In 1996, Air New Zealand made a bid to purchase half of Ansett Transport Industries, after an open skies agreement for the former to fly within Australia was abruptly withdrawn. Anti-monopoly regulators did not want Air New Zealand to gain control of Ansett's operations in New Zealand, however, and it was therefore required that the two Ansett airlines would be separated. Ansett would be owned by Air New Zealand and (until it was bought out) News Corporation, while Ansett New Zealand would be owned by News Corporation exclusively.