The private equity group bidding for Australia's Qantas airline said Thursday it has restructured its offer to ensure success, lowering the threshold of shares it needs to 70 percent from 90 percent.
The announcement was widely expected after stakeholders who held enough stock to block Airline Partners Australia's initial bid indicated they would not support the takeover.
The consortium, led by Australia's Macquarie Bank and the Texas Pacific Group, said in a statement that it decided to lower its minimum shareholder acceptance condition after talking to its financiers.
It also extended the closing date of the offer of 5.45 Australian dollars per share - or a total of 10.82 billion Australian dollars ($8.92 billion)_ for two weeks.
The offer is backed by Qantas' board.
Qantas shares rose on the news, which came shortly before the market closed, finishing at a record high of 5.39 Australian dollars.
Consortium spokesman Bob Mansfield said the restructuring was done to save the deal from unraveling because of a small minority who oppose it. The consortium has acquired about 30 percent of Qantas' shares so far.
"APA is concerned that many Qantas shareholders have become discouraged from accepting the offer in the belief that the opposition to the offer from a small number of vocal shareholders may prevent us reaching the 90 percent acceptance condition," Mansfield said.
"By effectively lowering that condition to 70 percent, shareholders can be confident that the offer will be successful," he said.
The move followed uncertainty about the deal after Balanced Equity Management announced it would not accept the consortium's offer, and perceptions that UBS Global Asset Management was also opposed. Combined, the fund managers had more than the 10 percent stake that would have blocked the initial bid.
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