United may seek merger, report says
From Times Wire Services
UAL Corp., parent of No. 2 U.S. carrier United Airlines, is keen for a possible merger, according to an article in the Dec. 3 edition of BusinessWeek that cited industry experts.
Pardus Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund that owns a stake in UAL and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, is pushing for a merger of the second- and third-largest U.S. carriers, according to recent media reports.
United and UAL are in a bind and a sale may be the best option for the airline, which is saddled with relatively high debt and wafer-thin profit margins, the BusinessWeek report said.
United, along with many of its peers, filed for bankruptcy protection after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Chicago-based carrier emerged from bankruptcy in 2006.
