GENUINE BUYERS SOUGHT FOR ANSETT BUSINESS UNITS

The administrator of Ansett Australia, Peter Hedge of PricewaterhouseCoopers, today challenged potential buyers to put forward firm expressions of interest for the business units within the airline group.

"Over the past two days - and indeed over the past few months - there has been a lot of speculation in the media about possible buyers looking at Ansett.

" Our own team yesterday met with several interested parties and this morning there are more solid inquiries for different parts of Ansett.

"But let me assure the community and the market that in an endeavour to retain value we need to sell the businesses within Ansett promptly - and we will do that within the tight time frames involved.

"What Ansett does not need at this late stage are interested tyre kickers. We are looking for real bids, not talk.

"We want to deal with people who can recognise the real value embedded in Ansett and who put forward robust, interesting offers which we can assess quickly and fairly.

"I know that the decision we took early this morning to ground the fleet astounded many people , but it is an issue about available cash not a lack of inherent value.

"As Ansett knows only too well, it is a highly competitive environment in the aviation industry and Ansett has been a very significant player. It has helped make the Australian aviation market the dynamic place that it is today.

"It is only fair that the value in Ansett be retrieved to help meet the rightful demands of employees and other creditors. It should not acquired free of charge or at low cost by other airline operators to increase their market shares. Ansett deserves better than that.

"To achieve that outcome we are calling for informal expressions on interest for the various businesses within Ansett, and will be developing information material on each of the businesses.

Peter Hedge PricewaterhouseCoopers