Airbus Says Accord With Pan Am Involves No Special Financing --- A Wall Street Journal News Roundup
Airbus Industrie said its proposed sale or lease of 28 Airbus jets to Pan American World Airways was a "purely commercial" transaction that didn't involve any preferential financial considerations.</br></br>In Paris, Pierre Pailleret, Airbus commercial director, said the transaction doesn't involve any export credits, preferential interest rates, governmental subsidy or agreement by Airbus to buy aging Pan Am planes.</br></br>"The European taxpayer won't finance this purchase," he added. The Airbus consortium consists of mainly French, West German and British aerospace companies, many of them owned by their respective governments.</br></br>A Pan Am spokesman in New York confirmed Mr. Pailleret's remarks. He also agreed with the Airbus executive's remarks that Pan Am may tap U.S., European and Japanese capital markets to finance the nearly $1 billion transaction. Mr. Pailleret said Pan Am is sounding out major international banks for financing possibilities.</br></br>There had been speculation that because Airbus has numerous unsold aircraft and has been anxious to make a major U.S. sale the consortium might have offered special financing to Pan Am.