BUSINESSMEN – AUSTRALIA

Lew increases stake, rips into disastrous Myer

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 16 : 7-Jul-21

Myer Holdings’ shares rose 15 per cent to $0.425 on 6 July, after revelations that businessman Solomon Lew has increased his stake prompted speculation of a takeover bid. Lew’s Premier Investments lifted its stake in Myer to 15.77 per cent on 5 July, and further share purchases on the following day is believed to have increased this to around 18 per cent. Lew says Myer’s performance has been disastrous for shareholders, employees, customers and suppliers. He has also criticised Myer’s board over its lack of progress regarding the appointment of a successor to former chairman Garry Hounsell.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV

CITIC ruling a bonanza for Palmer

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 1-Apr-21

The Supreme Court of Western Australia has issued draft orders outlining the terms for CITIC to acquire Balmoral, an entity controlled by Clive Palmer which holds the mining rights to an iron ore deposit in the Pilbara. This will give CITIC access to an additional one billion tonnes of iron ore. Palmer receives about $523m a year in royalties from CITIC’s existing iron ore operations in WA.

CORPORATES
CITIC LIMITED, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Forrest to drive gas import terminal

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 15 : 30-Oct-20

Mining magnate Andrew Forrest is set to proceed with a proposed LNG import terminal at Port Kembla in New South Wales. Sources have indicated that Forrest’s private company Squadron Energy is close to finalising a long-term lease at Port Kembla. Squadron recently bought out its Japanese partners in the project, and it has previously indicated that construction work could start by the end of 2020. A number of other LNG import projects have been proposed to address gas supply concerns in Australia’s eastern states.

CORPORATES
SQUADRON ENERGY PTY LTD

Businessmen Dick Smith, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest score highest for Net Trust

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Mar-20

A special Roy Morgan survey on ‘Trust’ and ‘Distrust’ of business leaders shows Australian entrepreneurs Dick Smith, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest have the highest ‘Net Trust Scores’ – meaning the ‘Trust’ felt towards the three far outweighs the ‘Distrust’ – according to a special Roy Morgan Snap SMS Survey of 974 Australians aged 14+ conducted this week. Behind the top three is Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Also scoring highly for ‘Trust’ are Medical Leaders/Professionals and the Australian Medical Association, which is currently at the forefront of dealing with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. At the other end of the scale are business leaders whose ‘Distrust’ outweighs their ‘Trust’ among Australians. Media proprietor Rupert Murdoch scores the highest ‘Distrust’ of any businessman, ahead of ex-politician and mining entrepreneur Clive Palmer and fellow miner Gina Rinehart. All three fill the rankings for the highest ‘Net Distrust’ and are followed by retailer Gerry Harvey of Harvey Norman. Also scoring high levels of ‘Net Distrust’ are the generic ‘Banks/Bank CEOs’ and ‘Mining companies’. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says Australians often look towards high-profile business people to provide leadership in times of crisis.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Forrest in $68m renewables play takeover

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 20 : 5-Mar-20

Squadron Energy, the private company of mining magnate Andrew Forrest, has made a takeover bid for Windlab, a listed wind farm developer and operator. Squadron has teamed up with Federation Asset Management to offer $1 per share for Windlab, valuing the bid at $68.2m. Windlab shares rallied on 4 March, closing at $0.965; investors had paid $2 per share in its 2017 IPO. Squadron is expected to have a 75 per cent stake in Windlab if the deal proceeds.

CORPORATES
WINDLAB LIMITED – ASX WND, SQUADRON ENERGY PTY LTD, FEDERATION ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Share surge elevates Forrest to $13bn man

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 15 & 16 : 21-Jan-20

Shares in pure-play iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group have gained more than 10 per cent so far in 2020, reaching a new intra-day high of $11.92 on 20 January. The rally has lifted Fortescue’s market capitalisation to more than $36bn, and it now ranks as Australia’s 13th largest company in terms of market cap. The stake of founder Andrew Forrest is now worth about $13bn, while his net wealth has increased by about $1bn since the start of the year and $7bn since March.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Hazy outlook for Prime as moguls hedge their bets

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 16-Dec-19

Prime Media Group shareholders will vote on a proposed takeover by Seven West Media on 19 December. Prime’s major shareholders include Australian Community Media’s Antony Catalano and WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon, whose combined stake would be sufficient to block the deal. They have both expressed interest in buying Prime, but ACM would have to sell some of its regional newspapers, while any bid by Gordon would be dependent on further changes to media ownership rules. Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has indicated that this is unlikely in the near-term.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Facebook defends itself against Twiggy Forrest attack

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 29-Nov-19

Facebook has responded to claims that it is not doing enough to address the issue of fraudulent advertisements on its platforms. Carolyn Everson, Facebook’s global head of marketing, says it has launched a "massive crackdown" on scam ads and may take legal action against those responsible for them. Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has called for digital platforms to be treated in the same way as traditional media companies. He is among the high-profile Australians whose photos have been used in scam ads published on digital platforms such as Facebook and Google.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Forrest wants tech giants to be accountable for ads

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 28-Nov-19

Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest argues that technology companies such as Facebook should be treated in the same way as traditional media companies with regard to advertising content that appears on their platforms. He contends that digital companies are not doing enough to address the issue of fraudulent ads, and they must be accountable for the ads that are published on their platforms. Forrest is among a number of high-profile Australians whose images have been used to promote scams on social media platforms.

CORPORATES

$65 million and counting, Clive Palmer labels Labor as sore losers on election spend

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Original article by Samantha Maiden
The New Daily – Page: Online : 21-Oct-19

It is expected that businessman Clive Palmer’s advertising expenditure on the last federal election will be somewhere around $65 million to $70 million when he lodges his final expenditure statement with the Australian Electoral Commission. Labor has apparently blamed Palmer’s extensive advertising as one of the factors behind its defeat, but Palmer has rejected its calls for a cap on advertising expenditure. He says Labor was happy for him to spend as much as he liked when it appeared that he would be giving them his preferences.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY