PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - MERGED: Alan's still not happy......
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Old 1st Jan 2014, 10:53
  #1492 (permalink)  
Oldmate
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Aus
Posts: 139
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Another thing that doesn't sit right for me is the share buy back. Nov 2012 qantas paid off $650 million of debt early, and over the following 6 months spent about $100 million buying back approx 4% of shares on issue.

I'm no expert on how these things work, but a bit of google research indicates share buybacks are conducted when the company has excess cash, to return shareholder value.

12 months later and Alan is in crisis talks, with what seems to be a potential cash flow problem, and share price talked down as low as ever.

My question, could the debt reduction have been conducted to benefit future owners, in the event of another private equity bid? Can the 4% of shares be re-issued to help swing a private equity deal over the line (mitigating against the failure of the previous takeover)?
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