Investment bank Macquarie Bank and private equity firm Texas Pacific Group have proposed buying out Australian airline Qantas Airways in a deal that could be worth more than A$10 billion ($7.7 billion). News of the potential deal pushed Qantas shares up as much as 21%.

The deal would apparently involve Macquarie taking a 25% stake in Qantas, other Australian investors taking 25%, Qantas senior management 1% and international players led by Texas Pacific Group taking the rest, according to a story in the Australian Financial Review.



This ownership mix would allow the consortium to get around current ownership restrictions that limit one individual entity to no more than 25% of the airline, and international interests collectively owning no more that 49%.

To protect landing rights at airports around the world, Qantas would have to remain majority-owned by Australians, as take-off and landing rights are negotiated between countries.

Analysts told the Financial Review that Macquarie could sell Qantas aircraft to Macquarie’s aircraft leasing business and put Qantas’s terminal assets into Macquarie Airports.

My only comment is this. If a private deal can be put together for Qantas, it can be put together for a major U.S airline just as easily.