Unions Say They May Try to Buy Just Part of UAL : Airlines: The leader of the buyout effort says a new offer is being put together--and it may involve less than 100% of the company’s stock. That option would cut the purchase price.

The unions at United Airlines might not try to buy all of UAL Corp., the leader of the buyout effort said at a weekend gathering of union members.

Gerald Greenwald, the former Chrysler vice chairman hired by United’s unions, said the unions are revising their offer for parent UAL Corp., and it isn’t clear what shape it will take. “It is possible we could leave some (UAL stock) with public shareholders,” he said.

It was the first indication that the unions, whose members include the pilots, mechanics and flight attendants, might not try to buy the entire airline. A decision to buy only a portion of UAL’s shares would reduce the cost of the transaction.

Greenwald made his comments during a brief interview at a picnic Saturday that was organized by United’s San Francisco-area union employees. It was his first interview since the unions began work on a revised $3.9-billion offer in recent weeks.

The unions face an Oct. 9 deadline to present a fully financed bid to UAL’s directors. They have given 23 banks until Oct. 3 to decide whether they will provide $2 billion in financing.

Between Oct. 3 and Oct. 9, Greenwald said, the unions will negotiate financial support “from others (that) are not banks.” Greenwald wouldn’t identify the other potential participants. But it is known that the unions have sought support from aircraft and engine manufacturers, such as Boeing, Airbus Industrie and General Electric.

Greenwald said it is possible that the unions might contribute up to $200 million in equity in return for special preferred stock. He said most of that money would come from the pilots’ retirement account, but that other employees would be invited to contribute. A previous union offer included wage concessions but no equity contributions from employees.

Even if the unions do get enough money for their revised $175- to $180-a-share offer, it isn’t clear whether UAL’s board will accept it. When the board accepted a $201-a-share offer from the unions five months ago, it indicated that it would not accept a lower price.

Greenwald said the board would leave the airline open to corporate raiders if it turns down the union’s offer. One previous bidder for the airline, Los Angeles billionaire Marvin Davis, recently expressed renewed interest in it.

A rejection would also frustrate United’s unions, he said. The unions have open contracts, and before the buyout effort, the flight attendants voted to strike if mediation failed.

“I am confident that we will have an offer they (UAL directors) can say yes to,” Greenwald said.

Greenwald declined to discuss terms of the new offer, but other sources have indicated that the revised bid includes $150 a share in cash.

The unions were forced to lower their offer after the crisis in the Persian Gulf made it impossible to finance the $201-a-share offer. Greenwald said Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait forced the unions to revise their five-year economic forecast for United, taking higher fuel prices into account.

The projections show that United can meet its obligations if oil prices go as high as $37 a barrel, Greenwald said, adding he did not expect them to go that high.

That projection, however, is optimistic compared to other forecasts. On Friday, the World Bank said a Mideast war could send oil prices soaring to $65 a barrel this year, and that they might remain somewhere between $30 and $40 a barrel during the next five years.