added.

Turkish Airlines' spokesman Ali Genc also confirmed discussions on a possible LOT acquisition were being held.

"No other decision has been taken by the board," he added.

In January, Chairman Hamdi Topcu said the carrier would start talks to buy LOT. ($1 = 3.1727 Polish zlotys) (Reporting by Chris Borowski in Warsaw and Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul; editing by Patrick Graham)

Reuters

Tags: Turkish Airlines, Polish LOT, Hamdi Topcu, Ayla Jean Yackley,

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