Hong Kong’s Cathay aims to buy back HK$6.96 billion stake held by Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways seeks to sell all 643.07 million shares following major partnership expansion with China Southern Airlines
The Hong Kong flag carrier said on Wednesday night that Qatar Airways would sell all 643.07 million shares it held at HK$10.8374 each, subject to the approval of Cathay Pacific’s independent shareholders.
Cathay said the Doha-based carrier approached it and expressed its intention to sell all of its shareholding in the company.
The price represents a 3.9 per cent discount to Wednesday’s close of HK$11.28 or a 0.5 per cent premium to the average closing price of HK$10.78 for the last 30 trading days.
Cathay shares rose 3 per cent to HK$11.62 when the stock market opened on Thursday morning before ending the day 4 per cent higher at HK$11.73.
The deal came after Qatar announced in September a major expansion of its code-share partnership with China Southern Airlines, which saw the Doha-based carrier operate 64 weekly flights across eight gateways on the mainland from October 16.