CORPORATE DIVESTITURE – AUSTRALIA

BHP sells stake in power network

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 15 & 23 : 10-Dec-25

The Global Infrastructure Partners subsidiary of BlackRock will acquire a minority stake in BHP’s inland power network in the Pilbara. The $US2bn ($3.02bn) deal includes Western Australia Iron Ore’s assets such as the Yarnima gas-fired power station and 400km of transmission and distribution lines that service BHP’s iron ore mines and the company-built mining town of Newman. BHP has a 85 per cent stake in WAIO, whose inland power assets will be transferred to a new entity that will be 51 per cent owned by BHP. The resources group will pay the entity a monthly tariff for using the power network over the next 25 years.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, BLACKROCK INCORPORATED, GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS

MinRes sells troubled Yilgarn iron ore projects

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 1-Jul-25

Perth-based Yilgarn Iron Investments has secured a deal to buy the mothballed Yilgarn iron ore projects in Western Australia from Mineral Resources. The Yilgarn mines in the state’s Goldfields region were shut down in late 2024, and more than 800 workers were redeployed to the company’s other projects. Mineral Resources has advised that the commercial terms of the deal are ‘confidential and immaterial’. The deal only comprises the Yilgarn hub’s iron ore assets, and Mineral Resources will retain the rights to gold and lithium deposits.

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, YILGARN IRON INVESTMENTS PTY LTD

Optus may sell sports streaming to Nine

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 21-Jan-25

Sources have indicated that Optus has sought expressions of interest from potential buyers of its sports streaming platform. Amongst other things, Optus Sport holds the Australian broadcasting rights to the English Premier League and the Women’s Super League. The potential buyers that Optus has approached are said to include Nine Entertainment, which owns the rival Stan Sport streaming service. Optus is believed to be keen to focus on its core telecommunications business amid growing competition in the streaming sector and the rising cost of broadcasting rights.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, OPTUS SPORT, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, STAN SPORT

Anglo deal shores up its BHP defences

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 27-Nov-24

Anglo American’s deal to sell its coking coal mines in Queensland will boost its balance sheet ahead of the looming expiry of the embargo on a new takeover bid from BHP. Peabody Energy will pay $US3.8bn ($5.8bn) for the coal assets, well above market expectations that the mines would fetch around $US2.8bn. RBC Capital analyst Marina Calero says the deal will also increase shareholders’ confidence that Anglo American will be able to carry out its restructuring plan. BHP will be free to make a fresh bid for Anglo American from late November, under the UK’s takeover laws.

CORPORATES
ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Peabody picks up Anglo coal assets for $5.8bn as BHP circles

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Original article by Bridget Carter
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 26-Nov-24

Anglo American has agreed to sell its five metallurgical coal mines in Queensland to US-based Peabody Energy for up to $US3.8bn ($5.8bn). The deal includes a contingent cash consideration of $US450m that is linked to the reopening of the Grosvenor mine, where production was halted by an underground fire in June. Stanmore Resources and Yancoal Australia also submitted bids for Anglo’s coal assets. The sale of the Queensland mines is part of Anglo’s strategy to focus on its copper, iron ore and crop nutrient operations. Meanwhile, BHP will be free to make a new bid for Anglo later this week, when a six-month embargo under the UK’s takeover laws expires.

CORPORATES
ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION, STANMORE RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX SMR, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Billionaire Gordon closer to unlocking larger Nine stake

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 18-Sep-24

Several sources have indicated that regional broadcaster WIN Corporation is close to finalising a deal to sell Northern Rivers Television to the Ten Network. NRN broadcasts in northern NSW, and the TV station is tipped to fetch significantly less than the $55m that WIN paid for it in 2017. However, divesting NRN would allow WIN owner Bruce Gordon to increase his stake in Nine Entertainment to about 25 per cent by converting cash-settled equity swaps that are held on his behalf by Macquarie Group into shares.

CORPORATES
WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Rio readies WA copper stake for sale

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 14-Aug-24

Rio Tinto has indicated that it is open to all potential options for its Winu copper project in Western Australia’s Paterson Province. However, selling a stake in Winu is said to be its preferred option; Winu boasts copper grades of 0.45 per cent, compared with 1.89 per cent at the Resolution project in the US, and Rio Tinto believes that Winu may be of a more suitable size and scale for a small or mid-tier miner. Newmont Corporation is also seeking a buyer for its Telfer gold and copper mine in the region.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, NEWMONT CORPORATION – ASX NEM

Why this could be Murdoch’s last chance to sell Foxtel

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Original article by Elizabeth Knight
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 13-Aug-24

Foxtel had been estimated to be worth between $1.2bn and $2bn when an IPO was being considered in 2021. However, an IPO now appears to be highly unlikely, and selling Foxtel may be the best option for News Corp and Telstra. Foxtel’s traditional pay-TV business now boasts about 1.2 million subscribers, well below the peak of 2.9 million in 2015; retaining as many of these customers as possible could be crucial to getting a decent price for Foxtel, given that they pay an average of $90 per month. Foxtel’s own streaming services Kayo and Binge have much lower monthly revenue per customer, and their subscriber growth is also slowing amid growing competition in the streaming sector.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, KAYO SPORTS, BINGE

Shareholders approve fire sale of Russian mines to tycoon with former links to sanctioned oligarchs

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Original article by Sumeyya Ilanbey
The Age – Page: Online : 29-May-24

Some 99 per cent of Tigers Realm Coal’s shareholders have voted in favour of a deal to sell all of its assets to APM Invest, which is owned by Russian businessman Mark Buzuk. The $US49m ($74m) deal to sell two coking coal mines and an export terminal in Russia follows a court ruling in April that the company was in breach of trade sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine. Tigers Realm chairman Craig Wiggill says Buzuk was carefully screened and was found to have no current links to the Russian state or any entities that are subject to the trade sanctions. However, he is a former business associate of two Russian oligarchs who have been sanctioned.

CORPORATES
TIGERS REALM COAL LIMITED – ASX TIG, APM INVEST

Inside Anglo chief’s rush to split company

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 36 & 37 : 20-May-24

Anglo American’s CEO Duncan Wanblad has downplayed suggestions that the restructuring proposal that he announced last week was in direct response to BHP’s takeover approach. He contends that Anglo American has merely brought forward a strategic plan that was already being prepared. However, some senior executives at Anglo American were surprised by Wanblad’s announcement of the restructuring. They include Daniel van der Westhuizen, who heads the group’s Australian arm; five coking coal mines in Queensland are among the assets that Anglo American had earmarked for sale, and Wanblad indicated that the company had already received bids for these mines.

CORPORATES
ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, ANGLO AMERICAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED