SkyWest completes acquisition of Expressjet; Alaska Air trading at 12-year high; Republic up
SkyWest (+0.9%) gained in a day of mixed trading for North and South American airlines. The carrier rose after announcing the completion of its acquisition of ExpressJet Holdings, the parent company of ExpressJet Airlines. As a result of a merger transaction, ExpressJet Holdings has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest.
SkyWest confirmed its intention to combine the operations of ExpressJet and Atlantic Southeast, subject to receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, and utilise Atlantic Southeast's existing facilities in Atlanta as the operating headquarters of the combined company.
SkyWest anticipates that both airlines will continue to operate under separate airline operating certificates until the regulatory process can be completed for combining the airlines under a single operating certificate. Pending receipt of that single operating certificate, Atlantic Southeast intends to transition certain existing ExpressJet support functions to Atlantic Southeast and SkyWest.
See related CAPA Profile: Privatisation and Ownership
Alaska Air trading at 12-year high
Alaska Air (+0.3%) also made a minor gain for the session, after Nasdaq stated the carrier is trading at a 12-year high. The carrier's stock has risen 14% in the last month and ended the current session at USD54.05.
Air Canada (+3.2%) and TAM (+1.3%) were also up.
Republic Airways upgraded by Deutsche Bank
Republic Airways (-0.3%) slipped after Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Linenberg raised his rating of the carrier's stock from "hold" to "buy". Mr Linenberg also lifted his price target for Republic from USD6.50 to USD13.00, as well his earnings forecast. The analyst attributed the increases to the integration of Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines into "one successful operating model". Republic's stock has traded in a 52-week range of USD4.48-9.58. It closed trading at USD8.07.
Delta Air Lines (-1.9%), American Airlines (-1.9%) and Allegiant (-1.8%) also fell for the session.
North & South America selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 15-Nov-2010
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Yahoo! Finance