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Change Your Life! |
Singapore Airlines to buy 16.7% of Air New Zealand |
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News |
April 26, 2000
SINGAPORE, APR 25 (AP) - Singapore Airlines said Tuesday it had reached an agreement with Brierley Investments, a major Air New Zealand shareholder, to acquire a further 16.7 percent stake in the airline.
The agreement raises Singapore Airlines' stake in Air New Zealand to 25 percent. Singapore Airlines acquired a 8.3 percent stake in the New Zealand carrier on April 11.
"We are extremely pleased, and in a sense relieved, that after a very torturous process, we got to this stage," Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Officer Cheong Choong Kong told a news conference late Tuesday.
In a statement, Singapore Airlines said it bought the B shares, reserved for non-New Zealand residents, for 240 million Singapore dollars (dlrs 141 million), based on the price of 3 New Zealand dollars (dlrs 1.5) per share.
Under New Zealand law, a 25 percent stake is the maximum that a single foreign airline can hold in Air New Zealand.
But Cheong said Singapore Airlines still hopes to increase its share in Air New Zealand to 40 percent.
"We haven't given up hope of being able one day to go beyond the 25 percent stake. We hope that through our actions as a significant shareholder of Air New Zealand," Cheong said.
"We should be able to persuade the New Zealand government that we are worthy of a higher share holding."
The acquisition means Singapore Airlines will have a strategic stake in both Air New Zealand and Ansett Holdings, the Singapore carrier said in a statement.
Ansett is Australian carrier Qantas' direct competitor in the Australian domestic market.
Singapore Airlines said the acquisition of the Air New Zealand shares is subject to a number of conditions, including Air New Zealand completing its acquisition of the remaining 50 percent of Ansett.
"If all the conditions precedent have not been fulfilled or waived by 30 September 2000, then the agreement will lapse," Brierley said in a statement.
Air New Zealand, which already owns 50 percent of Ansett, is expected to buy the rest of the company from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. by the end of this month.
Brierley is a former New Zealand investment company now based in Singapore.
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