BUSINESSMEN – AUSTRALIA

Lew’s plans stir Myer investors

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 29-Sep-17

Anton Tagliaferro of Investors Mutual says Myer Holdings’ shareholders are keen to know Solomon Lew’s intentions with regard to the department store group. There is speculation that Lew could nominate himself or a director of Premier Investments for the Myer board at its upcoming annual meeting. Retail industry veteran Terry McCartney has been touted as a potential nominee. He was appointed to the Premier Investments board in April 2016, and he was the MD of Myer Grace Bros from 1996 to 2000.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, MYER GRACE BROS, COLES MYER LIMITED, JUST GROUP LIMITED, JUST JEANS PTY LTD, SMIGGLE PTY LTD, PETER ALEXANDER SLEEPWEAR PTY LTD, PORTMANS PTY LTD, DOTTI, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AURIAS DIAMONDS, ZAO SUAL HOLDINGS, MCCARTNEY RETAIL SERVICES

Gordon snaps up Seven stake in Prime

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 & 30 : 29-Sep-17

Seven Group Holdings has sold 39 million shares in Prime Media Group to Birketu, the private investment vehicle of WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon. The $A15.6m transaction has assured Gordon of a key role in any media industry consolidation, given that he now has stakes of almost 15 per cent in Nine Entertainment Company and Prime, which is the regional affiliate of the Seven Network. Gordon had also been Ten Network’s largest shareholder prior to its collapse.

CORPORATES
PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, BIRKETU PTY LTD, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CBS CORPORATION, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, COATES HIRE LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Solving the fickle nickel mystery

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 8-Sep-17

Comet Minerals, which is headed by mining industry veteran Hugh Morgan, revealed the company’s Titan nickel discovery in Nigeria at the 2016 Africa Down Under conference. Morgan says Comet has found an accurate method of assaying the content of the deposit’s unique nickel balls. This should enable Comet to determine an initial resource base for the deposit, given that the nickel balls vary significantly in size and density. Morgan says Comet will consider a range of options for funding the development of Titan.

CORPORATES
COMET MINERALS, AFRICA DOWNUNDER CONFERENCE, WESTERN MINING CORPORATION

Pratt chases super money to fuel Visy’s $2b Australian expansion

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Aug-17

Visy Industry has revealed plans to expand its Australian cardboard packaging and paper recycling operations at a cost of $A2bn over the next decade. Executive chairman Anthony Pratt will seek financial support from superannuation funds to finance the massive expansion, which he forecasts will generate some 5,000 jobs. Visy will increase its investment in clean energy plants, with the aim of eventually generating about 50 per cent of its electricity it uses. Visy’s US arm Pratt Industries announced a $US2bn investment in its business earlier in 2017.

CORPORATES
VISY INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PRATT INDUSTRIES (USA) INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD

Gordon, Murdoch in Ten seat after Oaktree exit

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Original article by Bridget Carter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 24-Aug-17

A decision by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission on whether it would approve the acquisition of Ten Network by Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon is said to be imminent. They have emerged as the leading contenders to buy Ten following reports that hedge fund Oaktree Capital has withdrawn its offer, which was made jointly with Anchorage Capital Group. Murdoch and Gordon are believed to have offered around $A250m for Ten.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL GROUP LLC, PPB ADVISORY, MOELIS AND COMPANY, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD

Forrest wins fight to keep miners off his land

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 18-Aug-17

The High Court has upheld Andrew Forrest’s challenge to the validity of licences that were issued to Yarri Mining and ­Onslow Resources to mine sand on his Minderoo cattle station in Western Australia. The court ruled that the private companies’ mining proposals and mineralisation reports had been lodged after their mining lease applications, in breach of the Mining Act. The ruling could have implications for other mining licences in WA, and Gilbert + Tobin partner Marshall McKenna estimates that around five per cent of mining leases in the state could now be invalid.

CORPORATES
YARRI MINING PTY LTD, ONSLOW RESOURCES LIMITED, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF MINES, INDUSTRY REGULATION AND SAFETY, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, CAULDRON ENERGY LIMITED – ASX CXU, PERTH GLORY SOCCER CLUB PTY LTD

ACCC looks at bids for shaky Ten

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 5-Jul-17

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has been approached to assess whether a joint bid for the Ten Network by Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon would be likely to substantially reduce competition. The ACCC will issue a statement of issues by 24 July on a potential bid for Ten by their investment vehicles, Illyria and Birketu. A formal bid for Ten by Murdoch and Gordon would be conditional on changes to cross-media ownership rules, given their other media interests.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ILLYRIA PTY LTD, BIRKETU PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, CANWEST GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, PPB ADVISORY

Reform or fail: BHP’s Nasser

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Jun-17

BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser has told the Competitive Advantage Forum that Australia needs bipartisan political support for reform in areas such as taxation, energy policy and education. He warned that Australia is approaching a "tipping point" and without strong leadership on key issues it risks ceasing to be a "great country" socially and economically. Amongst other things, Nasser says a national policy on energy security is required, while he has criticised proposals for bank levies by the federal and South Australian governments. Nasser will step down as chairman of BHP in August.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Fairfax digs in over Singleton bid

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Original article by Mitchell Bingemann
The Australian – Page: 19 : 20-Jun-17

Fairfax Media will not allow businessmen John Singleton and Mark Carnegie to undertake due diligence on Macquarie Media, in which it holds a 54.5 per cent stake. Singleton and Carnegie, who collectively own more than 40 per cent of Macquarie, recently advised Fairfax that they are keen to acquire the radio stations group. Fairfax suitors TPG Capital and Hellman & Friedman are primarily interested in the target’s Domain property listings business.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, TPG CAPITAL LP, HELLMAN AND FRIEDMAN, DOMAIN.COM.AU, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Formal bids for Fairfax due in next fortnight with Domain the target

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 19-Jun-17

Hellman & Friedman and TPG Capital may seek more time to undertake due diligence on Fairfax Media, although they may submit formal bids by the end of June. Fairfax has also advised that businessmen John Singleton and Mark Carnegie have expressed interest in acquiring its controlling stake in radio stations owner Macquarie Media. They had previously made an approach to buy Fairfax’s radio assets in 2012.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, HELLMAN AND FRIEDMAN, TPG CAPITAL LP, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, 2GB, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD, KING AND WOOD MALLESONS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD