The news that Aer Lingus has again rejected the advances of IAG despite an increased price comes as no surprise.
Difficult though it may be for some "analysts" to grasp, this may not be all about cash. There is some pride and emotion in there too.
When IAG first appeared it was presented in a soft light as a merger between BA and Iberia. This was so as not to frighten the horses in either London or Madrid. There was talk of things like a live link between the AGMs in Madrid and London so that British shareholders would be able to speak and vote without having to go to Spain. That never happened. The BA Chairman at the company's last ever AGM said that BA would remain as British as it ever was, a meaningless statement if ever there was one. This sounded all very warm and cuddly and the vote in favour of "the merger" went though with virtually no comment from the anaesthetised floor.
The actuality though was very different. This was not a merger but the sale of both airlines to a new entity. Despite this, the myth of happy merger persisted and Willie Walsh talked of other major carriers "joining". By this he really meant "selling themselves" to IAG. Cathay Pacific was one target and there appeared to be surprise and certainly disappointment that they didn't leap at the chance of signing up. The reality is that why on earth would they? Cathay is a long standing and independent minded company. Why would Swires and other shareholders give up their direct control of the high profile flagship business to receive in exchange maybe a few Board seats and, if the other IAG companies did as least as well as they did on their own, a dividend cheque to a higher value than they would have generated independently?
It may be that the Irish have a price at which they won't be able to resist selling their historic national carrier to a Spanish company but they haven't got there yet. Even then it could be that in the background people, and the government in particular, are very loath to see the company fly out of national control. As far as Ireland is concerned once it's gone,it's gone. The green livery and shamrock tails would be just a branding facade.
Difficult though it may be for some "analysts" to grasp, this may not be all about cash. There is some pride and emotion in there too.
When IAG first appeared it was presented in a soft light as a merger between BA and Iberia. This was so as not to frighten the horses in either London or Madrid. There was talk of things like a live link between the AGMs in Madrid and London so that British shareholders would be able to speak and vote without having to go to Spain. That never happened. The BA Chairman at the company's last ever AGM said that BA would remain as British as it ever was, a meaningless statement if ever there was one. This sounded all very warm and cuddly and the vote in favour of "the merger" went though with virtually no comment from the anaesthetised floor.
The actuality though was very different. This was not a merger but the sale of both airlines to a new entity. Despite this, the myth of happy merger persisted and Willie Walsh talked of other major carriers "joining". By this he really meant "selling themselves" to IAG. Cathay Pacific was one target and there appeared to be surprise and certainly disappointment that they didn't leap at the chance of signing up. The reality is that why on earth would they? Cathay is a long standing and independent minded company. Why would Swires and other shareholders give up their direct control of the high profile flagship business to receive in exchange maybe a few Board seats and, if the other IAG companies did as least as well as they did on their own, a dividend cheque to a higher value than they would have generated independently?
It may be that the Irish have a price at which they won't be able to resist selling their historic national carrier to a Spanish company but they haven't got there yet. Even then it could be that in the background people, and the government in particular, are very loath to see the company fly out of national control. As far as Ireland is concerned once it's gone,it's gone. The green livery and shamrock tails would be just a branding facade.
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