INVESTMENTS

ACCC ticks Virgin-Qatar flights plan

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Original article by Ayesha de Kretser
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 & 19 : 19-Feb-25

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has backed Vigin Australia’s proposed alliance with Qatar Airways. The ACCC’s draft determination has concluded amongs other things that the wet-lease agreement will be advantageous to travellers by offering a greater choice of international flights, more convenience and enhanced loyalty program benefits. Qatar Airways will also acquire a 25 per cent stake in Virgin if the deal receives final approval from the ACCC, and ultimately the Foreign Investment Review Board and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, QATAR AIRWAYS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Rocky start to Lew’s British adventure

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 17-Dec-24

Internal documents have revealed that Solomn Lew’s Premier Investments is having problems in both the UK and Australia. Sales from the first three UK stores of its sleepwear brand Peter Alexander are trading at 61.6 per cent below budget, while sales for its Smiggle brand in the UK between August and last weekend were down 12.2 per cent on the same period last year. Premier Investments’ other retail and fashion brands in Australia are also seeing negative sales growth when compared to 2023, with those brands including Jacqui E and Just Jeans.

CORPORATES
PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, PETER ALEXANDER SLEEPWEAR PTY LTD, SMIGGLE PTY LTD, JACQUI E PTY LTD, JUST JEANS PTY LTD

Rocky start to Lew’s British adventure

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 17-Dec-24

Internal documents have revealed that Solomn Lew’s Premier Investments is having problems in both the UK and Australia. Sales from the first three UK stores of its sleepwear brand Peter Alexander are trading at 61.6 per cent below budget, while sales for its Smiggle brand in the UK between August and last weekend were down 12.2 per cent on the same period last year. Premier Investments’ other retail and fashion brands in Australia are also seeing negative sales growth when compared to 2023, with those brands including Jacqui E and Just Jeans.

CORPORATES
PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, PETER ALEXANDER SLEEPWEAR PTY LTD, SMIGGLE PTY LTD, JACQUI E PTY LTD, JUST JEANS PTY LTD

Rio’s abandoned copper mine life threatening

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 7-Dec-24

A report by consulants Tetra Tech Coffey has found that Rio Tinto’s abandoned Panguna copper mine in Bougainville poses a number of "imminent, life-threatening risks", and that it could take over 100 years for the local environment to recover from its impact. Rio abandoned the mine in 1989 after a dispute over revenue-sharing helped spark Bougainville’s civil war with Papua New Guinea, which led to the loss of more than 15,000 lives. Panguna was majority owned by Rio until 2016, when it gave up its stake in Bougainville Copper to the Papua New Guinea and Bougainville governments, but Tetra Tech Coffey’s report adds to growing pressure on Rio to assume esponsibility for the legacy of the mine.

CORPORATES
TETRA TECH COFFEY, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BOUGAINVILLE COPPER LIMITED – ASX BOC

US election may hurt dealmakers

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 15 : 6-Nov-24

Mergers and acquisitions lawyer Sandy Mak from Corrs Chambers Westgarth says it is "hard to predict" just how the outcome of the presidential election will affect US investment in Australia and other countries. US companies are one of the largest foreign investors in Australia, and Mak says they could put plans to invest in Australia on hold if the election results in geopolitical uncertainty; she notes that corporate America has historically been wary of investing offshore in times of volatility and uncertainty.

CORPORATES
CORRS CHAMBERS WESTGARTH

Paladin’s $1.5b uranium deal slowed by national security probe

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 3-Oct-24

Paladin Energy had expected to complete a deal to acquire Toronto-listed Fission Uranium by the end of September. However, the timetable for closing the $1.5bn deal is uncertain following the Canadian government’s decision to initiate a national security review of the transaction. A Chinese state-owned entity has a 25 per cent stake in Paladin’s flagship Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia; another such company holds an 11 per cent stake in Fission and tried to block the Paladin deal.

CORPORATES
PALADIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX PDN, FISSION URANIUM CORPORATION

Virgin boss says Qatar partnership will boost competition

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Original article by Amelia McGuire
The Age – Page: Online : 2-Oct-24

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has defended the proposed deal to sell a 25 per cent stake in the carrier to Qatar Airways. As part of the deal with Qatar, Virgin aims to commence ‘wet lease’ services to Doha from mid-2025 using the Qatari airline’s fleet of aircraft. Hrdlicka adds that it would take six years for Virgin to gain access to enough planes to begin its own long-haul international flights. The Transport Workers Union has expressed concern about the implications of the wet lease deal for Virgin employees, given that its international flights will use Qatar Airways pilots and cabin crew.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, QATAR AIRWAYS, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION

Qatar to take 25 per cent stake in Virgin Australia

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: Online : 1-Oct-24

Qatar Airways will become a cornerstone investor in Virgin Australia following lengthy negotiations with Bain Capital. The Qatari carrier has agreed to acquire a 25 per cent stake in Virgin, although the latter’s CEO Jayne Hrdlicka concedes that regulatory approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission cannot be taken for granted. The two airlines have been codesharing partners since 2022. Bain Capital is still expected to pursue an IPO for Virgin before the end of 2024 or in the new year.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, QATAR AIRWAYS, BAIN CAPITAL LLC, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Probe into investors in minerals firm

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 4-Sep-24

A spokesman for Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the federal government will undertake a full assessment of whether the Yuxiao Fund has complied with an order to divest its stake in Northern Minerals. The Singapore-registered fund and its associates were directed to sell their equity interest in the critical minerals group due to their Chinese links. Yuxiao has sold its stake to two separate Hong Kong-registered companies, Qogir Trading & Service and Hong Kong Ying Tak, which will also be subject to government scrutiny on national interest grounds.

CORPORATES
NORTHERN MINERALS LIMITED – ASX NTU, YUXIAO FUND, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

AirTrunk’s $23.5b AI pay day

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Original article by Paul Smith, Anthony Macdonald
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 20 : 4-Sep-24

US-based asset manager Blackstone has secured a deal to buy Australian data centre company AirTrunk. The deal values AirTrunk at about $23.5bn, eclipsing the previous record price of $US15bn ($22bn) for a data centre company. Sources have indicated that AirTrunk founder Robin Khuda will sell half of his 10 per cent stake to Blackstone for about $500m, while he will remain CEO of the company. Macquarie Group’s infrastructure arm and Canada-based PSP Investments will in turn sell their entire stakes in AirTrunk to Blackstone. AirTrunk owns 11 data centres in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.

CORPORATES
AIRTRUNK, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, PSP INVESTMENTS