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Midwest investor calls for talks with AirTran

Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:20pm EDT

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LOS ANGELES, July 23 (Reuters) - Hedge fund Octavian Global Partners, the largest institutional holder in Midwest Air Group MEH.A, said the airline's board should open talks with prospective buyer AirTran Holdings Inc. (AAI.N), a regulatory filing on Monday showed.

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"There should be no mistaking the fact that the board must immediately engage in constructive and good faith negotiations with AirTran," Octavian Chief Executive Richard Hurowitz said in a letter dated July 11 to Midwest CEO Timothy Hoeksema.

Midwest, which had steadfastly opposed AirTran's hostile takeover offer valued at $15 per share, recently left the door open to negotiations after shareholders in June elected AirTran's three nominees to Midwest's board.

Hurowitz called the current AirTran offer "extremely compelling," adding that "it is irresponsible and wrong for the company not to abide by its fiduciary responsibility to engage with AirTran."

Octavian holds 7.5 percent of its outstanding Midwest shares, which closed at $14.40 on the American Stock Exchange.

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