Howard’s man slams APA bid for Qantas
A report in The Australian says that John Howard’s former chief of staff and other senior finance industry figures have slammed the failed Macquarie Bank-led Qantas buyout at the Australian private equity industry’s annual conference.
The Qantas bid, which was also backed by underperforming investment house Allco Finance, represented the high water mark of the leveraged buyout (LBO) frenzy that helped push company valuations to record highs on the back of cheap credit and triggered major inquiries into private equity by the federal Government and the Takeovers Panel.
Arthur Sinodinos, who recently joined National Australia Bank after a stint at Goldman Sachs JB Were, told the 14th annual Australian Venture Capital Association (AVCAL) conference the Qantas bidders had badly handled their dealings with the Government.
“It was a good example of how not to do a deal in the public arena,” Mr Sinodinos said.
“There was no pre-positioning of the bid.”
He said the benefits of the bid were not properly explained or sold to wary politicians.
“And then there was the pantomime of whether it needed foreign ownership approval,” Mr Sinodinos said.
Australian Securities Exchange chairman Trevor Rowe also chipped Macquarie and Allco, adding, “Maybe losing gracefully is a better look than last-minute squabbling with hedge funds and arguing about extending deadlines,” he said, alluding to desperate manoeuvres by the bidders to resuscitate the deal after it had fallen over.
“You have to know when to pack up and leave.”
Report by The Mole from The Australian
John Alwyn-Jones
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