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qantas airways posts

Deft maneuvers on the Qantas deal

Posted May 5th 2007 1:10PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals, Private Equity

Last week, it certainly looked like the buyers of Qantas Airways -- Texas Pacific Group, Allco Equity Partners, and Onex Corp. -- did not have enough shareholder support for the $9 billion transaction.

Well, things can certainly change quickly and it appears that a U.S. investor has saved the day. This is according to a report in Bloomberg.

The conventional wisdom was that the tough hurdles of the deal would be the Australian government and unions. Actually, they proved fairly easy compared to some tough shareholders who want to maximize their returns.

Then again, Qantas is a great franchise and continues to grow. So why not try to get top dollar?

So it's going to be a long weekend for Qantas and its determined buyers. Although, this is still not a done deal. Now, in the next stage, Qantas will need to get 70% acceptance on the tender.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Airline industry crackdown: on stewardesses having sex?

Posted Feb 23rd 2007 5:20PM by Sarah Gilbert (RSS feed)
Filed under: Employees, Scandals

The airline industry, oh, it's plagued with problems right now. I'm sure you could help me list them: overcrowding on airplanes, passengers left to suffer overflowed toilets on the tarmac, unappealing food, no food at all. Delays, record financial losses, union woes, price pressures. Yep. The airline industry has issues.

But why focus on the real problems when you can make such a wide public statement that shows your commitment to AIDS prevention? I know, what? Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN) terminated the flight attendant who, reportedly, had sex with actor Ralph Fiennes in an airplane bathroom. Ironically, he was on his way to Mumbai to deliver a speech about AIDS -- bloggers are reporting salaciously that he committed AIDS prevention no-no No. 1 (though I don't know how anyone can be sure about his prophylactic use or lack thereof).

In any case, a high-profile tabloidy encounter between a beautiful flight attendant and a sex symbol of an actor should be the airline industry's least concern.