On August 22, father and son Alberto Saba Raffoul and Moises Saba Masri made an official bid for AeroMexico after receiving permission from the country's National Banking and Securities Commission, announcing an offer valued at about US$100 million.

Mexico's largest airline is controlled by state holding company Consorcio Aeromexico, which has been trying to sell the carrier to private investors since 2005 but has not received what it considers a viable offer. Archrival Mexicana was sold to an investment group led by Grupo Posadas in late 2005 for US$165.5 million plus assumption of liabilities that brought the total value of the deal to US$1.46 billion.

The Sabas' MXN1.10 (US$0.10) per share offer was deemed low given that the shares closed at nearly double that price on August 20. Consorcio, which is 62% government-owned, saw its stock price drop more than 10% after the offer was made public.

But Moises Saba, a former TV Azteca executive, told RadioFormula that the offer price takes into consideration that any new owner likely would inherit the airline's debt. AM's board is expected to vote on the proposal within 10 days.