It's also been a big week for more attempted airline buyouts. Air France-KLM, the result of a 2004 merger between two French and Dutch airlines into Europe's biggest airline, has begun talks to buy Alitalia, which is half owned by the Italian government. Labor trouble and competition from low-cost airlines have prevented Alitalia from making a profit in eight years, and the share price of both Air France-KLM and Alitalia fell on the news of the talks. Australian investment bank Macquarie and the US private equity firm Texas Pacific put together an offer that may be above $7 billion for Australia's Quantas Airlines. The Australian government said that they would not allow foreign ownership of of their national airline. The increased number of offers for airline buyouts made some wonder whether British Airways would become the next takeover target.