Wow, the financial backing of private equity firms never fails to amaze me.

Yesterday, the Qantas Board decided to recommend that shareholders accept an offer for their shares from a private consortium, Airline Partners Australia (APA) consisting of Allco Equity Partners, Allco Finance Group, Macquarie Bank and offshore investors including TPG and Onex at a price of $5.60 per share.

A media release with details of the bid is available at qantas.com

Qantas management is committed to a strong future for the Group and to working with the APA partners, who have valuable expertise both in aviation and business development, to position Qantas for the future.

Under the APA proposal, Qantas will remain majority Australian-owned.

Qantas’ prospective new owners recognise that Qantas is one of the most valued brands in Australia, embodying safety and service through 86 years of private, public and government ownership.

APA has said it is committed to partnering with the current management team on existing strategies, and has endorsed the aircraft and product investment program Qantas has in place.

Whether the bid is successful will be dependent on the consortium acquiring 90 per cent of all shares in the company - a process that will take until the end of February 2007.

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