8th Feb 2006 13:59
British Airways PLC08 February 2006 EYE COMPLETION The sale by British Airways of its entire interests in the London Eye to theTussauds Group was completed today (February 8). Under the terms of the dealBritish Airways received £100.45 million for its one third share and itsoutstanding loan to the company. The airline plans to continue its brand association with the attraction byextending its franchise agreement with the attraction. Martin George, British Airways' commercial director said: "Completion of thedeal helps cement the future of the Eye as one of London's icons. British Airways hassupported the Eye for nearly a decade and we are delighted to continue tosupport it through the extension of our existing franchise agreement." ends February 8, 2006 014/KG/06 Notes to editors: A memorandum of understanding on the sale, which included an exclusivityagreement between British Airways and the Tussauds Group, was announced inNovember 2005. At 135metres high, the BA London Eye is the world's largest observation wheel.Since it opened in 2000, it has attracted 20 million visitors. The Eye was conceived and designed by Marks Barfield Architects and has won over40 awards for national and international tourism, outstanding architecturalquality and engineering achievement, including the People's Choice award in 2001and 2002. Certain information included in these statements is forward-looking and involvesrisks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materiallyfrom those expressed or implied by the forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, projections relating toresults of operations and financial conditions and the company's plans andobjectives for future operations, including, without limitation, discussions ofthe company's Business Plan programmes, expected future revenues, financingplans and expected expenditures and divestments. All forward-looking statementsin this report are based upon information known to the company on the date ofthis report. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or reviseany forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, futureevents or otherwise. It is not reasonably possible to itemise all of the many factors and specificevents that could cause the company's forward looking statements to be incorrector that could otherwise have a material adverse effect on the future operationsor results of an airline operating in the global economy. Information on somefactors which could result in material difference to the results is available inthe company's SEC filings, including, without limitation the company's Report onForm 20-F for the year ended March 2005. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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