INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENTS – AUSTRALIA

Expect more shareholder activism Down Under, warns Credit Suisse

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 23-May-17

Chris Young of Credit Suisse says it was inevitable that activist hedge funds would target Australian companies. He adds that the investment bank’s research suggests that BHP Billiton will not be the only Australian company to attract the interest of activists. Young says the best defence against activists is for a company to ensure that it has the support of key shareholders. He also notes that the relatively small size of the Australian market means activist funds may get less traction than in the much larger US market.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE AG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELLIOTT ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED, CANADIAN PACIFIC LIMITED, PERSHING SQUARE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP

Elliott spruiks BHP plan to Sydney hedge funds

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Original article by Peter Ker, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 3-May-17

Representatives of activist US hedge fund Elliott Associates have organised meetings with Sydney-based institutional investors as it seeks to gain support for its proposal for a restructuring of the resources giant. However, some large local investors have indicated that they have not held talks with Elliott and will not back its proposals. Elliott has also been targeting several other global companies, including Arconic and Samsung.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELLIOTT ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, ARCONIC INCORPORATED, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED, ALCOA INCORPORATED

Activism may explain ASX’s sprint to 6000

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Original article by Jessica Sier
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 12-Apr-17

Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse says international shareholder activists may increasingly target Australian shares, adding that it is surprising that they have not already done so. He suggests that activist investors may have contributed to the local sharemarket’s recent rally. Shareholder activism has come under scrutiny in the wake of a proposal by US hedge fund Elliott Management for BHP Billiton to undertake a major restructuring.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, ELLIOTT ASSOCIATES LP, PERPETUAL INVESTMENTS, JP MORGAN ASSET MANAGEMENT INCORPORATED, JANA PARTNERS LLC, AMERICAN WHOLE FOODS

Nine confirms Apollo’s exit from share register

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 24-Nov-15

Apollo Global Management has sold its remaining 9.82 per cent stake in Nine Entertainment Company. The US hedge fund sold out of the media group at $A1.61 per share, gaining about $A140m from the transaction. Apollo and Oaktree Capital provided Nine with a financial lifeline in 2012, and they have progressively reduced their stakes. Oaktree now holds 7.8 per cent of Nine’s shares.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Transfield dumped in human rights protest

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Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Aug-15

Superannuation fund HESTA has sold its three per cent stake in Transfield Services because of concerns about risks associated with the group’s management of the offshore detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru. HESTA manages super savings of doctors, nurses, and other workers in the healthcare and community services sectors. Many of its members are concerned about reports of mismanagement in offshore detention centres.

CORPORATES
HEALTH EMPLOYEES’ SUPERANNUATION TRUST AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TRANSFIELD SERVICES LIMITED – ASX TSE, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SUPERANNUATION INVESTORS INCORPORATED

Major iiNet shareholder labels TPG bid price ‘absurd’

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Original article by David Ramli, Jemima Whyte
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 20-Mar-15

BT Investment Management’s Paul Hannan says the fund manager is disappointed that iiNet directors have not contacted major shareholders regarding TPG Telecom’s takeover offer. Hannan adds that the current offer gives iiNet shareholders little benefit from synergies arising from a merger. Andrew Abercrombie, who holds 500,000 shares in iiNet, has also criticised the telco’s lack of communication with investors in recent months

CORPORATES
IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, NBN CO LIMITED, INTERNODE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, AZURE CAPITAL PARTNERS LP, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

Seven ‘too small to take out Beach’

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 4-Feb-15

Seven Group Holdings has built up a 13.4 per cent stake in Beach Energy, after initially purchasing 3.5 per cent of the group’s shares in late January 2015. The share raid has prompted speculation of a takeover play, but Tim Mann of Morningstar believes that Seven Group lacks sufficient financial firepower to effect a takeover. Martin Kronborg of Credit Suisse suggests that the move may be in expectation that Beach will attract another suitor

CORPORATES
SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, WESTRAC HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BAILLIEU HOLST LIMITED

Santos in ‘active’ talks on CSG project deal

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 22-Jan-15

Santos plans to sell roughly 30 per cent of its proposed $A2 billion coal seam gas project in Narrabri, New South Wales. The Australian-listed energy group has an 80 per cent stake in the contentious development. It is holding talks with gas ­buyers, manufacturers and global companies. Santos’s vice president of eastern Australia, James Baulderstone, says the project will not proceed without more investors, but the slump in the crude oil price presents "challenges" in the negotiations

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Medibank book-build under way

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Original article by Jessica Gardner, Sarah Thompson, Jake Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 26 : 19-Nov-14

An unnamed fund manager says there has been a "bidding frenzy" for shares in the IPO of Medibank Private. The institutional bookbuild commenced on 18 November 2014, with some fund managers tendering to buy shares at a price well above the indicative range of $A1.55 to $A2 per share. The retail component of the share offer attracted some $A17bn worth of bids. CLSA analysts have valued Medibank stock at between $A1.55 and $A1.64

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, RAMSAY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX RHC, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO

Hard times loom for Future Fund

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 21 : 16-Oct-14

David Neal, MD of the Future Fund, has unveiled a 2013-14 rate of return of 14.3% for the Australian Government’s civil service superannuation liabilities manager. This is up from the previous estimate of 13.9%, and follows a result of 15%-plus in 2012-13. However despite further growth of 2.9% in the first quarter of 2014-15, Neal warns that the performance will now level off due to the tapering of quantitative easing and rising interest rates in the US. This was backed by investment strategy and risk head Stephen Gilmore, while chief investment officer Raphael Arndt said the Future Fund may invest in infrastructure assets privatised by state governments

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY