"Melbourne Age" Breaking News
Virgin not to blame: Tesna. .February 27 2002. .AAP
. .The Tesna syndicate said today the termination of its talks with Virgin Blue had not contributed to its decision to pull out of a deal to buy Ansett.
Tesna, headed by millionaire businessmen Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox, confirmed it had withdrawn less than 48 hours before tomorrow's midnight deadline set by Ansett administrators, Andersen.
There had been speculation of a takeover or merger between the two companies.
Mr Lew and Mr Fox said in a statement they were aware that some observers might attribute today's announcement to the end of its negotiations with Virgin Blue, but this would be wrong.
"In itself, the Virgin Blue/Tesna outcome had very little bearing on where we are today," they said.
"The simple reality is that the sale agreement cannot be completed by February 28.
"Our commitment and ability to work with the administrators and other parties to achieve this was never influenced by whatever discussions were taking place with Virgin Blue."
The Tesna syndicate held closed-door meetings with rival Virgin Blue for three weeks earlier this month.
The talks began with a series of preliminary discussions in London early this month when Mr Fox and Mr Lew and the company's US investor David Bonderman met Virgin Group boss Sir Richard Branson.
It was speculated Tesna and Virgin Blue were looking at setting up working agreements to challenge Qantas's stronghold and to negotiate the shared use of Ansett terminals.
On February 22, Virgin Blue ruled out any deal with the Tesna consortium.