The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is relatively flat today amid a setback to its acquisition plans.
Qantas shares have fallen 0.34% since market close yesterday and are now trading at $5.81. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 0.61% today. Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) shares are up 0.86%, while Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) shares are climbing 0.39%.
Let's take a look at what is going on at Qantas.
What's going on?
Qantas has expressed concern about the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) delaying a decision on its proposed acquisition of Alliance Aviation Services Ltd (ASX: AQZ). The decision was due to be announced today.
According to the ACCC website, the provisional date for findings has been delayed to March 20, 2023. This is to give the parties more time to provide information, the ACCC states.
Commenting on this decision, Qantas said:
The latest timeline pushes a decision by the ACCC on the full acquisition to 20 March 2023, some 10 months since Qantas and Alliance filed their application for informal merger clearance. This would make it one of the longest processes for informal clearance in recent times.
This compares with the 11 days it took the ACCC to decide it didn't need to conduct a public review of Rex's acquisition of National Jet Express from Cobham in July this year.
Back in May 2022, Qantas advised it had reached an agreement to fully take over Alliance. However, this requires approval from the ACCC.
Qantas said it has been clear about its plans to acquire Alliance since it took a 19% stake in the company back in February 2019. The airline added:
Qantas is a firm believer in regulation and due process, and has cooperated fully with information requests from the ACCC, but also believes such regulation needs to be timely and efficient to maintain confidence in the process.
Analysts at JP Morgan have recently maintained an overweight rating on the Qantas share price with a price target of $7.50. This followed Qantas reporting strong travel demand is expediating the airline's recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
Qantas share price snapshot
The Qantas share price has risen more than 6% in the past year. In the year to date, Qantas shares have leapt 16%.
For perspective, the ASX 200 has descended more than 8% in the past year.
Qantas has a market capitalisation of nearly $11 billion based on the current share price.
