
Please try another search
(Reuters) -Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd on Friday "expressed disappointment" at the country's competition regulator delaying its decision on the carrier's $394 million buy of Alliance Aviation Services.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has delayed the provisional date to announce its final verdict on the deal three times so far, with the decision now expected on March 20, 2023. It began an informal merger review on May 18.
In May, Qantas said it was buying the remaining 80% stake in charter flights operator Alliance Aviation Services for A$610.8 million ($394.03 million).
The regulator, on its website, said the date was pushed back to give the parties more time to submit information. It was not immedietely clear what information had been sought.
The ACCC reiterated in an emailed statement that it was awaiting information from the parties and was unable to provide any comment on the matter.
However, it said that the information was essential to assess the competitive effects of the merger.
The ACCC has previously said its preliminary view was that the deal was likely to hamper competition for air transport services to and from some remote parts of Australia for corporate customers.
Alliance Aviation's charter alliance agreement with Virgin Australia also hangs in the balance, with the ACCC proposing to deny approval for the firms to extend their agreement. If Qantas succeeds in buying Alliance Aviation, the charter alliance deal extension is even less likely to go through.
Alliance Aviation's shares last traded at A$3.23, a 32% discount to Qantas' offer price of A$4.75.
($1 = 1.5501 Australian dollars)
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.