Delta May Take Advantage of Connections to Northwest and United in Pursuing a Speedy Merger

Will it be Northwest or United? That seems to be the question on everyone’s mind as Delta Airlines Inc begins its talks with Northwest Airlines Corp and UAL Corp, the parent of United Airlines, to negotiate a merger agreement. Delta CEO Richard Anderson was given permission by the company’s board on Friday to pursue a deal in the hopes that a merger would be the trick to succeeding in the industry, especially considering the recent spikes in fuel prices (see article from The Wall Street Journal).

Though official word has yet to be made about the progress of the discussions, analysts are expecting Northwest to secure the partnership. After creating IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps of the ties between Delta and its merger targets, NewsVisual also predicts that Northwest will be the one to beat. Last Friday’s article and Knowledge Map of the connections that Delta shares with Northwest revealed numerous direct links and relationships through common entities that could have motivated communication between the companies and will likely go far in negotiations and facilitating transitions if an agreement is reached.

Delta and UAL are also shown share a number of noteworthy connections, though they are likely of considerably less influence than the former. Eugene I Davis (Director of Delta) is a Director at Footstar Inc along with Gerald F Kelly Jr (Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of UAL). Other key members of Delta’s Board of Directors are shown to be linked to former UAL Directors and Executives through common entities, which may factor into a deal.

If anything, sharing solid connections with both Northwest and UAL will offer Delta a strong advantage during the deal-making processes. Delta is likely considering all of its assets, including its network and industry connections, especially given the fact the company hopes to complete a merger agreement within two weeks.

Click or copy these links into your Internet Explorer browsers for interactive version of these IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps:

Delta – Northwest: http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=67cb94f8-faa3-40c5-93be-81764f435bc5

Delta – UAL: http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=0902679c-8946-48d6-9e54-f70d5528d634