From the ABC

I won't prevent Qantas break-up: PM

The Prime Minister, John Howard, says he does not want to see Qantas broken up by new owners but he would not support changing the law to prevent it.

The airline has received an approach from Macquarie Bank and Texas Pacific Group, but says discussions are confidential and incomplete.

Mr Howard has told Southern Cross radio he could not stop Qantas being broken up by new owners and he does not plan to try to give himself the power to prevent such changes.

"There is not a case for breaking up Qantas but there's also not a case for governments over-reacting to moves in a market," Mr Howard said.

"We can't preach the philosophy of the free market and every time something arises which might look a bit uncomfortable dart around and say we're going to pass a new law to stop it happening - you can't run a country like that."

Qantas takeover bid still alive

A new takeover bid for Qantas appears imminent, after a failed first attempt yesterday.

A Macquarie Bank-led consortium, including both local and foreign partners, has put an offer of $5.50 a share on the table, valuing Qantas at $10.9 billion.

-----------and... Qantas agrees to takeover

By Steve Creedy and Michael West

December 14, 2006 01:00am

CORPORATE raiders last night struck a deal worth $11 billion to take over Qantas, after sweetening an offer that was rejected by the airline's board earlier in the day.

Airline Partners Australia increased its offer by 10c a share to swing the Qantas board in favour of the deal.

A source close to the Qantas (qan.ASX:Quote,News) deal said insiders - after weeks of tense negotiations - were confident an agreement would be signed today.

Qantas's non-executive directors earlier said a $5.50 per share cash bid by the consortium was not acceptable, citing the complex terms of the offer. It is understood they were not prepared to accept a $100 million break fee if the deal failed to go through.

Most of the conditions have been changed to placate the Qantas directors.

Executive directors Geoff Dixon and Peter Gregg, who did not vote on the offer because it reportedly involves a 1 per cent stake for senior managers, later backed the rejection in a note to staff.

------------------------------

Gus: I suppose then that since Qantas is going to be owned privately by mostly overseas (US) interests at the helm, the Australian government has no alternative but to remove all the privilege it has in regard to protection from competition on routes that presently are the only Qantas domain. Otherwise this would smack of collusion, racketeering,, etc... We, the flying public sheep, are in for a rough ride, with thin sandwiches being replaced by fake Anzac biscuit made china. But beyond that, the price of 11 billion is way way under value if one had to replace half the stock of planes and one should be wary of the Ansett demise after News Ltd let it run so lean, that just after it sold its shares to Air New Zealand for a few hundred million bucks, Air New Zealand could not sell the whole lot for ONE dollar. This ongoing privatisation saga has flown the coop of Ben Chifley's ideals...

From the ABC

Govt undecided on Qantas sale conditions: Vaile

The Acting Prime Minister, Mark Vaile says no decision has been made on whether the Federal Government will attach specific conditions to the Qantas takeover bid.

The Airline Partners Australia (APA) consortium has proposed an $11 billion buy-out of the airline.

It will have to meet a series of foreign ownership and other regulatory obligations for the deal to go ahead.

Mr Vaile says Qantas occupies a unique position in the Australian economy but the Government cannot be too prescriptive.

"On the commercial side of things, that's a matter for the market," he said.

"It's a bit difficult to put overly restrictive requirements on there, but certainly it would be in the national interest to maintain a high level of skill in the aviation industry in Australia."

Newspaper reports today say Qantas will need to keep jobs and maintenance facilities in Australia if the takeover bid is to win Government approval.

-------------------------

Gus: Cheap as chips... A big part of this airline —an ailrline that rakes in half a billion dollar profit a year — for 11 billion (thus valueing the airline at less than 20 billions) is cheap... Undervaluing it by a factor of nearly four!... Someone somewhere is going to make a packet and eventually win concessions on already laxative requirements for jobs in Australia, when the going gets tough (profits going down a bit) and the new owners cry poor, obligatorily...

Market forces can be and ARE manipulated to suit the purpose of the whatever takeover... then it's dog eats god, afterwards. Cheap trick...

Consortium formally lodges Qantas takeover bid
Airline Partners Australia (APA) has formally lodged its $11 billion bid for Qantas.

The Macquarie Bank-led private equity consortium launched its bid in December, quickly raising the offer to $5.60 per share after an initial knock-back from the Qantas board.

Today the formal bidder's statement has been lodged with the corporate regulator and the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).