Serbia Seeks Consultants For National Air Carrier’s Sale

Belgrade: With at least one potential buyer already expressing interest, the Serbian government is seeking bids from consultancies that could develop and implement a strategy for privatizing the national flag carrier, JAT Airways.
The adviser should be selected by public bidding within 70 days, the government statement said.
OAO Aeroflot, Russia’s largest air-carrier, applied for purchasing JAT in June. Icelandair, Italy’s Air One and Air India also have expressed interest in JAT.
On Wednesday, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that Aeroflot was “welcomed to bid” for JAT.
The government’s Privatization Agency said Thursday it will invite about two dozen consultancies with a leading role in the air industry to act as advisors.
The companies include Rothschild, UBS, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas SA, HSBC Bank plc, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch, Lazard, ABN AMRO, Deutsche Bank AG, Deloitte, Lehman Brothers, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Corp Fin, Ernst & Young SG, Dresdner Klinwort, JP Morgan, KPMG Corp Fin, Macquarie Bank Ltd (MBL), M&A International Inc, ING, Credit Suisse, and CALYON.
Impoverished after international isolation and mismanagement under former President Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990’s, JAT is 209 million euros in debt. The company has seen a gradual recovery after Milosevic’s ouster in 2000 and last year it posted a 3.8 million euros profit after 16 years of losses.
The value of the company has been estimated at about 112 million euros.
JAT operates 17 aircraft and flies to major destinations in Europe, the Far East and the Middle East, according to its Web site.
03/08/07 BIRN, Serbia

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