Northwest (NWA) would rather buy competition than improve

Tom Barlow — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Deals, Bad News, Private Equity, Contl Airlines'B' (CAL)

In another lap tray to the belly, customers of Milwaukee-based Midwest Air Group (NYSE: MEH), repeatedly named as one of the nation's best airlines for customer service and comfort, learned today that the airline will be purchased by a group led by TPG Capital. The investor group includes Midwest's competitor Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA), which is reviled by passengers for its cattle-car seating, lack of timeliness and failure to understand the concept of customer service

The acquisition offers little in the way of synergy to the two airlines. They duplicate many routes, and Midwest flies the Boing 717, while Northwest uses 747s and 757s. What the deal does accomplish is to block the expansion of a potential competitor in Northwest's upper midwest routes. While the deal secures the present management of Midwest, I suspect it's just a matter of time before the malaise reaches Milwaukee.

Midwest has been fighting off suitor Airtran Holdings' (NYSE: AAI) hostile takeover attempt, which reached $15.75 and $389 million before it folded its cards late last week. TPG, which grew out of the Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) takeover in 1993, is offering $16 per share, or over $400 million, to take the company private. The Midwest board voted Sunday to go forward with the TPG offer, and an agreement is expected by midweek.

Northwest (NWA) would rather buy competition than improve originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Analyst downgrades 6-11-07: AAI, UAUA and the REIT sector

Eric Buscemi — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Blockbuster Inc 'A' (BBI), UAL Corp (UAUA)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Airtran Holdings Inc (NYSE: AAI), UAL Corporation (NASDAQ: UAUA) and the REIT sector were today's noteworthy downgrades:

Calyon downgraded shares of Airtran Holdings to Neutral from Add, citing concerns with AAI's yield trends.
The firm also downgraded shares of UAL Corp to Add from Buy based on higher fuel prices and slightly weaker-than-expected RASM increases.
Stifel downgraded the REIT Sector citing rising interest rates and mutual fund outflows, among other reasons. Companies that include Cedar Shopping Centers Inc (NYSE: CDR), Kimco Realty Corporation (NYSE: KIM), Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE: KRG), Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE: RPT), Simon Property Group Inc (NYSE: SPG) and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc (NYSE: SKT) were downgraded to Hold from Buy.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Morgan Joseph downgraded shares of Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ: PENN) to Hold from Buy on valuation.
CBOT Holdings Inc (NYSE: BOT) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
JP Morgan downgraded shares of Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) to Underweight from Neutral, as the firm believes the company's growth will be impacted by Blockbuster Inc's (NYSE: BBI) Total Access offer.

Analyst downgrades 6-11-07: AAI, UAUA and the REIT sector originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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