INVESTMENTS

Rinehart swoops on Kidman

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Crowe, Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Oct-16

Australian businesswoman Gina Rinehart has submitted a $A365m bid to acquire S Kidman & Company in partnership with China-based Shanghai CRED. Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting would have a 67 per cent stake in the rural property empire, a move that has the support of Senator Nick Xenophon and One Nation’s Pauline Hanson. Shanghai CRED was a member of the Chinese consortium whose bid to acquire Kidman was blocked on national interest grounds earlier in 2016.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, ONE NATION PARTY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, PORT ADELAIDE FOOTBALL CLUB

Amazon all set to flow here

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 10-Oct-16

Amazon has declined to comment on speculation that its Prime Video subscription video-on-demand service could be launched in Australia in November 2016, to coincide with the global debut of "The Grand Tour". The program is hosted by former "Top Gear" presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Amazon may opt to delay the local launch of its SVOD service until 2017, to enable it to build up a larger range of original and licensed content.

CORPORATES
AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, CBS CORPORATION, SHOWTIME, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, HBO, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG, SANDVINE INCORPORATED

Bradken board backs Hitachi bid

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Garvey, Bridget Carter
The Australian – Page: 17 & 19 : 4-Oct-16

Directors of listed mining services group Bradken have endorsed a takeover bid from Hitachi Construction ­Machinery. The offer of $A3.25 per values Bradken at $A688.5m, or $A976.1m when its debt is included, and is 34 per cent higher than the stock’s last trading price. The Japanese suitor boasts annual sales of $A10bn and a market capitalisation of $A5.5bn. President and CEO Yuichi Tsujimoto says the two companies’ operations are complementary.

CORPORATES
BRADKEN LIMITED – ASX BKN, HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY COMPANY LIMITED, PACIFIC EQUITY PARTNERS PTY LTD, BAIN CAPITAL LLC, KOCH INDUSTRIES INCORPORATED, CHAMP PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, SIGDO KOPPERS SA, EMECO HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX EHL, AUSENCO LIMITED – ASX AAX, CARDNO LIMITED – ASX CDD, SEDGMAN LIMITED

Foreign cap on Qantas needs axing: Joyce

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Mitchell Bingemann
The Australian – Page: 29 : 16-Sep-16

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says the airline is being disadvantaged by ownership restrictions because they prevent it from participating in global consolidation in the sector. He has called on the Federal Government to make changes to the Qantas Sale Act. Peter Harbison, the executive chairman of CAPA-Centre for Aviation, says restrictions on foreign ownership amount to protectionism.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, CAPA – CENTRE FOR AVIATION

Global fundies not counting on a crash

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Vesna Poljak, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 15-Sep-16

Investors have been warned to expect further volatility in equity markets until the US Federal Reserve resumes increasing interest rates. Many global fund managers anticipate that the central bank will begin tightening monetary policy soon, although they generally expect rates to rise gradually. The recent equities sell-down has boosted government bond yields, and there is growing concern that the bond market’s long bull run may be nearing its end.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MAGELLAN FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX MFG, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, K2 ASSET MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX KAM, PLATINUM ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX PTM

Dakota chief tips Tesla’s end within 10 years

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 8-Sep-16

Dakota Minerals has bought a tenement package in Portugal in anticipation of a rise in demand for lithium in Europe. David Frances, the CEO of the Australian-listed lithium explorer, expects strong demand for lithium from European manufacturers of electric cars. In contrast, Frances is sceptical about the popularity of electric cars in the US, where buyers are likely to show limited interest in such cars.

CORPORATES
DAKOTA MINERALS LIMITED – ASX DKO, TESLA MOTORS INCORPORATED, MERCEDES-BENZ AG, VOLKSWAGEN AG, BENCHMARK MINERAL INTELLIGENCE

China land ownership tiny

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simone Fox Koob
The Australian – Page: 5 : 7-Sep-16

New data shows that Chinese interests have bought only 1.4 million hectares of the 385 million hectares of agricultural land in Australia, which equates to less than 0.5 per cent. The Treasury report notes that foreign investors own 53 million hectares of the nation’s farmland, with British interests accounting for 27.5 million hectares. Treasurer Scott Morrison has stressed the importance of foreign investment to the domestic economy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Chinese firm exits Kidman bid group

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Kylar Loussikian
The Australian – Page: 21 : 26-Aug-16

Dakang Australia’s hopes of gaining Federal Government approval for the acquisition of S. Kidman & Company may be boosted by Shanghai CRED Real Estate’s decision to withdraw from the consortium. Shanghai Pengxin will now be able to seek an additional Australian partner for the consortium, which might be sufficient to allay the national interest concerns which prompted the sale of Kidman to be blocked.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, SHANGHAI PENGXIN GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, ERNST AND YOUNG, CAPITAL HILL ADVISORY, GENIUS LINKS ASSET MANAGEMENT, AUSGRID PTY LTD, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, CONSOLIDATED PASTORAL COMPANY PTY LTD, SHANGHAI ZHONGFU GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, VAN DIEMEN’S LAND COMPANY

Australian firms caught up in foreign bribe claims

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick McKenzie, Emmanuel Freudenthal, Michael Bachelard, Richard Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 25-Aug-16

The Australian Federal Police is investigating allegations of bribery involving Sundance Resources and the Snowy Mountains Engineering Company (SMEC). The Sundance case implicates the son of the Republic of Congo’s president, Denis Sassou Nguesso, in arranging mining licences in 2016 for which he was rewarded with Sundance shares. SMEC’s employees allegedly bribed Sri Lankan officials in 2011.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, SUNDANCE RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX SDL, SNOWY MOUNTAINS ENGINEERING CORPORATION LIMITED, WORLD BANK, TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL

BlueScope’s US protectionist profit bonanza

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 23-Aug-16

BlueScope Steel has reported a rise of 160 per cent in net profit after tax to $A353.8 million for 2015-16. The Australian-listed steel maker benefited from cost-cutting initiatives, improving conditions in the global steel market and the imposition of anti-dumping duties in the US on steel imports from China. The company’s North Star mill in Ohio, which is the most profitable steel mill in North America, produces two million tonnes of steel annually.

CORPORATES
BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, CARGILL INCORPORATED, ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI