In Reply to: Hi Cliff posted by Rex on Thursday, 17. February 2005 at 19:31 Bali Time:
The way I see it, Branson needed Corrigan's capital to launch Virgin, and now that it's become a success, Corrigan wants to take over the whole thing, using Jetstar's "competition" as an excuse.
In a fair fight, Virgin would win easily. But Jetstar has Qantas willing to pump money into it for as long as it takes, while Virgin has a predator as its main shareholder.
There's no doubt in my mind that the people who work at Virgin Blue are hoping Branson manages to stave off the takeover. You don't have to be Nostradamus to foresee Corrigan's plans for a makeover. Anyone unsure about this could just ask an Australian stevedore (if you can find one).
Qantas and Corrigan seem to have the same policies regarding workers. Corrigan should just sell his Virgin shares and join Qantas. Or maybe he wants to take over Virgin first, so he can eliminate it from the competition later.
I guess it's true that if you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. And Richard must be feeling pretty itchy right now.