FR ora punta AB

[Tocky]

Air Berlin up on talk of interest from Ryanair-traders


LONDON/FRANKFURT, July 5 (Reuters) - Shares in German carrier Air Berlin jumped as much as 8.7 percent in strong volume on Thursday on market talk of acquisition interest from Europe's largest budget airline Ryanair.

Air Berlin said it was not aware of any takeover interest from Ryanair.

"Ryanair has a policy of not commenting on market rumours or speculation," said a spokesman for Ryanair.

By 1155 GMT, shares in Air Berlin were up 6 percent at 17.1 euros with 1.3 million shares traded compared with average full-day volume of 1.0 million over the past 30 days.



In May, the chief executive of Air Berlin said he was keeping an eye on the consolidating European airline market after snapping up German rivals recently to expand its network with domestic and intercontinental routes.

The airline listed on the German stock exchange a year ago with an initial public offering priced at 12 euros a share.

(Additional reporting by Paul Hoskins)

[Kenadams]

Non vedo molte sinergie fra Air Berlin e Ryanair. Dunque immagino che, se l'intenzione c'è davvero, l'acquisizione dovrebbe comportare il mantenimento del marchio AB, piuttosto che la fusione delle operazioni. Altrimenti mi sembrerebbe un modo rischioso per FR di penetrare nel mercato tedesco.