[ET Net News Agency, 7 November 2017] Kingboard Chemical (00148) said it has agreed to
sell 378.2mn shares in Cathay Pacific (00293) for HK$5.16bn to Qatar Airways.
Goldman Sachs said Cathay can generate better potential synergies with n Qatar as a
shareholder compared to Kingboard, which views Cathay Pacific as purely a
financial investment.
In addition, both Qatar and Cathay belong to the OneWorld alliance; this makes further
route cooperation easier. Goldman said Qatar's flight network currently has 45 European
destinations and 11 North American destinations according to data from CAPA, while
Cathay's network only has 11 European destinations and 8 North American destinations.
Cathay can leverage on Qatar's more comprehensive western hemisphere coverage if their
working relationship deepen.
Goldman maintained its "buy" (conviction list) call on Cathay, with a target price of
HK$14.6. (KL)