Originally Posted by
WutFace
Since you brought it up, let's compare and contrast.
Southwest / Airtrain - $1.7 Billion- Airplanes Acquired: 52 (737s)
- Orders Acquired: 60
- New Cities: 21
- Leases sold: 88
Alaska / Virgin - $2.5 Billon + $1.5 Billion Assumed Debt- Airplanes Acquired: 0 (Returned)
- Orders Acquired: 0 (Cancelled)
- New Cities: 1
- Leases Sold: 0 (Expired)
If the company is planning on returning the Airbii, then it looks like the only thing Alaska got out of a 4 billion dollar deal was 14 gates between LAX and SFO and debt to fend off a hostile takeover. Any other airline could have done more.
Kelleher these guys ain't.
Truth (below)
In exchange for the $4b spent/assumed, ALK received $939m in shareholders equity (including over $600m in cash and equivalents), and and operation that was generating over $200m pre-tax annually as a stand alone entity (roughly 16% operating margin through q3 2016, the last reported quarter).
The "value" of controlling the leases on the acquired gates is probably subjective (market value?), so any value is in addition to the $939m above.
Not exactly 14 gates for 4b.
Just my opinion. I will apologize in advance if any of the above info is inaccurate.
S