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The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Airline Partners Australia’s bid to take Qantas private has collapsed at the 11th hour. Samuel Heyman, a US hedge fund billionaire, missed the deadline for acceptance of the $11.1 billion offer on Friday—and regulators refused to allow an extension.
Samuel Heyman explained to the Takeovers Panel that initially the dog had eaten his acceptance, and that subsequently his computer had crashed, several buses had failed to arrive and his car had broken down.
Heyman attributed this improbable sequence of events to the pranks of Mxyztplk, a playful imp from the fifth dimension. When Simon McKeon, the Panel’s chairman, reminded Heyman that Superman had killed Mxyztplk in Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Heyman explained that both he and his dog were also very sick.
At the time of press, Mr Heyman had yet to produce his doctor’s certificate.
Under Australian Securities and Investments Commission rules, APA loses one per cent of the special dividend it plans to pay itself from Qantas for each day its takeover is late.
The mad last-minute scramble for Qantas shares reminded some observers of the Jetstar departure lounge.
