Qatar Airways seeks stake in American in ‘puzzling’ move
State-owned Qatar Airways is attempting to buy 10 percent of American Airlines, a surprising move that would trigger an antitrust review by the U.S. government and carry political and trade-policy implications.
American said in a regulatory filing Thursday that the bid was unsolicited.
“We aren’t particularly excited about Qatar’s outreach,” CEO Doug Parker said in a memo to employees. He said the move was “puzzling” given American’s ongoing fight with Qatar and other Middle Eastern airlines over government subsidies, which he vowed to keep pursuing.
Qatar Airways, however, said it sees a “strong investment opportunity” in American and plans to be only a passive investor with no role in management or operations.
Qatar said it plans to buy an initial stake of up to 4.75 percent of American’s shares. American, the world’s biggest airline, said that Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker told Parker that he wanted to acquire about 10 percent of American’s stock in all, which would cost $2.4 billion at American’s midday stock price.
The CEOs met earlier this month during an airline-industry event in Mexico, according to an American spokesman.
Federal law prohibits foreigners from owning 25 percent or more of the voting shares in a U.S. airline. American said Qatar Air-
ways submitted a filing under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, which is subject to review by the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
American Airlines said its policies require approval by its board
before anyone can buy 4.75 percent or more of its shares. The company said Thursday that it had not yet received a formal request from Qatar Airways.
American’s shares were up 53 cents, or about 1 percent, to $48.96 in afternoon trading after surging more than 4 percent Thursday morning.