In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, the Directors of Flight Centre have advised that they have decided to terminate the proposed leveraged joint venture with Pacific Equity Partners.
The statement says that the decision was based on a report by Ernst & Young, which concluded that the proposed transaction was neither fair nor reasonable based on an analysis of Flight Centre’s performance for the year to June 30 2007, with an independent expert estimating Flight Centre’s value to be in the range of $2 to $2.1 billion.
In addition, according to the statement, Flight Centre proceeding with the transaction, would have involved the Company accumulating an unacceptable level of costs and taxes, ultimately preventing the company from meeting the requirements of shareholders.
A copy of the independent expert’s report will be released later today.
Report by The Mole
