Following Qantas’ plans to fully buy out Alliance Aviation Services
(ASX:AQZ), the flying kangaroo has decided to snap up a 51 per cent stake with TripADeal in an all cash purchase.
With the value of the deal undisclosed, the news was enough to send the share price lower by 1.7 per cent to $5.37 at the time of writing.
What we do know is the investment in TripADeal is in addition to Qantas' previous capital expenditure forecast. The flying kangaroo’s net debt is still projected to reach the lower end of the target range by the end of this financial year with Qantas Loyalty, targeting a return to double digit growth this year. They have also earmarked underlying EBIT of $500 million to $600 million by financial year 2024 with earnings from TripADeal to be accretive to this target.
The transaction also comes with options to buy the rest of the Byron Bay based online travel business in four years time from the founders, Norm Black and Richard Johnstone and private equity firm BGH Capital who bought a stake in 2020.
The move comes after Qantas unveiled its plans to fully buy out Alliance Aviation Services
(ASX:AQZ), a company they already have a 20 per cent stake in alongside their goal to deliver 12 aircrafts by 2028.
