JAL mulls raising $2.8 bln

TOKYO — Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL) is considering plans to raise around 250 billion yen (2.8 billion dollars) by March next year to help finance its restructuring, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

Under the plan, Japan's cash-strapped carrier will request 100 billion yen in loans from financial institutions, the Nikkei business daily reported.

It will separately raise more than 100 billion yen by issuing new shares, while raising a further 50-60 billion yen by selling stocks in subsidiaries and other assets, the newspaper said.

JAL plans to ask aircraft makers, trading houses, investment funds and the government-run Development Bank of Japan to take stakes, it said.

US carrier Delta Air Lines has already told JAL of its interest in investing up to 50 billion yen, local media earlier reported.

Such an investment would give the world's largest airline operator a stake of up to 11 percent in JAL, which is undergoing a government-supervised reorganisation, media reported.

Jiji Press, meanwhile, reported AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, had also shown interest in buying shares in JAL or setting up a joint venture with the Japanese carrier.

JAL is likely to go ahead with talks with AMR if it fails to reach an accord with Delta, Jiji said. Both American Airlines and JAL belong to the oneworld global airline alliance.

JAL lost more than one billion dollars in the April-June quarter and has announced more than 11,000 job cuts since 2005.

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