American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) is in talks to acquire an unspecified stake in China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou) informed sources have told Bloomberg news.
According to the report, the negotiations are said to be "advanced" with the value of the stake placed at around USD200 million. The sale will likely take place through a private placement, one of the sources said. China Southern has a market value of about USD10 billion.
Trading in China Southern shares on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges was suspended on Thursday, March 23, "pending an announcement regarding a possible major strategic cooperation."
While American is a member of Oneworld, China Southern is currently involved in Skyteam with strong codeshare ties with American's rival, Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson).
American may attempt to leverage its equity in China Southern to secure increased access to the Chinese market using China Southern to help secure the Beijing Capital slots needed to launch its delayed Los Angeles International-Beijing service. As recently reported, American has blamed the route's delayed launch on a lack of cooperation from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
