Word: shahs
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...loan is only one in a growing number of bold business ventures by the Shah. Last year Iran bought a 25% chunk of the steel-producing division of West Germany's Krupp concern for $100 million, and Iranian banks participated in a $200 million loan to the Grumman Corp. Last week the Shah also unveiled a grandiose $5 billion project for the modernizing of Tehran, his capital...
...Shah's loan to Pan Am would come just in time. The airline lost an estimated $75 million in 1974 and $165 million in the five years before that. This year's prospects offer little cheer for the airline. Jet fuel costs are still at record highs, the recession is cutting into tourist travel, and payments are constantly coming due on the company's huge debt...
...that, the Shah finds appealing a huge investment in the airline. The reason: in return for its massive loans, Iran could draw on Pan Am's technological and marketing skills to help fulfill the Shah's dream of making his Iran Air a major force in international transportation. In fact, Iran last week bought six Boeing jumbo jets from Trans World Airlines and plans to acquire three Anglo-French supersonic Concordes. As a sweetener for granting the loan, Iran would also get a chance to buy the controlling interest that it has been seeking...
Worldwide Prestige. Most of all, perhaps, the Shah is attracted to Pan Am by the worldwide prestige he will enjoy from his association with the airline. In many nations, the "blue meatball"-as airline executives refer to Pan Am's familiar globelike insignia-is regarded as a symbol of American technology and economic power...
...Aeronautics Board will block the deal. This could change if Iran decides to seek some equity in the firm; in any event, it cannot be more than 25%-the limit set by law on foreign ownership of U.S. airlines. In some ways Washington may be secretly delighted with the Shah's offer of cash. Because of it, American bankers will probably renew their lines of credit to Pan Am when they come due; without the Shah's money, the likely alternative to a Pan Am bankruptcy would have been a hefty $10 million-per-month Government subsidy...