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Australian businessmen remain committed to buying Australia`s Ansett
Australian businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew late Tuesday said they remain `unambiguously committed` to buying struggling Australian airline Ansett Australia.
Australian businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew late Tuesday
said they remain "unambiguously committed" to buying struggling Australian
airline Ansett Australia.
But the two businessmen, who have teamed under the banner of Tesna Holdings to
be the preferred bidder for Ansett, said they want clarification from the
Australian government on competition issues and government passenger business.
Earlier Tuesday, the government refused to fully meet Tesna's requests for special concessions on such issues. Should Tesna drop out of the race for Ansett, waiting in the wings is a rival bid from Australia's Lang Corp. (A.LAC) and Richard Branson's Virgin Blue airline. Air New Zealand Ltd. (A.AIZ) placed its Ansett unit into administration on Sept. 12. The administrators grounded Ansett's planes two days later but have since restarted limited services while they negotiate with bidders for the airline.
In a statement, Tesna said it intends to "work with the administrators to finalize all transitional issues for the transfer of ownership on Jan. 31, 2002." However, Tesna said it wants clarification on the government's plans for protecting competition in the domestic aviation market. It also wants to know how much of Ansett's previous government business will be restored. Last year Ansett received A$112 million of government business, out of a government travel budget of A$290 million, Tesna said.
"The request for a commitment for government business seeks the restoration of some of the government business previously held by Ansett, and it shouldn't be represented as either new business or a taxpayer subsidy," Tesna said.
Earlier Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson told reporters the government won't make specific changes to competition laws to shield Ansett from competition or agree to repurchase airline tickets from Ansett for its own use.
Bureau Report
Earlier Tuesday, the government refused to fully meet Tesna's requests for special concessions on such issues. Should Tesna drop out of the race for Ansett, waiting in the wings is a rival bid from Australia's Lang Corp. (A.LAC) and Richard Branson's Virgin Blue airline. Air New Zealand Ltd. (A.AIZ) placed its Ansett unit into administration on Sept. 12. The administrators grounded Ansett's planes two days later but have since restarted limited services while they negotiate with bidders for the airline.
In a statement, Tesna said it intends to "work with the administrators to finalize all transitional issues for the transfer of ownership on Jan. 31, 2002." However, Tesna said it wants clarification on the government's plans for protecting competition in the domestic aviation market. It also wants to know how much of Ansett's previous government business will be restored. Last year Ansett received A$112 million of government business, out of a government travel budget of A$290 million, Tesna said.
"The request for a commitment for government business seeks the restoration of some of the government business previously held by Ansett, and it shouldn't be represented as either new business or a taxpayer subsidy," Tesna said.
Earlier Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson told reporters the government won't make specific changes to competition laws to shield Ansett from competition or agree to repurchase airline tickets from Ansett for its own use.
Bureau Report