Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
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March 12, 2007

Australian Government Approves Sale of Qantas
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=169CE4A:A6F02AD83191E160EBBD4E77853D7B0B9574F7DCC14957C0 Meantime, Hong
Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways has posted a better-than-expected rise
in annual net profits





A Qantas jet parks on the tarmac at Sydney Airport, Thursday, 08 Feb
2007Australia's government has cleared the way for the sale to an
international group of the country's flag carrier, Qantas Airways,
while Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways has posted a
better-than-expected rise in annual net profits. Claudia Blume has
more on these and other Asian business stories from VOA's Asia News
Center in Hong Kong.

The Australian government has approved an $8.8 billion takeover bid
for Qantas Airways. The bid was made by Airline Partners Australia, a
private consortium that includes Australia's Macquarie Bank, the U.S.
private equity firm Texas Pacific Group, and Canadian investor Onex.

The North American representation in the consortium has made the sale
of the national flag carrier politically sensitive. Treasurer Peter
Costello says the government approved the takeover only after the
group agreed to a range of conditions.

"Foreign majority ownership of Qantas will not occur. Foreign control
of Qantas will not occur," Costello says.  "A majority of directors of
Qantas must be Australian citizens, and Qantas must remain based in
Australia."

Qantas shareholders have yet to make a final decision on the sale.

Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific posted a 24 percent rise in
annual profit for 2006: $520 million, up from $420 million a year
earlier. Record passenger numbers and growth in freight volume spurred
the profit increase.  Last year's merger with smaller rival Dragonair
- which gave Cathay new routes into the lucrative Chinese market -
also contributed.

U.S. banker Citigroup says it will launch a $10.8 billion takeover bid
for Japan's third-largest brokerage firm, Nikko Cordial. If the deal
goes ahead, it will be the largest acquisition of a Japanese company
by a foreign firm.

Citigroup already owns a 4.9 percent stake in the Japanese brokerage,
which is facing possible delisting from the Tokyo stock exchange for
false accounting. Taking full control of Nikko Cordial would help the
U.S. company strengthen its presence in Japan.

China will not allow any new Internet cafes to open this year. State
media say the new restrictions are part of a campaign to combat the
rising problem of Internet addiction and online gambling. Cyber cafes
that have already received approval must be completed by the end of
June. There are currently more than 100,000 Internet cafes around the
country.  


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