QANTAS being taken over by Macquarie Bank..

[Takeshi]

Read all the business papers.
This whole thing is becoming a public relations nightmare for Qantas.
They don't even want to make a public breifing now to discuss there 6 month profit release, because they will be bombarded with very dificult questions.

This will no go down to well with institutions wanting to hear about their outlook.
I bet Geoff Dixon wishes that APA never came knocking on his door.
Qantas was going and is going really well, they don't need a bunch on money hungry investmnent bankers to play with his baby.

Go pick on another company, Qantas is doing quite well.
I thought these guys like rescuing airlines that are in trouble, go buy Japan Airlines, they just anounced a 130 million dollar loss for 3 months ouch....
And go buy Alitalia, because no one wants them, but don't play with Australia's national airline, we only have one, and australia is a very far away island from the rest of the world.

 

[bravoecho1]

I bet Geoff Dixon wishes that APA never came knocking on his door.

Geoff has 60 million reasons why he would be glad that APA came along. Yes he said he is donating it to the charities however that is one hell of a tax deduction that is created. Certainly beats investing in plantations and wineries :mrgreen:

 

[QF WP]

Qantas investors torn over whether to accept $5.60-a-share takeover offer may now have harder decision to make after airline unveils robust earnings outlook...

This will certainly bring the share price closer to the offer price, therefore more people will see less value in selling their shares and more angst for the APA shareholders trying to achieve 90%, me thinks ....

Not sure whether the QF execs who were going to profit handsomely by the takeover will be quite so happy :-| ....

 

[simongr]

This is strange. The QF Execs would h have known that the earnings were going to be high when they recommended the offer - and would have known that would jeopardise the offer.

Mind you they would have been in in some difficulty telling the bidder to up the price without informing the share market bahad of the audit of the numbers...

 

[Altair]

Even with the profit increase if the takeover does not go ahead then QAN will go down, but it should not fallback below what the price was before the takeover rumours.
Also remember on 13 February the APA offer will be $5.45 after taking the 15 cent special dividend out.

 

[Takeshi]

Can Barnaby Joyce stop this takeover ?
I know nothing about politics, and wanted to ask, what power has he got.

 

[mabunji]

This is strange. The QF Execs would h have known that the earnings were going to be high when they recommended the offer - and would have known that would jeopardise the offer...

QF Execs have not made any recommendations. Qantas executives are employed by the company - they are pursuing a career within the organisation and looking to protect / enhance their role within the organisation. They are not objective - their opinions hold little value.

The recommendation to accept the offer from APA has been made by each of the nine independant directors of Qantas. As independant directors they have a very clearly defined role under corporation law to ascertain the facts and act in the best interests of all shareholders. Failure to act in a responsible manner and to act in the best interests exposes them to prosecution, and litigation from shareholders.

 

[mabunji]

Also remember on 13 February the APA offer will be $5.45 after taking the 15 cent special dividend out.

The prospect of Qantas paying a special dividend has been recognised for a long time.

As things stand investors will now receive a sum of :

$ 5.45 from APA - this is the 'sale' value to used in ascertaining any Capital Gains Tax payable

Plus

$ 0.15 received as a dividend from Qantas

Plus

a 30% franking credit in respect of the dividend.

Depends on the individual tax circumstances blah,blah;blah ..... but for a number of individual tax payers, Qantas paying the dividend represents a (small) increase in the value of the offer.

 

[JohnK]

The recommendation to accept the offer from APA has been made by each of the nine independant directors of Qantas. As independant directors they have a very clearly defined role under corporation law to ascertain the facts and act in the best interests of all shareholders. Failure to act in a responsible manner and to act in the best interests exposes them to prosecution, and litigation from shareholders.

Independant! Really! I can only keep laughing at the acceptance of this so called hilarious takeover bid.

So the $110 million initial sweetener had nothing to do with the decision to accept the takeover? Nor did their promised stake in the future privatised QF? The exact figure escapes me. Is it around $350 million? Or is it more?

I just wish the definition of conflict of interest was taken into consideration when assessing the desision that has been recommended by the current board of directors of QF.

Of course this is only my own humble opinion and YMMV.

 

[mabunji]

Can Barnaby Joyce stop this takeover ?
I know nothing about politics, and wanted to ask, what power has he got.

The consortium (APA) have voluntarily submitted their proposal for investigation by the Foreign Investment Review Board. Legal advice says they do not have to do this - Business Analysts writing in the newspapers agree that the deal is correctly structured and follows all rules. Nevertheless the consortium are willing to go through this procedure.

The decision now rests with Peter Costello.

Writing in todays Sydney Morning Herald, Elizabeth Knight comments :

" Costello can trash this deal with a stroke of the pen - with the basis that it fails on national interest grounds.
His reasons don't even have to make particular sense.
To date he refuses to be drawn on what criteria he sees as falling within national interest on this proposal".

Costello can sit back, sniff the wind in an election year and make a decision based on gaining an advantage in the public arena. His decision does not have to be fair, have any basis in law, or even be adequately explained.

Barnaby Joyce is a maverick senator with a habit of capturing public attention. He can take up this issue and play to the public arena - but so what.

I would actually like to see someone put up a coherant argument as to why this is a bad idea. (Can any of the Chicken Littles out there actually give some evidence that the sky is about to fall in ?).

Costello holds the second most powerful office in the country. The idea that he does not have to be accountable worries me ('His reasons don't even have to make particular sense') If there is sufficient momentum in talkback radio / newspapers that will guide his decision ?. I would like to think that he would approach the independant directors and seek to understand why they have recommended the offer - why do they believe it will deliver value over the next 5 years or so ?.

 

[simongr]

QF Execs have not made any recommendations. Qantas executives are employed by the company - they are pursuing a career within the organisation and looking to protect / enhance their role within the organisation. They are not objective - their opinions hold little value.

The recommendation to accept the offer from APA has been made by each of the nine independant directors of Qantas. As independant directors they have a very clearly defined role under corporation law to ascertain the facts and act in the best interests of all shareholders. Failure to act in a responsible manner and to act in the best interests exposes them to prosecution, and litigation from shareholders.

Sorry I meant QF Board rather than Execs.

 

[Dave Noble]

From the Sydney Morning Herald

SINGAPORE AIRLINES has denied it is using its part-owned budget carrier Tiger Airways in a plot to undermine the $11.1 billion private equity bid for Qantas.

Four years after Singapore Air abandoned plans to establish a domestic airline in Australia, the carrier rejected any notion on Friday that it was behind Tiger's plans to enter the Australian domestic market.

article at Tiger Airways not spoiling tactic - Business - Business - smh.com.au

Dave

 

[QF WP]

Pandemics, terrorism and oil prices feature prominently in list of risks Qantas shareholders face, according to consortium offering to buy the airline for $11.1 billion...

Upping the ante on the hysterics here IMO...haven't we already been through all of them (SARS, 9/11 and oil) without barerly a scratch .

 

[Takeshi]

Wow Qantas shares took a big hit today, yesterday they were trading at $5.37, and today dropped to $5.22 ?

Why such a big drop, was there some negative news that spooked the market ?

With yesterdays independant valuation, it all looked like a done deal in the making.

Did I miss some negative news ?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Wow Qantas shares took a big hit today, yesterday they were trading at $5.37, and today dropped to $5.22 ?

Why such a big drop, was there some negative news that spooked the market ?

With yesterdays independant valuation, it all looked like a done deal in the making.

Did I miss some negative news ?

normal share price behaviour upon the shares being quoted ex-dividend, price falls by the amount of the dividend payment (since new buyers of QF shares from today do not benefit from the dividend)

 

[Takeshi]

Oh I see ???? I think, so if I sold my shares yesterday I would have got $5.37 a share, but today I will only get $5.22 a share ? so it was still a big drop.

Ok now I understand, thanks

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Oh I see ???? I think, so if I sold my shares yesterday I would have got $5.37 a share, but today I will only get $5.22 a share ? so it was still a big drop.

Ok now I understand, thanks

Not quite. If you sold today you would still get the 15c dividend (the seller gets it not the buyer when share goes ex-dividend).

 

[NM]

Not quite. If you sold today you would still get the 15c dividend (the seller gets it not the buyer when share goes ex-dividend).

To clarify, the person/entity who owned the shares on the dividend date gets the 15c dividend payment. So for shares sold today, the seller will be paid the 15c dividend. But for shares sold yesterday, the buyer would receive the 15c dividend.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

To clarify, the person/entity who owned the shares on the dividend date gets the 15c dividend payment. So for shares sold today, the seller will be paid the 15c dividend. But for shares sold yesterday, the buyer would receive the 15c dividend.

Yup. QF shares were cough-dividend on Monday, ex-dividend on Tuesday.

 

[QF WP]

Hmmm, nice big envelope arrived on my desk a couple of days ago. Mrs LW got hers as well. Looks like I have a weekend of reading it cover-to-cover :-|