The service, from Rose Bay Base on Sydney Harbour, was maintained until 1974. Takeover and consolidation of ANA 1957–1969 On 18 January 1957, Ivan Holyman, managing director of ANA, died in Honolulu. ANA had only kept going because of Holyman's determination not to give up. The five British shipping companies that owned the airline had been trying to get out for several years. The ANA board tried to get the Commonwealth to buy the airline and merge it with TAA, however, their asking price was considered ludicrous. Ansett saw his opportunity. He made an offer of £3.3 million ($6.6 million) which the ANA board promptly rejected. Questions were asked about where Ansett would obtain the funds. There were stories about backing from two major oil companies. Later that year, on 23 August, ANA accepted the original offer. The ailing ANA operation was taken over by Ansett Transport Industries to create a new national airline: Ansett-ANA. Ansett was now in the big time, but he still had to make Ansett-ANA competitive with the government airline, TAA, which was much better managed and had a superior aircraft fleet. Ansett acquired ANA's fleet of Douglas DC-6s and acquired six Vickers Viscounts in order to better compete with TAA. After the acquisition, Reg Ansett suddenly became a firm supporter of the two-airline policy. It became more restrictive after the passage of the Airlines Equipment Act in 1958 prescribing what aircraft each airline could buy and much else besides. Reg Ansett had advocated the act to stop TAA from buying French Sud Aviation Caravelle aircraft which would have been the first jets imported into Australia. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Ansett purchased a number of regional airlines including MacRobertson Miller Airlines, Guinea Airways, and Butler Air Transport. Ansett also offered services to New Guinea. In 1964, Reg Ansett would import the first Boeing 727s following a coin toss with the managing director of TAA as to which company would import them first. In 1968, Reg Ansett changed the name of Ansett-ANA to Ansett Airlines of Australia. By 1969, Ansett had become Australia's leading domestic airline and its market share would rise as high as 55%. He expanded his business interests into television in the 1960s. In April 1963, his Austarama Television company was granted a television licence to operate Melbourne's third commercial television station ATV-0, starting constructing studios in Nunawading a few months later.