With the ACCC yesterday giving the green light to the APA’s $11 billion purchase of Qantas, the next hurdle will be Treasurer Peter Costello approving the FIRB review, allowing the purchase to go ahead from a regulatory perspective.
The final hurdle may be the biggest though with two major fund managers rejecting the purchase price offered for their shares, with the ability to stop the whole deal dead in its tracks as they own 10% of the shares between them and the deal requiring a minimum of 90% ownership to go ahead.
An added complication has also entered the race with a Senate inquiry taking place, aimed at preventing the airline from bypassing existing legislation, but the Government agreeing suggests that the inquiry is no threat to the deal going ahead.
The ACCC’s response said that while some of the consortium participants had varying interests in the aviation industry, none of the activities were likely to result in a “substantial lessening of competition”.
The ACCC also said that while Macquarie had “a level of influence” over Sydney Airport, Macquarie’s influence over the airport was “somewhat mitigated by a series of regulatory and corporate constraints”.
The ACCC said that there weren’t any clear incentives for Macquarie to try to discriminate in favour of Qantas, so the APA’s acquisition of Qantas was unlikely to give rise to a substantial lessening of competition.
Report by The Mole
