British Airways closes in on BMI deal as suitors found for bmibaby International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of BA and Iberia, agreed in December to acquire BMI for £172.5m but that deal was subject to "significant reductions" should Lufthansa not succeed in first selling its bmi regional and bmibaby airlines. Intro Aviation, a German turnaround specialist, has now emerged as an interested party in bmibaby. "We have expressed our interest and the whole procedure is now beginning," Peter Oncken, chief executive, reportedly said. The books are being opened and we are looking at the business in detail. We will see if it can be restructured. A spokesperson for BMI said: "With respect to bmibaby there are several interested parties and we are in the process of identifying the preferred buyer and aim to conclude a purchase agreement as soon as possible." The group said there had also been significant progress in offloading the regional arm. "Regarding bmi Regional we have concluded an agreement with a UK based investor group which is subject to certain pre-conditions which are to be fulfilled," the spokesperson added. The identity of the buyer for the regional arm remains unclear but it is said to have previous links with the business. Shares in IAG, which wants to acquire BMI for its take-off and landing slots at Heathrow, rose 2.1 to 167.6p.