Air France-KLM plans rival bid for Iberia

Mumbai: Air France-KLM is planning a rival bid to a British Airways-led consortium's offer of 3.4 billion euros ($4.6 billion; £2.3 billion) for Spanish airline Iberia.

Air France-KLM will jointly bid with private equity group Apax to acquire Europe's fourth largest airline.

BA has teamed up with private equity groups TPG Capital, Vista Capital, Inversiones Ibersuizas and Quercus Equity to make the 3.4 billion euros ($4.6 billion) offer.

Separately, TPG on its own has already informally offered 3.4 billion euros for Iberia.

BA already owns a 10 per cent stake in Iberia and has an option for another 30 per cent. The UK airlines also confirmed that it is part of a consortium looking at bidding for Spanish airline Iberia.

BA, however, said in a statement that there was "no guarantee that a formal bid will be made" for Iberia.