Australian government allows Qantas bid

The Australian government has given its permission for a proposed bid of takeover of the country’s flagship airline Qantas.

The deal is worth around $8.8 billion and has been presented by a private consortium including Macquarie Bank. If the deal goes through, it would be the biggest such takeover of an airline company.

Treasurer Peter Costello added that the interested parties have accepted to meet a range of conditions including the one which would require Qantas to be Australian owned and controlled.

Qantas is one of the few global carriers to remain profitable in this competitive aviation market. Australian Prime Minister John Howard had this to say about Qantas: “I hope that the Qantas we know is the Qantas we keep. People like Qantas, it is an icon.”

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