IAG in exclusive takeover talks for Niki, says source close to process

British IAG is in exclusive talks to buy Niki, Air Berlin’s insolvent Austrian airline, a source close to the process said Thursday, after Niki’s administrator said that one bidder out of four remained. Besides IAG, the owner of BA and low-cost carrier Vueling, bidders for holiday airline Niki included tour operators TUI, Thomas Cook and former Formula One world champion Niki Lauda. “IAG is the last remaining bidder and is still negotiating now,” the source said, adding that the company had put in the highest offer - a double-digit million-euro amount. German newspaper Bild put the figure at around E40m. Niki Lauda, Niki’s founder, was quoted as saying on the website of newspaper Die Presse that he was out of the running. A source said Thomas Cook was also out of the race. Die Presse also reported, without citing sources, that IAG was likely to be the last bidder. “The provisional creditors’ committee for Niki (...) today decided to continue sales negotiations for the business operations of the company exclusively with one bidder for now,” the spokesman of administrator Lucas Floether said. “(The committee) tasked the provisional administrator Floether to conclusively negotiate the purchase contract over the coming days,” the statement added. The new owner will have to pay Niki’s running costs, including salaries for its roughly 1,000 employees in Austria and Germany, from the beginning of January, Floether said on Wednesday.<br/>