TPG says would consider fresh Iberia bid

MADRID (Reuters) - TPG, the private equity group foiled in a 3.4 billion euro ($5 billion) bid for Spain's Iberia (IBLA.MC) would consider bidding for the carrier again if the opportunity emerged, its European co-head said on Wednesday.

"We are always open to considering Iberia again. It all depends whether the board and the core shareholders are open to the idea, but where the company will be in six months time is difficult to predict," Philippe Costeletos told Reuters on the sidelines of a private equity conference in Madrid.

On Monday TPG's team, which included British Airways (BAY.L) and three Spanish funds, said it was abandoning the 3.60 euros a share approach as it could not win the support of other core shareholders.

Instead of selling to the consortium, savings bank Caja Madrid moved to more than double its stake to 23.3 percent last week -- a move analysts said could be politically motivated as Madrid's regional government control the public bank's board.

Costeletos said he did not know why Caja Madrid refused to sell its 10 percent stake, or whether the bank had had a change of heart since March, when it first approached Iberia.

"I wouldn't say it was nationalistic or political or protectionist, I just think that they for whatever reason did not find our offer attractive and they didn't explain why," said Costeletos, the firm's managing director in Europe.

Iberia shares rose 3.6 percent to 3.16 euros by 8:38 a.m. ET after a 17 percent fall between November 16 and Tuesday's close.

NO GOVERNMENT OPPOSITION

Countering speculation that the Spanish Government were meddling in the deal to favor an all-Spanish bid, Costeletos said he had seen "no signs" of opposition from Madrid: "They were very open and transparent".

And he said he was surprised by criticism that the bid was foreign-dominated and that the status of Madrid's Barajas airport could have been weakened. Both were untrue, he said.

Costeletos, who led TPG's buyout of British department store Debenhams, refused to say how much the group would have offered.

"It was only a couple of weeks ago when we talked to core shareholders and told them of our intention to (formally) launch a public offer, if we had their support."

"It was then that we were surprised to hear that some wanted to raise their stake rather than sell," he said.

And Costeletos reiterated the group had not struggled to put funding in place: "When we approached core shareholders at the beginning of this month we had full financing in place".

Under the leadership of Chairman Fernando Conte the airline has cut jobs, slashed routes in the viciously competitive domestic market and added capacity on more lucrative long haul to Latin America where it is the market leader.

"The management is very good and what we would have brought to the table was our experience in the airline industry to accelerate their own plan," he said. TPG founder David Bonderman is Chairman of Irish budget carrier Ryanair (RYA.I) and as the man behind takeovers of Continental Airlines (CAL.N) in the 1990s and the catering arm of defunct carrier Swissair in 2002.

"Our understanding is that management were supportive of our approach," Costeletos said.

Iberia's Conte said at the beginning of this year that Europe's airline sector needed to consolidate.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)