Qantas takever bid may be alive

SYDNEY, May 5 (UPI) -- The private equity consortium that wants to take over the Australian airline Qantas says its $9 billion bid is alive.

The group, All Partners Australia, late Friday said its offer had failed because it had not reached the 50 percent acceptance level among shareholders required for the takeover to succeed.

However, early Saturday APA announced it had received acceptance from an unidentified U.S. investor that had pushed the group's holdings past this mark.

AOA said it would approach the Takeovers Panel for a further two weeks to advance its bid.

APA is led by Macquarie Bank, Australia's largest investment bank, and the U.S. private equity firm Texas Pacific Group.

Onex Corp of Canada and the Australian investment groups Allco Equity and Allco Finance are also involved in the consortium, which has been pursuing a leveraged buyout of Qantas for six months.

Copyright 2007 United Press International