someone else wants tvl

Turner may target Webjet

MUSING further on corporate manoeuvrings -- could Flight Centre founder Graeme Turner be having a bit of fun with Travel.com.au, which is poised to merge with rival online travel operator Webjet?

A Shaw Stockbroking nominee company, McNeil Nominees has bobbed up as a 5.66 per cent substantial shareholder in Travel.com.au just as Travel's chairman Roger Sharp and managing director Adam Johnson are putting the final touches on their target statement?

The mystery stakeholder could be just an investor wanting to get set in the merged entity. It's a scrip bid with a 10c a share slither of cash. David Clarke's Webjet has already built a 20 per cent stake, the deal is agreed, and there's a small break fee. A better offer would still have to be countenanced. The prices paid by whoever is beneath McNeil Nominees appear to aggressive for a punter simply keen on online travel exposure.

He or she has paid through the Webjet terms and when a corporate player pays above an offer price on a friendly deal it often gets what it wants. Anyone who thought the merger was a done deal could sell TVL and buy WEB cheaper. Whatever the case, it's all good for TVL shareholders.