US Airways Group Inc will make its case for a take-over of bankrupt Delta Air Lines Inc during a meeting this week with Delta and its creditors, a lawyer for the creditors said on Tuesday.
The meeting could be a key factor in the success or failure of US Airways' $8.6 billion bid for its larger rival. The meeting will be the first time US Airways speaks directly to Delta creditors since making its unsolicited cash-and-stock bid on November 15.
US Airways will make a presentation to the bankrupt carrier and its official committee of unsecured creditors about its offer, including how it thinks the combination could work and how it expects to resolve integration issues, Daniel Golden, a lawyer with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, which represents Delta's creditors committee, told Reuters.
The creditors' committee has not had separate discussions with US Airways so far, but is in "constant discussion" with Delta, the No 3 US airline, Golden said. "We thought it most appropriate to have this first, to have this all hands meeting," he said. US Airways will be looking to find enough support to force Delta to allow it to perform due diligence, a condition of the offer.
US Airways, the No 7 US carrier, has already won some backing from Delta creditors. Some Delta bondholders formed a group last week to support the bid. But US Airways also faces obstac Delta, US Air, creditors to meet this week-lawyer les.Delta, which has been operating under bankruptcy protection since September 2005, has said it aims to remain independent and plans to file its reorganisation plan next month with the aim of emerging from Chapter 11 in the first half of 2007. Delta's pilots' union, which is on the creditors' committee, has expressed concerns about the deal.