=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2007/01/31/financial/= f084743S20.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, January 31, 2007 (AP) US Airways Withdraws Bid for Delta By HARRY R. WEBER, AP Business Writer (01-31) 09:37 PST ATLANTA, (AP) -- US Airways dropped its hostile $9.8 billion bid for Delta on Wednesday after Delta's creditors threw their support behind the airline's plan to emerge from bankruptcy on its own. Delta Air Lines Inc.'s official unsecured creditors committee said in a statement it reached its decision after a lengthy review of both Delta's proposal and US Airways Group Inc.'s proposal. The creditors committee is a key player in Delta's Chapter 11 case. US Airways had asked for support from the committee, and set a deadline of Thursday. The decision by the committee and US Airways' withdrawal of its offer could clear the way for Delta to emerge from Chapter 11 by the middle of this year. Delta hopes to hold a confirmation hearing on its reorganization plan in April. Delta Chief Executive Gerald Grinstein said it was a proud day for his airline. "Using the bankruptcy process the right way, Delta people have transform= ed their company's business model," Grinstein said in a statement. "Our focus now is on the work still before us to emerge from Chapter 11 this spring as a strong, healthy, and vibrant global competitor." Analysts had said regulatory concerns over US Airways' proposal might be= a bigger issue than the money at stake. Delta had said the US Airways proposal would cause a significant delay in Delta's emergence from Chapter 11 because of how regulators would view the overlapping routes of the two carriers. US Airways had argued regulatory issues would not cause a delay. Delta has said it projects it will be worth $9.4 billion to $12 billion when it emerges from bankruptcy. Its management had said repeatedly it wanted the carrier to remain on its own and not combine with US Airways. The official creditors committee said in its statement that it "has determined that it will support the standalone plan of reorganization as finally agreed upon between Delta and the Creditors Committee that will be filed later this week." "The Creditors Committee reached this determination after engaging in extensive discussions with representatives of Delta and US Airways over the last two months and upon consideration of the advice of the Creditors Committees legal, financial and industry advisors," the statement said. The statement added, "In reaching this decision, the Creditors Committee considered a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, valuation of, the timing and the risks associated with, and the likelihood of a successful consummation of the US Airways proposal and the plan." The committee said it will work with Delta to confirm Delta's plan. In a statement, Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways said Delta Air Lines Inc.'s official creditors committee would not meet its demands by the airline's established deadline of Feb. 1. "We are disappointed that the Committee, which has been chosen to act on behalf of all Delta creditors, is ignoring its fiduciary obligation to those creditors," US Airways Chief Doug Parker said in a statement. "Our proposal would have provided substantially more value to Delta's unsecured creditors than the Delta stand-alone plan." -------------------------------= --------------------------------------- Copyright 2007 AP