Vienna — Former Formula One champion Niki Lauda has beaten out British Airways owner IAG and others to make the winning takeover bid for Niki, the airline he founded, Niki’s administrators said on Tuesday. Lauda’s successful bid scuppers a previously agreed sale of Niki to IAG, which was thrown into doubt this month after two courts ruled that the insolvency proceedings had to move to Austria from Germany. That paved the way for other interested parties, such as Ryanair and Lauda, to bid for the carrier, which most recently was part of failed airline Air Berlin. Niki’s creditors met on Monday to pick the best bid, and their meeting ran into Tuesday. "In the early hours of this morning LaudaMotion emerged from a transparent bidding process as the best bidder," the administrators Ulla Reisch and Lucas Flöther said in a brief joint statement, referring to a company controlled by Lauda. They gave no details on the bid’s terms. Niki filed for insolvency in Berlin last month after Germany...
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