Air Baltic closes in on sale as Lazard lines up bidder shortlist

Air Baltic, the Latvian carrier that’s gone from near collapse to launch customer for Bombardier’s largest C Series jetliner, aims to secure a strategic investor as soon as the end of this year after attracting a global line-up of potential bidders. Lazard Ltd., which is managing the sale, has drawn up a shortlist including other airlines as well as financial investors with aviation experience, and will now commence a period of due diligence before seeking binding bids, Martin Gauss, the carrier’s CE, said. Latvia, which owns 80.5% of AirBaltic, could reduce its holding to below 50% and may opt to sell a majority stake, according to Gauss, who became CE in 2011 when the company was nationalised as it teetered on the brink of collapse. Since then, he has dropped a point-to-point discount strategy in favour of a hub model. <br/>