PAL stake offered for $200m

PAL stake offered for $200m

MANILA (AFP): Philippines businessman Lucio Tan is willing to
sell his controlling stake in Philippine Airlines (PAL) for
US$200 million with the buyer assuming two billion dollars in
loans, Finance Secretary Jose Pardo said on Thursday.

Speaking in a telephone interview from Prague, where he is
attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank annual
meeting, Pardo said Tan had written to him saying that "he wants
200 million dollars for his controlling interest."

Tan, a close ally of Philippine President Joseph Estrada, also
had one condition: that some two billion dollars in PAL's total
debts, which he had assumed, would be transferred to the buyer of
the national flag-carrier.

Pardo said Tan had authorized him to offer this controlling
block to other investors, adding that he was looking at EVA
Airways and China Airlines of Taiwan as well as interests in
Brunei and the Middle East.