First BA, now Malaysian
 

Qantas in merger talks with Malaysia Airlines | Travel News | News.com.au


Makes more sense to me than the BA proposal. Unfortunately for us engineering folk, Malaysia=Asia=Cheap maintenance.

Naturally when you have little vision with which to build a business, you sell it off or provide some other circus attraction to divert attention...

Same old same old, strangely not a peep at the AGM :suspect:

Malaysian has been in deep sh1t financially for some time. In the mid nineties, they sold two B744s (OEC & OED) to QF at firesale prices because they were desperate for cash. QF discovered (prior to signing the contract) that Malaysian didn't own the engines, they'd sold them & were leasing them back. Effectively, they had US$8 billion of debt with very few assets as they had already sold the farm.

I don't know their current financial status (they have divested themselves of the loss making domestic operation) but it would be prudent for QF to do the most in-depth Due Diligence on Malaysian before proceeding with any further discussions.

Rather like the Diligence they conducted in order to cover contingencies under APA ownership...

As Michael Pascoe mentioned rather succintly in the SMH to paraphrase him "the executives seem to do pretty well out of these things"..

same same but same :suspect:

Here is a quick glance at MH.

Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MASM.KL): Financial Statements - BusinessWeek

Well, the local rags in their business articles mentioned that Malaysian Airlines are ahead of the curve now & are sitting pretty with a huge cash pile (reportedly, a sum of 1.2 Billion USD :D ) A fact which is confirmed by an article on MAS in Australian Aviation Magazine (Dec 2008).

This cash positive position is what making MAS a favourite target by struggling western airlines for mergers, which ironically has spurned MAS time & time again when they were approached earlier :ugh: Rightfully, the pollie's & business community in Malaysia are wary of any offers now :p

However, the goss now is that one of the avenues that QF & MH are looking at is to expand their LCC offshoot (Jet* & Firefly).At the end of the day, the lower cost of doing business in Malaysia will definitely make things much more interesting for both airlines in any colloboration :}

And of course BA offered strategic synergies, growth opportunities blah blah...

Malaysia seens as good fit for Qantas
 

From today's Weekend Australian . . .

Steve Creedy, Aviation Writer The Weekend Australian| December 20, 2008

QANTAS may pursue Malaysia Airlines following the demise of the Australian carrier's $8 billion merger plans with British Airways.

Merger talks between Qantas and BA ended on Thursday night with failure to agree on a merger ratio.

The market appeared unperturbed by the news, pushing Qantas shares up 21c to $2.64.

Qantas had wanted majority ownership in the deal, reflecting its bigger market value, but BA was not prepared to become a junior partner.

The two had been proposing a dual listed company that would keep both airlines as separate brands, with headquarters in both London and Sydney.

But the deal -- which received a cool reception from analysts, the Australian Government and unions -- faced a number of significant hurdles.

These included governance and the structure of the BA pension fund and its liabilities, currently put at $4 billion.

The airline's management is also understood to have been split on the BA deal with those who supported it seeing the failed deal as a lost opportunity.

The end of merger talks leaves Qantas looking for a new partner in a climate where the opportunities could start to diminish as international aviation is liberalised.

Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation executive chairman Peter Harbison said Qantas would need to find a partner before it became marginalised in the push to consolidate. Mr Harbison said a deal with Malaysia Airlines, run by savvy ex-petroleum industry executive Idris Jala, appeared the most likely partnership option in Asia.

Qantas held unsuccessful exploratory talks with Malaysia earlier this year and executives say it does not have any active merger discussions on the cards at this stage. The Malaysians have since indicated they are still willing to talk.

"I think that could be quite an effective operation," Mr Harbison said. "Really, get Jetstar installed there and you are well into Asia.

"But then again, you have still got to do the deal and Idris is no pushover."

Mr Harbison said a merger with Singapore Airlines, often touted as a good match, was unlikely because of questions of control and potential competition issues.

He believed another possibility often raised, Cathay Pacific, was also unlikely, as were Thai Airways, Garuda, Philippine Airlines and the Chinese carriers.

However, he did not rule out a possible partnership with another European carrier or Japan Airlines in the longer term.

"They have certainly run the flag up the pole and because everybody at the moment is chasing around looking for dance partners before the music stops, it is an important activity to be involved in," he said.

"You have to do something now or your options will be abbreviated."

Sources close to Qantas also suggested Malaysia was the most likely match for the airline in this region.

Mh Not !
 

Well I hope they get it right the 1st time! ! !
Knowing Malaysian Culture if QF don't get the deal right, it will turn into a sh!t fight.
MAS has the worst/laziest/corrupt culture embedded into it at every level !
Goodluck I say ! ! !
Actually in hindsight QF management and MAS management may make a good team. Both snakes in the grass !

Anyone notice the missing ingredient?
 

Hey, I don't see any QF statement about planning to merge with or talk to Malaysian. All I'm seeing in baseless speculation. Until Qantas says they are a'gonna merge and it will be perpetualty controlled by an Australian chief executive, perpetually called Qantas, and perpetually headquartered in Australia, with two third of the board Australian which are the conditions the Gummint reminded Joyce were non-negotiable in relation to BA, it ain't gonna happen.

I'm trying to imagine the Malaysians agreeing to any such thing. Not in a million years. The dribble that gets into the papers, and they gets swallowed by Ppruners makes me feel some of you are totally out of touch with reality.

QAMAS has a certain je ne sais quoi ? :hmm:

Perhaps yet again, too many QF Management with not much knowledge/experience in the big world?

Remember the term Bumiputra when dealing with the Malays, in fact, it's what we want here isn't it?

Qantas has to be on top
 

Just keep site of the fact that Qantas has to come out on top, and give the orders to the Malaysians. That's government policy. Laid out pretty clear in the interviews Albonese gave.

These conditions mean Qantas will never merge with anyone except something like Air Vanuata. Not even the Kiwis will cop this. Underarm is still remembered! All of this merger speculation is such rubbish if it is the answer from the government is always and forever going to be no.

The only way Qantas will survive is to revalue is human resources, invest in proper maintenance, and fix the poxy service they dish up.

Many of the posts here talk of an outright buy out by either QF or Malaysian. The reality is that neither the Malaysian or Australian Governments will tolerate a total buyout. If this rumored merger goes ahead it will be something like the Jetstar or Air Asia model where QF (I assume QF as they are the stronger one) will own 49% of MAS.