MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – AUSTRALIA

TPG soars on Vodafone talks

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari, Bridget Carter
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 23-Aug-18

TPG Telecom has advised that it is holding discussions with Vodafone regarding a "merger of equals", as it prepares to launch its own mobile network. TPG already uses Vodafone’s network for its mobile service, while Vodafone in turn uses TPG’s fixed broadband infrastructure. Graeme Ferguson of S&P Global Ratings says the potential merger may affect the Federal Government’s auction of 5G spectrum in November, as both companies were expected to submit bids. TPG shares closed 21 per cent higher at $7.65 on 22 August.

CORPORATES
TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Seven West open to closer News Corp ties

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 22-Aug-18

Seven West Media has posted a 2017-18 net profit of $135.8m, following a $744.3m loss in the previous financial year. Revenue was 3.2 per cent lower at $1.6bn and underlying EBIT fell 9.9 per cent to $235.6m, while Seven forecasts growth in underlying EBIT of 5-10 per cent in 2018-19. CEO Tim Worner says Seven may seek to strengthen its commercial partnerships or forge new deals in the wake of Nine Entertainment’s proposed merger with Fairfax Media. He notes that Seven already has an alliance with News Corp, but he has downplayed suggestions of a merger.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, YAHOO!7 COMMUNICATIONS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MARTIN CURRIE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT

Fairfax bets on merger as regionals hit profit

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 19 : 16-Aug-18

Fairfax Media has posted a 2017-18 net loss of $63.8m, compared with a $83.9m profit previously. The latest result was affected by writedowns associated with Fairfax’s regional newspapers and its New Zealand division, while revenue was down 2.8 per cent. Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood says the proposed merger with Nine Entertainment Company will allow the combined group to increase its audience reach and marketing inventory.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, STUFF LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Domain sees considerable upside to proposed Fairfax-Nine merger

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 14-Aug-18

Domain Holdings’ executive chairman Nick Falloon says the merger between Nine Entertainment Company and Fairfax Media will help to grow Domain’s business. Falloon is also the chairman of Fairfax, which owns 60 per cent of Domain. He notes that both Domain and Nine have lots of useful data that when combined would be of benefit to both businesses. The property listings company has a posted a statutory net loss of $6.2m for 2017-18, while revenue was 11.5 per cent higher at $357.3m.

CORPORATES
DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MARTIN CURRIE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Cashed-up PE firms prowl ASX for deals

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 13-Aug-18

The value of announced mergers and acquisitions involving Australian-listed companies has topped US$39.3bn so far in 2018. Private equity investors have been particularly active; US$11.4bn ($15.6bn) worth of such deals involving both listed and unlisted assets have been announced so far in 2018, which is 47 per cent higher than at the same time in 2017. Experts anticipate that the private equity sector will continue to pursue listed companies, with Tom Story of law firm Allens noting that suitors and their targets have been more willing to agree on price in 2018.

CORPORATES
ALLENS, DEALOGIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, SIRTEX MEDICAL LIMITED – ASX SRX, CDH INVESTMENTS FUND MANAGEMENT COMPANY, BWX LIMITED – ASX BWX, SINO GAS AND ENERGY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SEH, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, BILLABONG INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, PACIFIC EQUITY PARTNERS PTY LTD, LIFEHEALTHCARE PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, BGH CAPITAL PTY LTD, BAIN AND COMPANY, I-MED RADIOLOGY, ACCOLADE WINES LIMITED, CHAMP PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, THE CARLYLE GROUP, MANUKA HEALTH, IXOM, PEMBA CAPITAL, DEVICE TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

Formal ACCC probe of Nine deal urged

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 13-Aug-18

Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance CEO Paul Murphy says the proposed merger between Nine Entertainment Company and Fairfax Media should be subject to a formal review by the competition regulator. He argues that an informal review is insufficient given the impact that the merger would have on the media sector. The MEAA’s media president Marcus Strom in turn says Nine and Fairfax should be required to submit detailed information on the merger’s impact on consumers and employees of the two companies.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Fortescue keeps seat at Atlas

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 7-Aug-18

Fortescue Metals Group has reduced its stake in Atlas Iron from 19.9 per cent to 11.37 per cent, and CEO Elizabeth Gaines says it will retain a strategic stake in the takeover target. This will prevent Gina Rinehart from moving to the compulsory acquisition stage, and force her to work with Fortescue regarding Atlas’s port capacity at Port Hedland. Rinehart has gained more than 50 per cent of Atlas shares.

CORPORATES
ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD

One less Australian Market Research Firm. DBM merges with Shanghai based Illuminera Group

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Original article by the Illuminera Group of Shanghai, China
Shanghai – Page: 1 : 3-Aug-18

Illuminera today announced their merger with DBM, an Australian provider of insight based consulting to the financial services industry. After the merger, both Illuminera and DBM will benefit from their combined knowledge and capability in the fields of data analytics and insight based consulting to meet the increasingly demanding needs of clients across the Asia Pacific region, with over 160 full-time consultants and annual revenue of more than 160 million RMB. Dhruba Gupta, founder and CEO of DBM, said "The partnership is an exciting opportunity for us to work together to share resources, knowledge and expertise, making it possible for us to offer a wider range of innovative services and deliver greater impact for our clients."

CORPORATES
DBM CONSULTANTS PTY LTD, ILLUMINERA GROUP

Murdoch needs to get in quick to secure free-to-air TV stations

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 6-Aug-18

Media experts believe that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation will eventually bid for Seven West Media following the proposed Nine-Fairfax merger and Ten Network’s sale to CBS. However, News Corp would have to satisfy the "minimum voices" rule, which was not affected by cross-media ownership reforms in 2017. It requires major newspapers, TV stations and radio stations in metropolitan areas to be held by five different owners. A Murdoch bid for Seven would breach the "voices test" in Adelaide if a rival media company moved first by acquiring HT&E’s Australian Radio Network.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, CBS CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK PTY LTD, HT&E LIMITED – ASX HT1, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Nine could sell Fairfax’s NZ arm

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 6-Aug-18

Nine Entertainment Company has flagged the possibility of divesting assets such as Fairfax Media’s regional newspapers and its New Zealand business if the proposed $4.06bn merger proceeds. Nine CEO Hugh Marks has held an investor roadshow to pitch the merger deal, which has prompted speculation of further consolidation in the media sector. Seven West Media has advised that it sees no need to pursue mergers and acquisitions in response to the Nine-Fairfax deal.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, PRIVATE MEDIA PARTNERS PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, THE NEW DAILY, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NBN TELEVISION