story in ninemsn web site sunday may 6th
Qantas acceptance approval 'unlikely'
Sunday May 6 11:34 AEST
The takeovers umpire is unlikely to clear the way for a private equity consortium's bid for Qantas, with the uncertainty surrounding the offer also raising questions about the future position of the airline's chiefs, analysts say.
The fate of the Airline Partners Australia (APA) consortium's $11.1 billion takeover bid for Australia's largest airline hangs in the balance after a large US hedge fund offered its shares to the group after an important deadline.
The bid effectively failed on Friday night when shareholder acceptances did not reach the 50 per cent acceptance level required to extend the offer by the 1900 AEST deadline.
APA is now applying to the Takeovers Panel to allow the belated acceptance from the US hedge fund, which the consortium believes now gives it claim to 50.6 per cent of Qantas shares, representing 58 per cent of shareholders in Australia's national carrier.
But the panel, which mediates in takeover issues, is unlikely to accept the late acceptance as it would set a difficult precedent, an analyst says.
"I think the Takeovers Panel faces a very difficult decision," Shaw Stockbroking analyst Brent Mitchell told ABC television.
"There is no previous precedents and if they allow this to continue they're setting a precedent that they may not want to honour in the future, so obviously I think it's more likely to stop the bid at this point and not allow it to continue."
Under takeovers law, passing the 50 per cent threshold would have given APA two weeks breathing space to secure the 70 per cent it needs for the offer to fully succeed.
The uncertainty over APA's bid has also put a big question mark over the future of Qantas chairman Margaret Jackson and chief executive officer Geoff Dixon, strong supporters of the bid, said Tim Elliott from MM&E Capital.