Geoff Dixon has agreed to remain chief executive officer of Qantas Airways after a private equity consortium made up of Australia's Allco Equity Partners/Allco Finance Group and Australia's Macquarie Bank and foreign investors such as Texas Pacific Group and Onex completes its takeover of the airline. He says he is donating the shares he acquires under this deal to charity.
The consortium that is taking Qantas private with an A$11 billion ($8.6 billion) buyout has asked Dixon and finance director Peter Gregg to stay for three years. In return, the two senior executives will receive, in addition to normal salaries and bonuses, 1% of the airline's shares. Depending on the airline's performance, analysts estimate these shares are worth A$60 million to A$120 million.
Dixon is donating his shares to a charitable trust he is setting up mainly to help medical research and indigenous health and education.
Dixon is seen as the author of an ambitious plan that is transforming Qantas by developing separate brands for separate market segments, cutting costs, shifting low-yield overseas routes to Jetstar, forming offshore ventures, and putting more emphasis on freight. Peter Gregg has worked closely with Dixon on this plan, and the new owners want them to continue with this effort. No announcement has been made on whether the third most senior Qantas executive, John Borghetti, will also stay.
Margaret Jackson, who has chaired the Qantas board for six years, will step down. Local reports indicate she probably will be replaced by a senior executive of Sydney-based Allco Finance Group. Together with Allco Equity, these two companies will hold the largest stake in Qantas.
David Knibb Seattle
Source: Airline Business
