New Suitor Enters Picture at Tiger International

Tiger International, the air cargo carrier that pulled out of a financial tailspin in mid-decade to resume profitable operations last year, found itself on Wednesday the object of desire by two suitors.

Tiger said Dec. 1 that Saul P. Steinberg, the New York takeover artist and Tiger’s major shareholder, had informed the Los Angeles-based carrier--the parent of Flying Tiger Line--that his Reliance Group Holdings was considering an acquisition all of the company’s outstanding stock. No price was mentioned, but a spokesman said that if an offer were made, it would be “at a premium over the current market price.” Reliance holds a 16.5% stake in Tiger.

Then, after the market closed on Wednesday, Tiger issued a brief announcement that it had “been approached by an unrelated third party interested in acquiring the company.” It added that company directors will meet today to “consider any offer that might be forthcoming,” but a spokesman declined to go beyond the two-sentence announcement.

Tiger International stock closed at $14.75 a share Wednesday, down 25 cents, with 349,800 shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange.

Since Steinberg first invested in Tiger nearly 10 years ago, the company has been buffeted by turbulence created by deregulation. In 1986, it claimed to be on the brink of folding unless its employees agreed to accept salary cuts to save about $55 million a year. That agreement took effect in January, 1987, and the company almost immediately returned to profitability.

Employees divided more than $16 million last March as their share of $58.7 million in profits rung up in 1987. For the first nine months of this year, Tiger had already amassed earnings of $56.6 million on revenue of $986.8 million, up from earnings of $45.2 million for the same period last year on revenue of $878.7 million. Analysts estimate that 1988 profit may be 40% larger than last year’s.