Korean Air aims to complete protracted Asiana takeover next week

Korean Air expects to complete its drawn-out purchase of indebted South Korean rival Asiana Airlines next week, as long as U.S. anti-trust regulators do not object to the creation of one of Asia's biggest carriers. The 1.8t won ($1.3b) mega-deal was first announced by South Korea's largest carrier four years ago to rescue Asiana, which struggled with a plunge in travel demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a sign that the long wait may finally be over, Korean Air on Tuesday moved the date it will take a 63.9% stake in Asiana forward by nine days to Dec. 11. Its plan has been hampered by competition concerns, with the U.S. Department of Justice the last of 14 regulators yet to effectively give it a green light by not raising objections. The DOJ declined to comment. Data from LSEG and Dealogic shows that the time taken from announcement to completion would be the longest ever for an M&A deal between airlines.<br/>A new Korean Air group could account for just over half of South Korea's passenger capacity, and would become the world's twelfth-largest airline by international capacity, a Reuters analysis of airline data from Cirium and OAG shows. Airline consolidation is rarer in Asia than in Europe, which has seen a wave of mergers in the last two decades, and in North America where regulators fear the industry is too concentrated.<br/>