"A Private Affair" – on Four Corners, 8.30 pm Monday 28 May.
May 28, 2007, 12:45 am
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Join Date: Jul 2003
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"A Private Affair" – on Four Corners, 8.30 pm Monday 28 May.
Might be of interest on ABC tonight.....
A Private Affair
Reporter: Ticky Fullerton
Broadcast: 25/05/2007
Nick off, it’s not for sale!… Qantas shareholder’s answer to the takeover offer.
It started with a hug but ended in tears.
Just before Christmas, Qantas chiefs Margaret Jackson and Geoff Dixon staged an unusual public embrace as Bob Mansfield, from private equity suitors Airline Partners Australia, looked on.
Four months later, at exactly 7 pm on May 4, the deal that couldn’t fail nosedived into one of the most humiliating stuff-ups in Australia’s corporate history. Trapped in the wreck was an A-list of Australian business celebrity that featured Jackson, Dixon, Mansfield, James Packer and hotshots from hitherto Midas-blessed Macquarie Bank.
How did the unthinkable happen? Why did the $11.1 billion bid for Qantas fail so spectacularly? And what does the Qantas debacle say about the seemingly unstoppable flood of private equity that is driving takeovers across the globe?
Worldwide, private equity last year reportedly accounted for more than $850 billion, about a fifth of the record $4.6 trillion in deals. And as private equity has ballooned, debate has sharpened. In the UK, it’s now an election issue.
Critics brand the private equity industry as impenetrably secretive and unaccountable, as corporate barbarians and locusts that strip assets, bury good businesses in debt and don’t pay their fair share of tax. But barrackers say private equity injects new life into flagging or undervalued businesses. And it’s free from the pressures of shareholders demanding constant updates and instant dividends. "We drive for a destination, a higher result in three to five years," says Australia’s private equity lobby.
Others invoke the image of a new coach remaking a struggling footy team: "You’ve had a couple of seasons when you disappoint the followers of the team and then all of a sudden that new growth comes through."
Tonic or toxic? Private equity’s pros and cons are examined as Four Corners reporter Ticky Fullerton looks at the Qantas bid and explores another Macquarie deal – the $20 billion takeover of Britain’s biggest water company, Thames Water.
Fullerton looks at how the core business of such a vital utility – providing clean water and sewerage services to the public – might be affected, and how this squares with debt and profits. She also draws some warnings for Australia.
As capitalism constantly discovers new ways of mining capital, this week’s Four Corners asks if the wave of private equity will roll past and peter out, or whether it’s only just beginning to gather strength.
"A Private Affair" – on Four Corners, 8.30 pm Monday 28 May.
A Private Affair
Reporter: Ticky Fullerton
Broadcast: 25/05/2007
Nick off, it’s not for sale!… Qantas shareholder’s answer to the takeover offer.
It started with a hug but ended in tears.
Just before Christmas, Qantas chiefs Margaret Jackson and Geoff Dixon staged an unusual public embrace as Bob Mansfield, from private equity suitors Airline Partners Australia, looked on.
Four months later, at exactly 7 pm on May 4, the deal that couldn’t fail nosedived into one of the most humiliating stuff-ups in Australia’s corporate history. Trapped in the wreck was an A-list of Australian business celebrity that featured Jackson, Dixon, Mansfield, James Packer and hotshots from hitherto Midas-blessed Macquarie Bank.
How did the unthinkable happen? Why did the $11.1 billion bid for Qantas fail so spectacularly? And what does the Qantas debacle say about the seemingly unstoppable flood of private equity that is driving takeovers across the globe?
Worldwide, private equity last year reportedly accounted for more than $850 billion, about a fifth of the record $4.6 trillion in deals. And as private equity has ballooned, debate has sharpened. In the UK, it’s now an election issue.
Critics brand the private equity industry as impenetrably secretive and unaccountable, as corporate barbarians and locusts that strip assets, bury good businesses in debt and don’t pay their fair share of tax. But barrackers say private equity injects new life into flagging or undervalued businesses. And it’s free from the pressures of shareholders demanding constant updates and instant dividends. "We drive for a destination, a higher result in three to five years," says Australia’s private equity lobby.
Others invoke the image of a new coach remaking a struggling footy team: "You’ve had a couple of seasons when you disappoint the followers of the team and then all of a sudden that new growth comes through."
Tonic or toxic? Private equity’s pros and cons are examined as Four Corners reporter Ticky Fullerton looks at the Qantas bid and explores another Macquarie deal – the $20 billion takeover of Britain’s biggest water company, Thames Water.
Fullerton looks at how the core business of such a vital utility – providing clean water and sewerage services to the public – might be affected, and how this squares with debt and profits. She also draws some warnings for Australia.
As capitalism constantly discovers new ways of mining capital, this week’s Four Corners asks if the wave of private equity will roll past and peter out, or whether it’s only just beginning to gather strength.
"A Private Affair" – on Four Corners, 8.30 pm Monday 28 May.
May 28, 2007, 5:44 pm
#2
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May 28, 2007, 8:36 pm
#4
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Posts: 98
) and picked it up where they were talking about Thames Water before they got onto the QF bid.While it did not go into a lot of depth, I found it interesting. It certainly put some light on the motive behind MBL's PE bid.
May 30, 2007, 9:44 pm
#6
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Newcastle, Australia.
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Well, it did come from 4 Corners....
(Better be careful what I write here, I just got arsed from AFF for commenting on this).
Completely failed to realise/ articulate/ even acknowledge that the keyword in "private equity" is PRIVATE. Harped on and on (and on) about the difference in reporting & disclosure standards between public companies and private companies.
Wow, who would have thought?
Loads of wild speculation about mass sackings, asset stripping, all the 1980s takeover rubbish that has long since seen its day. No actual facts or examples, mind you - just wild speculation from Bilbo Baggins of the lower Cambridge water consumer's society or somesuch - clearly an expert on international business management.
Noteable lines of enquiry that failed to emerge:
- How the spin changed from the launch of the QF bid to the failure.
- Why the bid came about in the first place (eg: gross under-valuation of the stock largely due to the cap on foreign investment)
- Macquarie's very strong returns to SHAREHOLDERS, not just the few executives making 8-figure dollars each year (all performance based, mind you).
- Rampant politicking from the likes of the Bundy & Coke socialist (Barnaby Joyce) and the part this played in the failure of the bid.
- Etc, etc, etc....
(Better be careful what I write here, I just got arsed from AFF for commenting on this).
Completely failed to realise/ articulate/ even acknowledge that the keyword in "private equity" is PRIVATE. Harped on and on (and on) about the difference in reporting & disclosure standards between public companies and private companies.
Wow, who would have thought?
Loads of wild speculation about mass sackings, asset stripping, all the 1980s takeover rubbish that has long since seen its day. No actual facts or examples, mind you - just wild speculation from Bilbo Baggins of the lower Cambridge water consumer's society or somesuch - clearly an expert on international business management.
Noteable lines of enquiry that failed to emerge:
- How the spin changed from the launch of the QF bid to the failure.
- Why the bid came about in the first place (eg: gross under-valuation of the stock largely due to the cap on foreign investment)
- Macquarie's very strong returns to SHAREHOLDERS, not just the few executives making 8-figure dollars each year (all performance based, mind you).
- Rampant politicking from the likes of the Bundy & Coke socialist (Barnaby Joyce) and the part this played in the failure of the bid.
- Etc, etc, etc....
May 31, 2007, 7:25 pm
#7
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: The Lounge
Programs: Gloria Jeans
Posts: 98
May 31, 2007, 8:34 pm
#8
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Newcastle, Australia.
Programs: QF Plat+ LTG/ OW Emerald, VA Plat, NZ Gold, HH Diamond, Hyatt Whatsit. Taxation is theft.
Posts: 2,637
The usual complaint I get is "offensive".
Not "wrong", or "misleading", or "innacurate" mind you - just offensive.
Guess the truth really does hurt. But hey, it's Clifford's forum, and he can do with it as he pleases. Anyone who doesn't like it can start their own.
Not "wrong", or "misleading", or "innacurate" mind you - just offensive.
Guess the truth really does hurt. But hey, it's Clifford's forum, and he can do with it as he pleases. Anyone who doesn't like it can start their own.