Qantas shares were put on a trading halt yesterday as the market absorbed a turbulent weekend where Airline Partners Australia's (APA) $11.1 billion bid for the airline was off, then on, then off again.
And now it could be on again.
APA yesterday claimed that its bid did in fact reach the required 50 per cent acceptance rate by the Friday deadline, and as such had a further two weeks to garner the support of 70 per cent of shareholders.
ASIC backed the consortium and queried the Takeover Panel's decision to block the bid.
"APA may have met the 50 per cent threshold prior to the close of the offer, and thus the APA offer may have been extended . . . Having regard to the uncertainty generated by this issue ASIC requested that Qantas request an immediate trading halt," the regulator said.
The Takeovers Panel noted APA's appeal but put the onus on the consortium to clarify the situation.
"The review panel considers that APA should clarify whether this is the situation or not as soon as possible," Takeovers Panel director Nigel Morris said. "This is not a matter for the review to determine."
There had been fears that the Qantas shares would go into freefall on Monday once it had become clear the bid had failed.
APA has said, however, that it is determined to fight on and planned to make a renewed offer for Australia's iconic airline.
"APA is exploring a number of alternatives," the consortium told the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday.
The Macquarie led consortium hoping to pick up Qantas for $5.45 per share has struggled to attract support from shareholders, despite the bid being recommended by the board.
APA had originally announced the bid was a failure because it had not reached the minimum amount of acceptances by Friday at 7 pm.
It later emerged that a wealthy US-based hedge fund investor was prepared to sell a 5 per cent stake in Qantas, but had missed the deadline.
This would have brought the acceptance level to just over the required 50 per cent hurdle and given the bid another two weeks life.
The Takeovers Panel stuck to the letter of the law, however, and denied APA's appeal for an extension.
US based private equity firm Texas Pacific is also part of the APA consortium, as is Allco Equity Partners, Allco Finance Group and Onex Corp.
When InvestorDaily went to press the trading halt was due to be lifted at the start of trading today.
