Is Trinity's Victor Li Really Intending to Walk Away?
Or is Mr. Li waiting for panic to set in with AC personnel, no-one else officially in sight bidding, and then AC's unions will cave in? Makes sense to me. Or other bids will look worse for AC--if any are made--and then AC's unions will accept whatever he offers.
But sources say that if that deal can't be saved, other investors may be prepared to fill the gap, including the airline's creditors, Cerberus Capital Management LP, and some of the country's largest pension funds.
Sources say there have been preliminary talks between the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board about putting in a joint bid for the airline, should Mr. Li abandon his plans.
"There's a high level of interest among Canadian pension funds for a made-in-Canada solution to this thing ....." according to a source.
"They won't come to the forefront until [Mr. Li's] clock has run out. They would want Li to be out of the way before they show any real interest."
[. . . .] Mr. Milton and his chief restructuring officer Calin Rovinescu drew ire from the airline's employees because they stood to receive millions of dollars worth of stock through their tentative deal with Mr. Li, while rank and file employees gave up hundreds of millions of dollars in concessions.
Mr. Milton and Mr. Rovinescu obtained those concessions on the condition that pensions not be touched, so unions are loath to agree to new concessions from the same bosses.
