US Airways Group Inc. is willing to increase its hostile takeover offer for Delta Air Lines Inc. by one billion dollars under certain conditions as part of a last-ditch effort to win support from Delta creditors, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

 

US Airways said over the weekend that it would sweeten its 9.8 billion dollar cash-and-stock bid to about 10.8 billion dollars if the official committee of creditors approaches Delta with a demand that the Atlanta airline open itself to due diligence by US Airways, according to the report.

 

To get the additional one billion dollars, all in cash, the committee also would have to ask a bankruptcy judge to postpone a hearing next week on Delta's restructuring plan, people familiar with the matter were quoted as saying.

 

The move by US Airways is aimed at salvaging an acquisition attempt that so far failed to win broad support from the official committee of Delta creditors, which holds much of the power to decide the airline's fate, said the report.

 

The offer from US Airways is set to expire Thursday, and Delta could begin soliciting votes from creditors for its stand-alone reorganization plan following the Feb. 7 court hearing, the report said.

 

In November last year, US Airways, the sixth-largest US carrier, announced a merger proposal to Delta "under which both companies would combine upon Delta's emergence from bankruptcy."

 

Delta, the third-largest US carrier, however, said that it opposed a buyout by US Airways and planned "to emerge from bankruptcy as an independent airline."

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2007)