TPG's Bonderman sells off most Continental shares = = = = Thursday September 25, 2:44 PM EDT = NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Texas financier David Bonderman, under risi= ng pressure to address his perceived conflicts of interest in the airline= sector, has sold nearly all the shares he directly or indirectly owned i= n Continental Airlines (CAL), a regulatory filing said this week. Bonderman, who manages the Fort Worth, Texas-based private equity firm Te= xas Pacific Group, helped pull Continental out of bankruptcy in the early= 1990s, and sits on the airline's board of directors. His buyout firm, which specializes in distressed holdings, now has a cont= rolling stake in America West Airlines, and nearly won as lead equity bid= der for US Airways Group during its bankruptcy. Texas Pacific has also be= en reported as one of the final bidders for a stake in bankrupt Air Canad= a. = Gordon Bethune, Continental's chief executive, said last week that talk o= f Bonderman's involvement with other airlines had become a "distraction" = to Continental's employees and management. To settle a put option held by his family's partnership, Bonderman on Sep= t. 19 sold 704,096 shares of Class B stock in Continental at $44.4406 per= share, for $31.3 million, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Comm= ission showed. Bonderman now directly holds just 15,000 Class B shares of Continental. A= t the date of Continental's latest proxy statement, filed on March 26, he= had directly or indirectly held 940,579 shares and options. Bonderman is the sole control person and general partner of the Bonderman= Family Limited partnership, which entered into the put option on July 23= , 2001 -- a move that proved wise. Continental's share price has plunged since then, along with shares in it= s competitors, as the airline industry staggered through the shocks of th= e Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the economic slump. In late July, Bonderman sold 180,483 shares of Class B stock in Continent= al for $43.1027 a share. = =A92003 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS