MAS-Qantas talks abandoned

MAS-Qantas talks abandoned

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Talks between loss-making flag carrier Malaysian Airline System (MAS) and Qantas on a possible investment by the Australian airline are "as good as abandoned," a report said Wednesday.

The Business Times quoted a senior official of Khazanah Nasional Bhd., the government's investment arm, as saying that a deal presented by Qantas was found to be too much in its favor.

Khazanah had been widely expected to buy a 29 percent stake in MAS from Naluri Bhd., the single largest shareholder in the carrier, before selling the bulk of the shares to Qantas, the newspaper said.

But the official said talks between Khazanah and Qantas were virtually over as they could not agree on a deal.

Khazanah has now identified a new prospective equity partner for MAS and initial talks have commenced, the daily quoted another unidentified industry source as saying.