Korean Asiana Airlines sells its cargo business... Who are the likely acquisition candidates?

With the board of directors of Asiana Airlines finalizing the sale of its cargo business on the 2nd, the trend of the low-cost carrier (LCC), which is seen as a strong acquisition candidate, is attracting attention.
Regarding the company's cargo business, LCCs that are being talked about as possible acquisitions include Easter Air, T'Way Air, Air Incheon, and Air Incheon.
There are four companies, including Apremier. As the sale was decided on that day, there are still some formalities to be completed before the sale begins, but it is already attracting a lot of attention in the market.
This is because the company's cargo business has generated stable sales of at least 1 trillion won (approximately 112 billion yen) annually over the past five years.
This is because it is an excellent property. This has been a pillar of support for the company's management, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, when the aviation industry faced a crisis. The cargo business, which accounted for around 20% of the company's sales until 2019,
The percentage rose to up to 72% (in 2021) as freight rates skyrocketed due to the impact of the COVID-19 virus.
Specifically, the company's annual cargo sales will be 1.3 trillion ~ from 2017 to 2019.
It used to be 1.4 trillion won, but rose to 2.1 trillion to 3.1 trillion won from 2020 to 2022 during the coronavirus pandemic. However, cargo business sales in the first half of this year
The sales amount was 779.5 billion won, accounting for 21.7% of the total sales, and the percentage of sales is decreasing. Since the beginning of this year, freight rates have normalized and the percentage of sales has decreased, but in the industry, the company's freight business
We still highly value the potential of In the case of LCCs in particular, if they acquire the company's cargo business, they can expect to quickly expand their scale. However, some believe that the size of the LCC and the company's cargo division is
Some analysis suggests that the two companies are so different that it would not be realistically easy to acquire them. Of the four companies listed as acquisition candidates, the one that is closest to the company in terms of freight traffic in the first half of this year is a freight-only company.
Air Incheon is a commercial airline. However, there is still a large difference in scale. According to the Korean aviation portal, Air Incheon's net cargo (excluding mail and baggage) transportation from January to June this year
The amount was 20,243 tons, which was 7.2% of Asiana Airlines (279,097 tons). T'way Air's 6999 tons at 2.5% level, Air Premier's 79 tons at 2.8% level
It was 61 tons. Easter Airlines is proceeding with the process of re-obtaining its Cargo Operations Certificate (AOC), which was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Obtain AOC within this year and convert quickly.
The goal is to restart the business. However, it is unknown whether the four potential candidates will actually participate in the takeover battle. Asiana Airlines says it will proceed with the sale on the condition of job succession and maintenance.
We have a policy in place. The specific terms of the sale and employment succession are expected to have an impact on the acquisition.