Qantas bid group says voting power up to 34.59 pc

Sydney, May 4: A consortium bidding for Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd. said Friday it had control of 34.59 percent of the airline's shares, still short of the stake it needs to secure the A billion ( billion) takeover.

The consortium, including Macquarie Bank Ltd. and private equity firm Texas Pacific Group [TPG.UL], hopes a rush of shareholder acceptances ahead of a final deadline later on Friday will push the bid through.

The consortium, Airline Partners Australia (APA), needs 70 percent of shareholder acceptances for its A billion offer to be successful. If it reaches 50 percent by 7 p.m. (0900 GMT) Friday, the offer can be extended for another two weeks.

APA said in a statement it had voting power in 34.59 percent of Qantas compared with 27.78 percent at the last update on Thursday.

The level of acceptances under an institutional acceptance facility was 1.44 percent from 5.19 percent previously.

Including shares placed into the facility by institutions, who can withdraw them if they choose, total acceptances were 36.03 percent, up from 32.96 percent on Thursday.

The offer has been hanging in the balance for weeks after some key shareholders said it was too low, forcing the bidders to ease the offer conditions and offer shareholders incentives to accept.

The fate of the world's largest airline takeover might not be known until the weekend as it would take some time to count votes after the offer closes late Friday, a source familiar with the situation said.

APA will not be legally obligated to make an announcement until the Australian stockmarket opens on Monday.

APA eased its offer conditions for Qantas last month after some key shareholders said the A.45 a share offer was too low. It previously wanted 90 percent of shareholder acceptances, a level at which it could compulsorily acquire the remaining stock.

The sale of the national icon, dubbed the Flying Kangaroo, has met with some political and strong union opposition but was backed by the Australian government as well as Qantas management.

The bid group also includes Allco Equity Partners , Allco Finance Group and Canadian investment firm Onex Corp .

Qantas shares were trading 0.4 percent firmer at A.39 at 0013 GMT.

Reuters>