Singapore Airlines and China Eastern talks in "advanced stage"
01 Jun 2007
"We wish to inform shareholders that the company is in an advanced stage of discussions with, inter alia, CEA (China Eastern Airlines) on a potential transaction," SIA said late Thursday in a statement.
"However, at this stage, no agreement has been finalised or reached," it added.
Meanwhile, loss-making China Eastern Airlines also said Thursday that talks to bring in strategic investors, among them SIA, were still on but no final agreement had been signed yet.
China's state-run Caijing magazine had reported last week that China Eastern Airlines was set to sell a 25 per cent stake to SIA, through an issuance of new shares, in a deal likely to be worth around $1 billion dollars.
Industry analysts have said that the deal is likely to provide a much needed lifeline to China Eastern and, in turn, provide SIA a key foothold in Mainland China, which is one of the biggest and fastest growing airline markets in the world.