VIENNA (Reuters) - Former Formula One champion Niki Lauda has beaten out British Airways owner IAG and others to make the winning takeover bid for Niki, the airline he founded, Niki's administrators said on Tuesday.
Lauda's successful bid scuppers a previously agreed sale of Niki to IAG, which was thrown into doubt this month after two courts ruled that the insolvency proceedings had to move to Austria from Germany.
That paved the way for other interested parties, such as Ryanair and Lauda, to bid for the carrier, which most recently was part of failed airline Air Berlin. Niki's creditors met on Monday to pick the best bid, and their meeting ran into Tuesday.
"In the early hours of this morning Laudamotion GmbH emerged from a transparent bidding process as the best bidder," Niki's Austrian and German administrators, Ulla Reisch and Lucas Floether, said in a brief joint statement, referring to a company controlled by Lauda.
They gave no details on the bid's terms but said they expected legal approval for the transaction to follow soon. A spokeswoman for Lauda said he had no immediate comment.
Niki filed for insolvency in Berlin last month after Germany's Lufthansa scrapped plans to buy the Austrian arm of insolvent Air Berlin.
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After hurried talks to ensure Niki retained valuable runway slots, IAG agreed at the time with the German administrator, Floether, that it would buy the business for 20 million euros ($24.5 million), provide 16.5 million in liquidity and make it part of its low-cost unit Vueling.
($1 = 0.8158 euros)
(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
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