Talks with four potential candidates over Cargolux stake - Lloyd's Loading List

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Talks with four potential candidates over Cargolux stake - Lloyd's Loading List

This very good article reports and summarizes the present thinking at Cargolux: trying to replace the Luxembourg government, holding 35% of CV, as a shareholder by another investor.

Talks with four potential candidates over Cargolux stake - Lloyd's Loading List

Comments:

1. Apart from what seems the government's wish to find a buyer for its 35% share, there is no urgency to find such a buyer. I would dismiss the argument that assumes that the European Commission would want this to happen asap.

2. Allowing for external pressure from the European Commission is bad for decision making. We hopefully still remember Mr. Frieden's fire sale to QR, the lowest bidder.

3. It will be difficult to trust an airline partner after QR almost cannibalized CV.

5. Selling the Luxembourg governments shares doesn't add a cent to CV's capital base. Only acquiring NEW shares would achieve this. Although that is obvious by itself, those who didn't know this should have learnt from the QR debacle.

6. So the Unions shouldn't know what is going on in those negotiations? CV however is not the standard private company, where this would be defensible. It is owned by the government, and CV is a pillar of its newly proclaimed national logistics strategy. The government should actually be interested to share the state of those negotiations with the unions. For the simple reason that the QR debacle had been "negotiated" by management and government representatives who now again don't want to share information. But wouldn't it be prudent for our negotiators to let those who saved them and the company before, know firsthand where things are going? That could spare another painful U-turn later. They can be asked to keep the secret, though my aunt Léontine will tell me all about what's going on anyway in the days to come.