(Reuters) – Flybe (FLYB.L), Europe’s largest regional airline, may be interested in buying Norway’s Wideroe after SAS (SAS.ST) put the company up for sale this week, Norwegian daily Aftenposten said on Wednesday.
“We are always looking for opportunities to expand in Scandinavia, the Nordics and the Baltics. We will now look at the opportunities that have opened up in Norway with Wideroe going up for sale”, a spokeswoman told the paper.
Scandinavian flag carrier SAS had said that it planned to raise 3 billion Swedish crowns ($443 million) by selling assets, including Wideroe, aircraft engines, some real estate and its ground handling unit.
Britain’s Flybe has been beefing up its Nordic presence and last year established Flybe Nordic, a joint venture with Finnair (FIA1S.HE), to focus on servicing the Nordics and the Baltics.
Wideroe employees have already said they are working with an external investors to make a buyout offer to SAS. ($1 = 6.7771 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Henrik Stolen; Editing by David Goodman)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/14/uk-flybe-norway-wideroe-idUKBRE8AD0CP20121114
It seems like a good move, especially with them already having started in Finland with Flybe Nordic.
By: Matt-100 - 15th November 2012 at 22:43
It never really occurred to me before, but flybe has a sound business model – rural communities need to fly too! 🙂
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November 15, 2012 at 8:30 pm