Cleary advises bidders on £4.43bn Qantas bid

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has bagged a lead role advising on the A$11.1bn (£4.43bn) takeover offer for Qantas Airways.

Cleary is advising a consortium of investors, including long-standing client US buy-out fund Texas Pacific Group, Canadian private equity group Onex Corporation, Australian infrastructure fund Allco Finance and Macquarie Bank Limited, in their proposed acquisition of the Australian flag carrier.

The Cleary team is being led by finance partners Andrew Shutter and Simon Ovenden. On the M&A side, the team was led by Michael McDonald. Mallesons Stephen Jaques provided the consortium with Australian advice.

Australian firm Allens Arthur Robinson is advising Qantas Airways on corporate issues. The team is led by Ewen Crouch and involves partners Phillip Cornwell and Andrew Finch. Blake Dawson Waldron is advising Qantas on other aspects.

The A$11.1bn acquisition of the world’s second oldest airline would represent one of the largest aviation deals in history and would be the largest deal in Australian aviation history.