Australians are very proud of Qantas - their airline with the flying Kangaroo on the tail - although many foreigners are mystified by the name. QANTAS stands for Queensland and Northern Territory Air Services, where it originated - and it holds the distinction of being the safest airline in the world. It has never had a crash that killed a passenger.
Many people were overjoyed this week when an $ 11 billion dollar takeover by a consortium of Macquarie bank and a Texas investment group failed.
There were fears that in foreign hands the airline's international and domestic roles would be separated, servicing of aircraft would be sent overseas with the loss of skilled jobs here - and the name and that flying Kangaroo on the tail may even have changed.
It all hinged on a fifty percent acceptance by shareholders prior to 7 PM on Friday night, and when that time came acceptance fell short - and the deal lapsed.
But now a new problem has arisen. Under Australian law Qantas must be Australian owned and foreigners can not hold more that 49% of the shareholding. During the hectic buying and selling of shares during the takeover bid the Qantas board lost sight of the ratio - and it is now possible that more than 49% is in foreign hands.
The Qantas board will face draconian punishment and has no option than to comply with that law - which would also apply to the new owners had they been successful - and reduce the foreign ownership to the required level. There will be headaches - and cost problems - when the board meets to resolve that problem !
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