Singapore Airlines to buy half of Ansett

Business Asia, April 5, 1999

Asian carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) will buy a 50 per cent stake in Australia's second major airline, Ansett Australia, from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

News Ltd, the Australian arm of News Corp, said Singapore Airlines would pay A$500 million (US$318 million) for a half share in Ansett Holdings, subject to regulatory approval.

"We are confident that SIA, one of the world's best airlines, is ideally positioned to ensure Ansett's continued growth and business recovery," Mr Lachlan Murdoch, chief executive of News Ltd, said recently in a statement announcing the sale.

Ansett Holdings, half-owned by Air New Zealand Ltd, owns 100 per cent of the domestic airline Ansett Australia and 49 per cent of Ansett International.

The Ansett sale would be completed in the second half of 1999.

Singapore Airlines chief executive Mr Cheong Choong Kong said the Asian carrier was committed to expanding Ansett's domestic and international operations.

Cashed-up Singapore Airlines has been reported as saying it plans to use the carrier's strong financial position to transform the company into a group of global airlines and related companies.

Singapore Airlines posted a US$278.64 million net profit in the six months to September 1998 and has total assets worth almost US$9.8 billion.

"SIA is growing in response to the increasingly global needs of airline travellers and this major financial commitment to the Australian market is a logical development," Mr Cheong said.