
The Qantas private equity bid may not have enjoyed a soft landing in light of recent world financial market turmoil. (Andrew McLaughlin)
Disaster averted?
According to the Grant Samuel report in the Airline Partners Australia (APA) 221 page Target Statement for the ill-fated $11. 1 billion private equity buyout of Qantas, the airline would have required a following wind to succeed.
As history has shown, the US sub-prime loan driven debt crisis and subsequent world financial market turmoil begs the question: what would have happened if the deal had gone through? Australian finance company Allco was the biggest player in the APA bid through Allco Equity Partners, which had 35 per cent of voting rights, and Allco Finance Group with 11 per cent, while Macquarie Bank had 15 per cent. In the foreign corner was Fort Worth based Texas Pacific Group with less than 15 per cent, Canada’s Onex Corporation with nine per cent and other foreign investment funds holding around 15 per cent.
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