INVESTMENTS

Gupta plans bank for businesses

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Original article by Luke Griffiths
The Australian – Page: 6 : 1-Jun-18

British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta wants to start a business-focused bank in Australia, and is looking at possible acquisition targets. Gupta’s GFG Alliance operates Wyelands Bank in the UK, which targets small and medium businesses, and Gupta says his proposed Australian bank would have a similar focus. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says such a bank would be welcomed, particularly as borrowing might become harder in the wake of the banking royal commission.

CORPORATES
GFG ALLIANCE, WYELANDS BANK, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ZEN ENERGY PTY LTD, TUNGSTEN BANK, DIAMOND BAY CLEANING SERVICES, BAILLIEU HOLST LIMITED, ARRIUM LIMITED, GLENCORE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DIAMOND BANK

Woodside vows to defend SNE oil site

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 20 : 31-May-18

The legal dispute over a stake in the SNE oilfield in Senegal was a key issue on the agenda at FAR Limited’s 2018 AGM. Chairman Nic Limb told shareholders that the company will have the right to buy a 35 per cent stake in the oilfield at the same price that Woodside Petroleum paid for it if an arbitration court rules in FAR’s favour. He has also not ruled out seeking a partner to buy the stake if Woodside’s deal with ConocoPhillips is overturned. A Woodside spokeswoman has described the arbitration as "frivolous" and without merit.

CORPORATES
FAR LIMITED – ASX FAR, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CONOCOPHILLIPS, INTERNATIONAL COURT OF ARBITRATION

Blackstone bets big on Australia with $3.1b takeover bid for Investa

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan, Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 29-May-18

US fund manager Blackstone has announced a $A3.1 billion takeover bid for Investa Office Fund, with Investa directors having indicated their support for the offer. Investa’s property portfolio is valued at $A4 billion, with its assets including Barrack Place and Deutsche Bank Place in Sydney. Investa was the subject of an unsuccessful bid by Cromwell Property Group in 2017, while a bid for it by Dexus in 2016 also failed to succeed.

CORPORATES
INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CROMWELL PROPERTY GROUP – ASX CMW, DEXUS – ASX DXS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, UNIBAIL-RODAMCO

Rio warns Oyu Tolgoi a test case for investment in Mongolia

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 23-May-18

Rio Tinto executive Arnaud Soirat says the Mongolian Government must not seek changes to the 2009 investment agreement regarding the Oyu Tolgoi mine. He says the international business community will view the $US5.3bn expansion of the copper and gold mine as a "test case" for future investment in Mongolia. The nation’s deputy mining minister, Zagdjav Deleg, stated in March that the government could potentially move to full ownership of the mine if the investment agreement was found to have been secured as a result of corruption.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, OYU TOLGOI LLC, MONGOLIA. MINISTRY OF MINERAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, TURQUOISE HILL RESOURCES LIMITED

Foreign money needed for build-to-rent funds, says EY

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 39 : 1-May-18

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison announced restrictions on the purchase of residential property by managed investment trusts in September 2017. Luke McIntosh of Ernst & Young claimed at a property forum on 30 April that the restrictions make it hard to attract the foreign capital needed to get the build-to-rent sector off the ground in Australia. Build-to-rent involves the development of housing from which investors make their profit by retaining it for renters rather than selling it.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, ERNST AND YOUNG, SALTA PROPERTIES PTY LTD

Kaufland set to open first store, suppliers told

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 30-Apr-18

Grocery suppliers have been advised by German supermarket operator Kaufland that it plans to open its first Australian stores by the end of 2018. Kaufland has been advertising for executives in the past few months, with former Metcash and Woolworths executive Mark Hewlett joining it as chief operating officer. Its latest advertisements have called for executives with experience in areas such as fashion, accessories and homewares, leading to suggestions that it might be trying to take customers from general merchandise stores such as Kmart, Target and Big W.

CORPORATES
KAUFLAND STIFTUNG & CO KG, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR

Cook tries to ease Santos bid tax concerns

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 30 : 6-Apr-18

Harbour Energy CEO Linda Cook has given her assurance that Santos will remain an Australian company if Harbour Energy’s $A13.5 billion bid for the oil and gas company succeeds. Responding to concerns that Harbour Energy is registered in the Cayman Islands and that corporate tax from Santos might be reduced if Harbour Energy assumes control of it, Cook stressed that the company Harbour Energy has established to acquire Santos is Australian, and therefore subject to the same amount of tax that Santos pays at the moment.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, HARBOUR ENERGY LIMITED, ENN GROUP, HONY CAPITAL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, CHRYSAOR, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Santos suitor could offload key gas assets

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 5-Apr-18

Mark Samter of Credit Suisse has identified the Cooper Basin infrastructure at the Moomba gas plant as one of the Santos assets that Harbour Energy could potentially agree to divest in order to secure approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board. Samter says Santos’s assets in Western Australia could also be earmarked for sale if the $A13.5bn takeover bid succeeds. Approval from the FIRB is widely seen as a key risk for Harbour’s bid.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, HARBOUR ENERGY LIMITED, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, WATERMARK FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, QUADRANT ENERGY PTY LTD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, HONY CAPITAL, ENN GROUP

Santos heats up with $13.5bn bid

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 4-Apr-18

Analysts say that gaining Foreign Investment Review Board approval for its $A13.5bn bid for Santos will be the greatest hurdle for US-based Harbour Energy. Santos has granted due diligence after the private equity-backed firm offered $A6.50 per share, compared with an initial approach in August which was pitched at $A4.55 per share. Harbour Energy has flagged plans to expand Santos’s drilling program in the Cooper Basin and increase domestic gas supply if its bid succeeds.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, HARBOUR ENERGY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, EIG GLOBAL ENERGY PARTNERS, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, ENN GROUP, HONY CAPITAL, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

Bribery probe clouds Rio’s Mongolia deal

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 21 : 23-Mar-18

Swiss and Mongolian authorities are investigating the origins of a $US10 million ($A12.9 million) payment into a Swiss bank account. The account belongs to former Mongolian finance minister Bayartsogt Sangajav. Bayartsogt has denied suggestions that the payment was linked to Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project, although Swiss authorities have stated that they are investigating whether Rio or any of its business units had a role in the deposit. Rio has indicated that it has had no contact from Swiss authorities on the matter.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, IVANHOE MINES LIMITED, TURQUOISE HILL RESOURCES LIMITED, SWITZERLAND. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC