Shares close book on Ansett debacle

By CHRIS DANIELS aviation writer

Air New Zealand yesterday wrote the last chapter of its sorry involvement with the now defunct airline Ansett Australia.

It has issued 78 million new shares, amounting to 2.6 per cent of Air NZ, as final payment to News Corporation for the half of Ansett it bought in June 2000. At yesterday's closing price of 41c, the new equity would be worth about $32 million.

Air NZ spokesman Glen Sowry said the News Corp payment had been under negotiation for a long time. Agreement had recently been reached, with News Corp deciding to accept its payment in shares.

Since that payment had now been made, Air NZ had no more liabilities or obligations relating to Ansett.

An analyst said the 78 million shares were "neither here nor there" and the issue would be unlikely to seriously dilute the stake of others. News Corp was, however, likely to sell the new shares fairly quickly.

Air NZ bought its first 50 per cent of Ansett in 1996 for A$465 million from TNT. Fifteen months after Air NZ bought the remainder from News Corp for for A$580 million, Ansett collapsed, threatening the survival of Air NZ itself.