PUBLICLY traded cargo airline Atlas Air has said that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has signed off on its sale to private investors and that it expects to finalize the deal soon
PUBLICLY traded cargo airline Atlas Air has said that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has signed off on its sale to private investors and that it expects to finalize the deal soon. A private equity consortium led by Apollo Global Management agreed in early August to buy Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings for US$5.2 billion, including $2.2 billion in debt. Apollo's partners are J F Lehman & Co and Hill City Capital. Analysts expected the sale would be finalized early this year.
The world's largest operator of Boeing 747 freighters said in its fourth-quarter earnings last month that it has received all shareholder and regulatory approvals save from the DOT. Atlas Air, which also offers passenger charters, has a diverse customer base that includes Amazon, DHL Express, Alibaba's logistics arm Cainiao, and the US Department of Defence.
Once the sale is consummated Atlas will be removed from the Nasdaq exchange and no longer be required to report its financial performance, reports New York's FreightWaves.
Speculation had increased in recent weeks that the DOT was taking a long time to approve the sale because of the Biden administration's pro-consumer competition agenda and concerns over corporate consolidation.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a Bloomberg interview that the department is concerned about concentration in the airline, ocean and freight railroad industries and recently hired a legal expert from the Federal Trade Commission to lead its merger reviews.
The Department of Justice recently filed suit to block JetBlue's $3.8 billion takeover of Spirit Airlines on grounds it would drive up airfares and reduce choice. And the DOT rejected JetBlue's exemption request seeking to operate under single ownership while they undergoes regulatory review.
But the Atlas Air deal is different because it is a sale to private investors more than a merger of two rival cargo airlines.
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