TOKYO: Skymark Airlines shares soared yesterday after a report said Malaysia’s AirAsia was eyeing the struggling Japanese carrier, but both firms dismissed the story, with AirAsia’s chief executive saying he had “never seen such rubbish”.
The Tokyo-listed stock jumped 27.77 percent to finish at 230 yen, its maximum allowable single-day gain, on the report in Japan’s leading Nikkei business daily.
The report, which cited unnamed sources, said AirAsia was in talks with its lenders over a possible takeover bid for money-losing Skymark.
In a statement, AirAsia dismissed the story as “speculation” and “just another industry rumour”.
“Never seen such rubbish. AirAsia has no interest in Skymark in Japan,” AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes wrote on Twitter.
“There have been no discussions with Skymark,” he added.
The putative takeover target also questioned the report.
“We’re not aware that there is any truth in what has been reported,” Skymark said in a statement.
In the wake of its bitter split last year with All Nippon Airways (ANA) over a budget carrier joint venture, AirAsia has announced it would jump back into the Japanese market in a tie-up with e-commerce giant Rakuten.
The Nikkei had said the low-cost carrier might create a new local subsidiary, backed by Rakuten, to launch the bid for Skymark to get around restrictions on foreign ownership in Japanese airlines.
Skymark was born out of deregulation measures in the 1990s which were aimed at challenging ANA and rival Japan Airlines’ control of the market.
But the carrier has been reporting ballooning losses as new entrants into the budget sector hurt its business.
The airline was sideswiped when Airbus last month said it had cancelled a $2.2bn jet order with the carrier, apparently over concerns about getting paid.
Skymark shares had lost more than 40 percent at one stage following the collapsed deal.
AFP
