FOREIGN – AUSTRALIA

Property buyers snub special visa

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 8-Jan-16

Changes to the Australian Government’s Significant Investor Visa (SIV) scheme in July 2015 have made the program less attractive. The aim of the legislators was to discourage investments in property while redirecting them towards venture capital funds and listed small companies. Only 47 SIV applications have been received since mid-2015, compared with around 50 applications per month under the old rules.

CORPORATES
HALL AND WILCOX, TARONGA GROUP, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Visa amnesty needed for all victims

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Original article by Stephen Clibborn
The Age – Page: 44 : 9-Sep-15

The Australian Government is said to be considering providing an amnesty to foreign students who have been allegedly cheated out of wages by 7-Eleven. While the Government should grant an amnesty to international students, it also needs to take action on the exploitation of all foreign workers by dodgy employers. Data from the Fair Work Ombudsman shows that migrant workers on temporary visas are also being underpaid by employers in many sectors of the economy. Any amnesty should apply to all of these employees.

CORPORATES
7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Lower $A will intensify two-tier property market

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 4-Sep-15

The lower Australian dollar may lead to greater interest in Australian property from foreign buyers and, consequently, to higher prices. Valuer Herron Todd White says the importance of local demand is diminishing. Real estate developers concentrate their marketing efforts on overseas investors. This trend is clearly visible in unit developments in Sydney such as Zetland, Waterloo, Rosebery, Mascot, Botany, Hurstville and Wolli Creek.

CORPORATES
HERRON TODD WHITE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Sydney Airport passenger growth predicted to lag

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 10-Jul-15

Moody’s says Brisbane and Melbourne airports are best placed to benefit from stronger international growth, while the international passenger growth rate at Sydney has fallen behind forecasts. It remains Australia’s main international gateway, but Melbourne and Brisbane are experiencing better growth rates because of new services to those airports. Moody’s says airports with a greater reliance on domestic travellers, such as Perth and Adelaide, face a more challenging outlook in passenger volume trends.

CORPORATES
MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD, BRISBANE AIRPORT CORPORATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC AIRPORTS (MELBOURNE) PTY LTD, ADELAIDE AIRPORT LIMITED, WESTRALIA AIRPORTS CORPORATION PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AIR CANADA

Private equity bosses tip rosier times ahead

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Original article by Sally Rose, Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 5-Mar-15

Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) gained $A4.5bn from divesting businesses via IPOs and trade sales in 2013 and 2014. International buyers accounted for most of the firm’s trade sales, and Nathanial Thomson of Crescent Capital expects the trend for offshore buyers to purchase Australian businesses to continue. Meanwhile, PEP MD Tim Sims is upbeat about the outlook for Australia’s business sector, and says offshore investors should not be deterred by data showing that the economy is slowing

CORPORATES
PACIFIC EQUITY PARTNERS PTY LTD, CRESCENT CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED, XTRALIS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, PITCHER PARTNERS CORPORATE ADVISORY PTY LTD, KING AND WOOD MALLESONS

Foreigners dive in to Aussie beach brands

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Original article by Rebecca Thurlow
The Australian – Page: 17 : 12-Jan-15

The acquisition of Mambo by Saban Brands is the latest example of an overseas group being attracted to an Australian clothing business with links to the nation’s beach and surfing culture. Previous ones were the purchases of Seafolly by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and of Billabong International by a consortium of US-based hedge funds headed by Centerbridge Partners. Saban’s manager of strategic business development, Dan Castle, says Mambo’s irreverent design philosophy will be largely retained

CORPORATES
MAMBO, SABAN CAPITAL GROUP INCORPORATED, BILLABONG INTERNATIONAL LIMITED – ASX BBG, SEAFOLLY PTY LTD, CENTERBRIDGE PARTNERS LP, LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON SA, QUIKSILVER INCORPORATED, BONDS INDUSTRIES LIMITED, PACIFIC BRANDS LIMITED – ASX PBG, SPEEDO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BRAND FINANCE (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

Virgin moves to quarterly reports

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 10-Oct-14

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has a 22.2 holding in Virgin Australia, which means CEO Goh Choon Phong was in mid-2014 appointed a director of the latter carrier and SIA now needs quarterly data from Virgin for its own equity accounting. However while Virgin is switching to quarterly reports as a result, it appears to have abandoned the monthly issuing of traffic data that is common for airlines including main rival Qantas Airways. Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon also sits on the Virgin board as his business has a 25.9% stake

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED, ETIHAD AIRWAYS, TIGER AIRWAYS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, AIR BERLIN PLC AND COMPANY LUFTVERKEHRS KG, AIR SERBIA, AIR SEYCHELLES, JET AIRWAYS, DARWIN AIRLINE, MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEMS, CAPA CONSULTING, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, 4TH DIMENSION

Overseas students to miss out on internships

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Original article by Harriet Alexander
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 11 : 2-Oct-14

Many overseas medical students will not gain internships in 2015. An audit predicts that 240 students will not be offered a position on graduation. These will all be international students as places are offered to domestic students first. The Australian Medical Students’ Association estimates that about 160 graduates will be forced to go overseas. A shortage of 2,700 doctors is forecast by 2025

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, HEALTH WORKFORCE AUSTRALIA, MEDICAL DEANS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND INCORPORATED

US, Britain at fore as foreign investment rises 11.3pc

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Original article by Rowan Callick
The Australian – Page: 18 : 2-Oct-14

New data from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade show that during 2013 the value of overseas investments grew 11.3% to $A2.5trn. Of this figure, $A630bn was accounted for by direct investments, and the largest sources were the US with $A35bn, Singapore with $A14bn, the UK with $A12bn and Japan with $A10bn. However, China expanded its share by 43% to reach $A5bn. Meanwhile Australian investment overseas was worth $A1.6trn. It fell 4.1% in the year, while foreign direct investment in Australia was also down 5.3%

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Higher yields attract capital

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 16-Sep-14

Australia has attracted more than its share of global investment in commercial real estate since 2005. CBRE reported that Australia has attracted five per cent of investment, while accounting for only two per cent of the global economy. Stephen McNabb, of CBRE, said that Australia’s stable economic conditions led to higher interest rates and yields. He expects the trend to continue for 12-18 months

CORPORATES
CBRE PTY LTD, GIC REAL ESTATE PTE LTD