Financier Icahn Drops Pan Am Bailout Bid

Financier Carl Icahn dropped his $43-million bailout bid for Pan American World Airways and a new potential investor emerged, but a U.S. bankruptcy judge warned time was running out for the troubled carrier. Lawyers said at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing in Miami that Icahn had withdrawn his bid, believing his intentions had been “misunderstood” by the court and Pan Am employees. Pan Am executives said they were in talks with Milan Mandaric, a Silicon Valley investor and turnaround specialist who had recently moved to Florida. Mandaric’s attorney said his client was interested in a Pan Am investment with the aim of reviving the carrier, but it was “premature” to say if he could better the plan put forward by Icahn and dismissed by the court last week. Holding company Pan American World Airways filed for bankruptcy protection Feb. 26 and shut down the carrier’s operations.