IAG buscaría a Vueling para competir con Ryanair
Mientras la sospecha de desarmar a
Iberia parecer hacerse más grande -sólo la sospecha-, el conglomerado
anglo-hispano, en particular British Airways, buscó hacerse con Vueling.
Las ofertas lanzadas meses atrás parecían una burla para quien casi
triplicara sus ganancias durante 2012 ¿Cuál sería la utilidad de Vueling
en España? Ampliar un mercado con mucho potencial, abarcado ya por
Ryanair.
Esto, según Air Observer, quien especula
el uso que le dará IAG a las aerolíneas españolas en el mercado aéreo:
Iberia Express servirá para los viajes cortos, mientras Vueling estará
destinado a trayectos medianos, e Iberia tenderá a volar rutas de largo
alcance.
Indistintamente de ello, Vueling tendrá
que hacer gran esfuerzo si quiere desplazar a Ryanair, quien anunció la
tarifa de 10 euros para vuelos trasatlánticos en el caso de que se
concretaran los acuerdos de cielos abiertos entre Estados Unidos y
Europa. Más allá de eso, se suma la participación de liderazgo de la
aerolínea irlandesa,
IAG has
finally decided to get down to business with Vueling. Having raised its offer
by a third Wednesday, the British-Spanish conglomerate expects to win the pot
and makes the low-cost carrier its own. What’s at stake is a potential hegemony
in the Spanish medium-haul market. And this is no bluff.
Winning the pot: IAG’s strategy to win Ryanair
in Spain
I pretty
much foresaw this, even backing my point with solid statistics two weeks ago:
IAG’s offer was way too low for Vueling’s real value. Now, it was still crystal
clear that the multinational conglomerate wouldn’t leave it as it was. In fact,
they did more than just muscling up their offer: they increased it by a third,
from a feeble €7 per share to a solid €9.25 per which is enormous.
However it
is hardly a surprise. There are plenty of reasons why they won’t let Vueling go
away. First, the low-cost carrier nearly tripled its profits in 2012 despite a
looming economy. Then, there is the fact that Iberia, IAG’s subsidiary, has
been in bad shape lately, having to deal with painful restructuring and severe
opposition from the union. Basically, IAG needs a new champion and that would
be Vueling. The low-cost company is the
centerpiece in what appears to be a strategy to snatch the local medium-haul
market (and most of the European one too). By doing so, IAG would have the back
strong enough to butt heads with Ryanair, which has been sitting on the Spanish
throne for a while.
Getting Iberia ready for Vueling.
I already
exposed my point of view on the matter. Basically, IAG is likely trying to
build a warmachine which relies on Iberia Express for the short haul, Vueling
for the medium haul and Iberia for the long haul. This may be one of the extra
reason why Rafael Sanchez-Lozano, former Iberia CEO, threw in the towel earlier
this week and is to be replaced by Luis Gallego (who run Iberia Express). Simply
put, IAG is already sorting things out so that Vueling can fit in just fine. That
might just be putting the cart before the horse although I highly doubt
Vueling’s shareholders will turn down the offer this time: they really put
everything on the table.
What next?
Now
suppose, I say suppose IAG does manage to purchase Vueling, what would happen
next? Let’s just throw out some thoughts for the sake of it. First, they’ll
have to make sure the low-cost company remains as profitable as it was before
and that the new acquisition doesn’t end up having its wings clipped. Also,
they would have to sort out their strategy on the long-haul market: would
Iberia really benefit from focusing on the long-haul market? It is true that,
so far, short-haul and medium-haul have been pummeling the results of the
company, but it’s not certain that it can succeed on its own in the long-haul
market business. And last but not least, will all this effort be enough to
compete with Ryanair?
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