INVESTMENTS

Adani mine has huge economic benefits: Turnbull

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Apr-17

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has highlighted the proposed Carmichael coal mine’s likely contribution to jobs growth and government revenue. Turnbull has held talks with Indian entrepreneur Gautam Adani, who believes that the project qualifies for funding from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. However, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the Carmichael coal mine and rail project needs to be commercially and economically viable, and it should not receive financial assistance from taxpayers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ADANI ENTERPRISES LIMITED, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY

REA spends $70m on passage to India’s vast property market

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Original article by Daniel Palmer
The Australian – Page: 17 : 11-Jan-17

Australian-listed property listings company REA Group will lift its stake in PropTiger to 21 per cent after agreeing to pay $US50m ($A68m) for an additional 14.7 per cent stake in the company. PropTiger is one of India’s largest property listings groups, and its websites include proptiger.com and housing.com. REA, which owns realestate.com.au, recently flagged plans to focus on markets in Australia, Asia and North America.

CORPORATES
REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, REALESTATE.COM.AU, PROPTIGER, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

ANZ fires up Asia exit in $1.8b sale

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 : 4-Jan-17

ANZ Banking Group is retreating from Asia, with the latest transaction being the sale of its 20 per cent stake in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank for $A1.8 billion. The stake is being acquired in two equal tranches by China COSCO Shipping Corporation and Shanghai Sino Poland Enterprise Management Development Corporation. The sale will result in a rise in ANZ’s tier one capital ratio from 9.6 per cent to 10 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, SHANGHAI RURAL COMMERCIAL BANK, ESANDA FINANCE CORPORATION LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, DBS GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED, CHINA COSCO SHIPPING CORPORATION, SHANGHAI SINO POLAND ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, BANK OF TIANJIN COMPANY LIMITED, AMBANK BERHAD

ANZ leads in the big four investing game

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Original article by Tony Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 40 : 4-Jan-17

The ANZ Banking Group is selling its 20 per cent stake in the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank for $A1.8 billion. The transaction will have a positive effect on the bank’s common equity tier 1 capital ratio, raising it to the highest level among Australia’s big four banks. Shareholders have reasons to be satisfied. The bank is likely to increase its return on equity.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, SHANGHAI RURAL COMMERCIAL BANK, ESANDA FINANCE CORPORATION LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, DBS GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Foreign property interest to run strong

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Original article by Scott Murdoch
The Australian – Page: 13 : 4-Jan-17

Foreign investors bought $A10 billion worth of Australian commercial property in 2016. Large transactions included the acquisition of Dexus’s Southgate complex in Melbourne by ARA Property Group. The $A578 million transaction was executed in August. JLL CEO Stephen Conry expects strong interest in Australian property among foreign buyers to continue in 2017.

CORPORATES
JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, ARA PROPERTY GROUP, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, INMARK PTY LTD, ASCENDAS PTE LTD, SINGBRIDGE GROUP, COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Packer crowns year by folding his China cards

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Original article by John Stensholt, Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 16-Dec-16

Crown Resorts has flagged its intention to focus on its casinos business in Australia. The group has agreed to sell a 13.4 per cent stake in the Melco Crown Entertainment venture in Macau for $A1.6bn, while it will not proceed wth the Alon casino project in Las Vegas. Crown will use the proceeds from the sale of the Melco stake to reduce debt, pay a special dividend and finance a share buyback. The group still intends to establish a separate real estate investment trust for its property assets.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, MELCO CROWN ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, ASPINALL’S CLUB LIMITED, DCN GAMES, MELCO INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LIMITED, CONSOLIDATED PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED

Swisse parent takes full ownership

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 16-Dec-16

Biostime International has paid $A311m to acquire the 17 per cent of Swisse that it did not already own following its takeover of the Australian vitamin maker in 2015. Former Treasury Wines Estate executive Oliver Horn has been appointed as MD of Swisse after CEO Radek Sali advised that he will depart at the end of 2016. Sali is one of the minority shareholders who agreed to accept the buyout offer. He says the process of integrating Swisse with Biostime has gone well.

CORPORATES
SWISSE WELLNESS PTY LTD, BIOSTIME INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LIMITED, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD, DIAGEO PLC, FOSTER’S GROUP LIMITED, BELLAMY’S AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX BAL, VITACO HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VIT, SHANGHAI PHARMACEUTICAL HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, PRIMAVERA CAPITAL GROUP, BLACKMORES LIMITED – ASX BKL, NATURE’S CARE

Sky’s the limit as Murdoch tries again

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 12-Dec-16

Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has approached UK pay-TV group Sky with a cash offer of Stg10.75 per share. Fox currently has a 39 per cent stake in Sky, and the proposed Stg11.2bn ($A19bn) bid values the target at $A31bn. Fox previously launched a takeover bid in 2011 but was forced to abandon it in the wake of the telephone hacking scandal in the UK. Any deal is likely to attract regulatory scrutiny given that Murdoch’s News Corporation owns several major British newspapers.

CORPORATES
21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, SKY PLC, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GABELLI AND COMPANY, GREAT BRITAIN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, LABOUR PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN), FOX NEWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS PTY LTD

US, Britain building pressure to slash company taxes, expert says

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 9-Dec-16

The Australian Government may be under pressure to lower corporate taxes if the US and the UK reduce their tax rates to 15 per cent and other countries follow their example. Wolfgang Schoen, the director of the Max Planck Institute, says the world is entering a period of intense tax competition and attractive incentives will have to be offered to companies to attract their investment.

CORPORATES
MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Amazon gearing up to make its trade mark on Australia

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 7-Dec-16

US e-commerce retail Amazon has applied for more than 250 trademarks in Australia, covering some 30-plus categories of products and services. The retail had previously lodged a number of trademark applications in the mid-2000s, including Amazon Prime and Amazon Fresh. The Amazon Prime subscription video-on-demand service is expected to be formally launched in Australia in 2017. Data from Roy Morgan Research shows that Amazon boast a 50 per cent share of online retail sales in the US.

CORPORATES
AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, IP AUSTRALIA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD