Fox-Lew are preferred bidders
Fox-Lew are preferred bidders
Thursday 8 November 2001
Millionaire businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew are the Ansett administrator's preferred bidders for the collapsed airline.
Administrator Andersen is to make the announcement at a media conference.
ACTU secretary Greg Combet welcomed the announcement of the Fox-Lew consortium as the preferred bidder for Ansett.
The ACTU statement came ahead of the announcement by the administrator.
"This agreement provides the basis for at least 4,000 direct jobs to be saved in Ansett Mark II, with a further 3,000 jobs in regional air services and other Ansett businesses," Mr Combet said.
Other bidders included a group of employees financed by the Ansett Pilots Association - ANstaff - and a consortium led by Lang Corporation.
Mr Fox and Mr Lew announced their $2.5 billion proposal to resurrect Ansett on October 19.
Ansett collapsed on September 13, leaving thousands of Australians stranded. A streamlined operation - Ansett Mark II - began selected flights on September 29.
The Fox-Lew plan was unveiled at Mr Fox's Avalon Airport, west of Melbourne, before heavyweight political interest including federal Transport Minister John Anderson.
The Fox-Lew vision for a resurrected Ansett includes 29 new Airbus A320s, which would fly Ansett's main routes.
Mr Fox said at the time the Fox-Lew syndicate was keen to get operations running as quickly as possible to stop Qantas taking over the market.
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RichardMEL, UA 1K
A Star Alliance Member.