Investors Set to Bid $1 Billion for TWA

An independent group of investors said it plans to bid nearly$1 billion for Trans World Airlines, which is already the target of a bid by American Airlines. The newly formed Jet Acquisitions Group Inc. said it wants to preserve TWA as an independent airline. The group said it will propose the elimination of current debt, retention of current employees, modernization of facilities and substantial expansion. “Our bid is more than twice the size of the nearest offer for TWA that was previously made by American Airlines,” said group spokesman Stanford E. Lerch, a principal in the law firm Lerch & DePrima. American Airlines parent AMR Corp. has proposed buying financially ailing TWA for $500 million plus the assumption of $3 billion in aircraft leases. TWA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Jan. 10. TWA spokeswoman Julia Bishop-Cross said the company welcomes the new offer. “The point of the auction process is to allow higher and better offers to come forward and TWA will consider all higher and better legitimate offers,” she said. A spokesman for Fort Worth-based AMR said the bankruptcy process is structured to allow competitive bidding. He said it would be up to Bankruptcy Court to decide which deal was best.