WestAir Gets Takeover Bid

WestAir Holdings, which owns the West Coast’s largest regional airline and operates commuter service for United Airlines, said Thursday that it had received an unsolicited takeover offer valued at an estimated $26 million.

The Fresno-based airline, which also operates under the United Express name, said it would review the stock-swap proposal that would merge WestAir into Mesa Airlines, a regional carrier based in Farmington, N.M.

West Air spokesman Mark Peterson said he did not know when the airline would respond to Mesa’s offer. Peterson said United Airline has the right to make an offer for WestAir under the operating agreement between both carriers.

Officials at Mesa Airlines were not available for comment.

On Thursday, WestAir stock rose 12.5 cents to close at $2.875 on the American Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, in over-the-counter trading, Mesa stock ended the day unchanged at $17 a share.

Under the proposed deal, each of WestAir’s approximately 6.5 million shares would be exchanged for 0.235 share of Mesa Airlines. “We are in a period of consolidation for the regional carriers just as we are for the big carriers,” said George Pearson, vice president at Avitas, a Washington-based industry consulting firm.

Mesa has “been one of the stronger carriers that has been making acquisitions in recent months,” Pearson said.

Until recently, the same thing could have been said of WestAir--the largest airline based in California and once the biggest player in the regional airline industry. Under its relationship with United, WestAir grew substantially by feeding passengers from smaller cities to its larger partner’s hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities.

WestAir expanded its reach and operated an East Coast operation focused at Dulles International Airport near Washington. But WestAir’s costly expansion came at the same time the recession and Gulf War sent the airline industry into a tailspin. WestAir recently sold off its East Coast operations for about $14 million.