(Bloomberg) — The company created when American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. merge will list its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market, a victory for the exchange operator after losing Twitter Inc.s initial public offering.
American Airlines Group Inc. will trade under the AAL ticker symbol, according to a statement today. American parent AMR Corp. and US Airways settled a U.S. antitrust lawsuit this week that sought to block the tie-up, clearing a judge to rule Nov. 25 on AMRs bankruptcy exit.
The new carrier will be the worlds biggest airline by passenger traffic, passing United Continental Holdings Inc. It will join JetBlue Airways Corp. as the only major U.S. airlines listed by the Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. market.
US Airways currently calls theNYSEhome, as do Delta Air Lines Inc., United and Southwest Airlines Co. — four of the five biggest U.S. carriers. Nasdaq has the corporate listings of Spirit Airlines Inc., Allegiant Travel Co. and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. AMR shares are trading over the counter.
Securing the listing is a boost for Nasdaq after it lost the battle for Twitter, the biggest technology IPO since Facebook Inc. last year. Twitter, which picked the New York Stock Exchange, rose 73 percent on its first day of trading on Nov. 7.
That win for theNYSE, which is now owned by IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc., highlighted how it has gained ground on Nasdaqs dominance among tech companies. Nasdaq has responded with several victories on its rivals turf, stealing Kraft Foods Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. from theNYSEduring the past two years.
Nasdaq has been aggressively courting non-tech companies, said Patrick Healy, the Chevy Chase, Maryland-based chief executive officer of Issuer Advisory Group LLC, which helps corporations decide where to list.
Winning the combined American-US Airways would be a huge win for Nasdaq, he said before todays announcement.
The new American will retain AMRs Fort Worth, Texas, headquarters. US Airways is based in Tempe, Arizona.
