Airline SAS again trying to gain a foothold in LOT

Scandinavian airlines SAS are interested in purchasing a stake in Polish airlines LOT since it is currently the best moment for investments on the Polish market, SAS president Jorgen Lindegaard told Rzeczpospolita on Tuesday. He added that he still has not contacted the banks managing the bankrupted Swissair, LOT's former strategic shareholder, which holds a 25.1% stake in LOT to take over the issue. The purchase of LOT's shares must be approved though by the government. "We were interested in the stake in 1999 but then our bid was not taken into consideration and LOT's shares were purchased by Swissair. If the possibility of a purchase occurs we are determined to take advantage of it" said Lindegaard. "But I want to stress that we will clinch the deal only if we are certain that it is approved by both the government and LOT's board of directors" he added. In 2001, LOT's former investor was declared bankrupt and therefore the government is seeking a new investor to replace the Swiss company. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) A.Z.