Qantas rejects the money men

Qantas says it is worth more than $11 b

Qantas, Australia's biggest airline, rejected a A$10.9 billion ($8.6 billion) buyout offer from Macquarie Bank Ltd. and Texas Pacific Group as ``not acceptable.''

The other bidders included Allco Equity Partners, Allco Finance Group Ltd. and Onex Corp.

The firms offered to pay A$5.50 a share, the Sydney-based carrier said in a statement today, calling the offer non-binding and conditional. The proposal is 26 percent higher than the price Qantas shares traded at before the airline said it was in talks. The stock fell to as low as A$4.93 today.

Market observers predicted the rejection will not be the end of it.

Talks with the airline may still continue, said Greg Bundy, executive chairman of InterFinancial Ltd., a merger advisory firm in Sydney, and former head of Merrill Lynch & Co.'s Australian unit. ``This won't be the end of it,'' he said. ``It's not only a matter of price. Political issues will count just as much as financial.''