AMERICAN – AUSTRALIA

Xero soars and eyes US listing

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 & 28 : 26-Feb-15

Australian-listed online accounting software developer Xero has received a $NZ132.9 million ($A127.6 million) investment from US firm Accel Partners. Xero CEO Rod Drury said the company will seek a US listing at the end of 2015. Its shares rose sharply on 25 February, closing 27.8 per cent higher at $A22.60

CORPORATES
XERO LIMITED – ASX XRO, ACCEL PARTNERS, ATLASSIAN SOFTWARE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, MATRIX CAPITAL PTY LTD

Murdoch exits streaming as Rdio revamps

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 2-Feb-15

Nova Entertainment, the radio stations group behind the Nova and Smooth FM networks owned by Lachlan Murdoch, in 2012 entered into a joint venture with US-based Rdio. The latter will now mount an increased effort to boost its local market share, after Nova divested its 50% stake in their Rdio Australia vehicle in late 2014. A number of similar online music streaming services have been closed recently, due to the dominance of Spotify and Pandora

CORPORATES
RDIO INCORPORATED, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SPOTIFY LIMITED, PANDORA MEDIA INCORPORATED, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, AUSTEREO GROUP LIMITED, SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, UNIVERSAL MUSIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DEEZER, LIVE NATION AUSTRALASIA PTY LTD, THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED

US giant in $2bn bid for Recall

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Original article by Michael Bennet, Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 15 : 15-Dec-14

Australian-listed records management services provider Recall has become a takeover target, in an offer worth $A2.2bn by US-based rival Iron Mountain. The bid of about $A7 a share is tipped by experts to be rebuffed by the Recall board as undervaluing the business, and may be sweetened to as much as $A9. Previous speculation about a move by Iron Mountain has lifted Recall’s stock by 27% since September 2014. The cost synergies may amount to as high as $A270m, but institutional shareholders such as Maple-Brown Abbott and Australian Foundation Investment Company may seek a quarter or more of this

CORPORATES
RECALL HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX REC, IRON MOUNTAIN INCORPORATED, MAPLE-BROWN ABBOTT LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN FOUNDATION INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED – ASX AFI, ACCESS, CINTAS CORPORATION, BUSINESS RECORDS MANAGEMENT, BRAMBLES LIMITED – ASX BXB, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE, CHINA COMMUNICATIONS CONSTRUCTION GROUP LIMITED, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, JOHN HOLLAND PTY LTD, APA GROUP – ASX APA, BG GROUP PLC

Tesla set for Australian debut

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Original article by Matthew Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 24-Oct-14

Tesla Motors will sell its electric cars directly to Australian consumers, rather than through car dealerships. The direct-selling model is used in the US, and spokesman Heath Walker is confident that this strategy will not meet with the opposition it has attracted in some US states. Tesla is also hoping to lease space in Scentre Group’s shopping centres to display its vehicles. The Tesla Model S will be priced from $A90,000 in Australia

CORPORATES
TESLA MOTORS INCORPORATED, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, INTERNODE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, NASDAQ, PAYPAL INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, BLOOMBERG LP

Wotif shareholders approve $703m Expedia takeover deal

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 10-Oct-14

Healthscope is set to replace Wotif.com in the S&P/ASX 200 Index after the latter’s acquisition by US-based Expedia was approved by more than 99 per cent of shareholders. Expedia is likely to have a 45 per cent share of Australia’s online hotel booking market following the acquisition, which is still subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board and the New Zealand Commerce Commission

CORPORATES
WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX WTF, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, NEW ZEALAND. COMMERCE COMMISSION, WEBJET LIMITED – ASX WEB, PRICELINE.COM, BOOKING.COM BV, AGODA COMPANY PTE LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION, CIMB SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL INDICES

Hockey seeks foreign funds for assets

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 15 : 6-Oct-14

Staff at US investment banks Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Chase & Company will on 6 and 7 October 2014 hear from Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey. He is keen to attract major investors from the US for planned privatisation moves by state governments. The Federal Government is encouraging them to sell assets so that the funds can be reallocated to new infrastructure. Hockey will also meet with News Corporation executive chair Rupert Murdoch and Federal Reserve Bank of New York president William Dudley

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION, MERRILL LYNCH AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, MORGAN STANLEY AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, JP MORGAN CHASE AND COMPANY, POWERLINK PTY LTD, ENERGEX LIMITED, ERGON ENERGY CORPORATION LIMITED, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, HASTINGS FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED, CHINA MERCHANTS GROUP, TAWREED INVESTMENTS LIMITED, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK

KKR tipped to win Treasury Wine

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Original article by Simon Evans, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 29-Sep-14

Competing, revised takeover offers were lodged on 26 September 2014 for Australian-listed Treasury Wine Estates (TWE). It is believed that the directors will now recommend acceptance of the offer received from the consortium of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Rhone Capital, rather than that of rival US-based private equity firm TPG Capital. The KKR bid is worth around $A5.20 a share. TWE’s earnings are being boosted by the recent decline in the Australian dollar

CORPORATES
TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, KKR AND COMPANY LP, KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS AND COMPANY, RHONE CAPITAL LLC, TPG CAPITAL LP, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD, WOLF BLASS WINES PTY LTD, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Foxtel-Ten alliance would face scrutiny

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Original article by Madeleine Heffernan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 16-Sep-14

It was claimed in the media that Foxtel contemplated a bid for the Ten Network in conjunction with Providence Equity Partners. It is said that the pay-TV group might form a marketing or content alliance with Providence if the US private equity group makes an offer for Ten. Regulators are likely to pay close heed to any alliance between Foxtel and Providence. Foxtel is prohibited by law from owning more than 15 per cent of the commercial TV broadcaster

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, PROVIDENCE EQUITY PARTNERS INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, CONSOLIDATED MEDIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

ACCC orange light on Wotif takeover

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 5-Sep-14

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) had been widely tipped to approve Expedia’s acquisition of Wotif.com. However, the competition regulator has expressed concern that the $A703m deal may lead to an increase in commission rates in the accommodation sector. The ACCC has noted that Wotif.com’s low commission rates may have influenced rivals such as Expedia to offer lower rates in Australia than in other markets

CORPORATES
WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX WTF, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BOOKING.COM BV, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, BELL FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX BFG, CLIFFORD CHANCE, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, HELLOWORLD LIMITED – ASX HLO, STA TRAVEL PTY LTD, PRICELINE.COM, EUROMONITOR, JETSET TRAVELWORLD LIMITED, STELLA TRAVEL SERVICES LIMITED, DRANSFIELD HOTELS AND RESORTS PTY LTD, ACCOMMODATION ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Expedia buyout spares shareholders of ‘lucky’ Wotif

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 13-Aug-14

Wotif.com has posted a 2013-14 net profit of $A43.2m, which is 15.4 per cent lower than previously, while booked room nights were down by 10.8 per cent. CEO Scott Blume expects the decline in room bookings to continue as a result of competition in the sector, and he concedes that Wotif.com would find it challenging to turn this around if the takeover bid from US-based Expedia does not succeed

CORPORATES
WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX WTF, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED, PRICELINE.COM, BOOKING.COM BV