MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – AUSTRALIA

Landlord tougher than Lowy

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 33 : 20-Feb-18

Unibail-Rodamco owns EUR42.5 billion ($A66 billion) worth of shopping centres across Europe. CEO Christophe Cuvillier notes that it weeds out 10 per cent of its poorest-performing tenants every year. Cuvillier says he is unsure if any other shopping centre operates in such a manner. He is currently in Australia to speak with Westfield Corporation and Unibail-Rodamco investors in order to convince them of the merits of his company’s $A33bn bid for Westfield.

CORPORATES
UNIBAIL-RODAMCO, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NM ROTHSCHILD AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, L’OREAL SA

Telstra seeks Foxtel merger finetune

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 20 : 16-Feb-18

The Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission have approved the merger of Fox Sports and Foxtel. However, Telstra CEO Andy Penn says there are still some fine points to be worked out. Telstra’s stake in the merged entity will fall from 50 per cent to 35 per cent, with News Corporation to own 65 per cent. News and Telstra have indicated that they hope to complete the Foxtel-Fox Sports merger by the end of March. Meanwhile, Foxtel has reported 1.7 per cent growth in subscribers during the six months to December 2017.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Woodside in $2.5b raising for LNG growth

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 15-Feb-18

Woodside Petroleum has advised that its profit for 2017 rose by 18 per cent to $US1.024bn. Meanwhile, the group will have a 75 per cent stake in the Scarborough gas field after striking a deal to acquire ExxonMobil’s 50 per cent interest in the undeveloped asset for $US744m. Woodside will finance the acquisition via a $A2.5bn capital raising. BHP Billiton holds the remaining 25 per cent stake in Scarborough, and it could potentially exercise its pre-emptive right to buy ExxonMobil’s stake.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WATERMARK FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BERNSTEIN INVESTMENT RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT, WOOD MACKENZIE, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Upbeat Miller sets digital course

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 12-Feb-18

News Corp Australia boasted 389,600 digital subscribers at the end of the December 2017 quarter, an increase of 26 per cent year-on-year. Executive chairman Michael Miller describes digital subscriptions as a "huge opportunity" for the media group, noting that this market is recording annual growth of 20 per cent. Millers adds that the merger between Foxtel and Fox Sports is progressing, while he also says News Corp is open to mergers and acquisitions, including free-to-air TV networks.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Mitsui set to snare AWE as MinRes yields

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 5-Feb-18

Japan-listed Mitsui is poised to acquire Australian-listed oil and gas producer AWE Limited after Mineral Resources chose not to match Mitsui’s cash bid of $A602m. Shares in AWE closed at $A0.985 on 2 February, compared with Mitsui’s offer of $A0.95 per share. AWE’s key asset is its 50 per cent stake in the Waitsia gas field in Western Australia. Beach Energy also owns 50 per cent of Waitsia, although it is not expected to launch a bid for AWE.

CORPORATES
AWE LIMITED – ASX AWE, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, CHINA ENERGY RESERVE AND CHEMICAL GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, AUSTRALIA. TAKEOVERS PANEL

Beach watchful amid AWE takeover war

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 1-Feb-18

The board of AWE Limited has given Mineral Resources three days to match the $A602m cash offer from rival suitor Mitsui. Meanwhile, Beach Energy CEO Matt Kay has declined to comment on whether his company could join in the bidding war for AWE. The two companies jointly own the Waitsia onshore gas field in Western Australia, and Kay says Beach has no preference regarding its future partner in the project. However, he adds that Beach is monitoring the takeover battle to ensure that the interests of its shareholders are protected.

CORPORATES
AWE LIMITED – ASX AWE, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, CHINA ENERGY RESERVE AND CHEMICAL GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, NETWORK INVESTMENT HOLDINGS PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, LATTICE ENERGY LIMITED, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG

New Foxtel chief in hunt for millennials

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 19 : 1-Feb-18

Patrick Delany has succeeded Peter Tonagh as CEO of pay-TV group Foxtel ahead of its merger with Fox Sports Australia. Delany has been CEO of Fox Sports since 2011, and previously held a number of roles at Foxtel. He has flagged plans to expand Foxtel’s customer base, with a focus on increasing its market share among audience segments such as millennials. The merger of Foxtel and Fox Sports is expected to be completed within months.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH

AWE expected to hand MinRes rejection notice

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 31-Jan-18

AWE Limited’s board is tipped to declare its support for Mitsui’s cash offer of $A0.95 per share on 31 January. Rival suitor Mineral Resources will then have three days to lift its cash and scrip bid of $A0.83 per share. AWE shares closed at $A0.975 on 30 January, after rising to $A0.99 on the previous day. The third bidder for AWE, China Energy Reserve & Chemicals Group, is not expected to increase its offer.

CORPORATES
AWE LIMITED – ASX AWE, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, CHINA ENERGY RESERVE AND CHEMICAL GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, CANACCORD GENUITY (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Alinta’s plan to rattle AGL and Origin

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 23 : 16-Jan-18

Alinta believes that its purchase of Victoria’s Loy Yang B coal-fired power station for around $A1.2 billion can help it boost customer numbers. Alinta MD Jeff Dimery notes that it has around 800,000 to 900,000 customers at the moment, and that it is capable of coping with around two million customers. He says Alinta is still committed to expanding its renewable energy generation capacity, despite its purchase of Loy Yang B.

CORPORATES
ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, ENGIE SA, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CHOW TAI FOOK ENTERPRISES LIMITED, ECOGEN ENERGY, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD

Chocolate maker Darrell Lea sold for a lip-smacking $200m

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Original article by Nick Toscano, Sarah Danckert
The Age – Page: 5 : 16-Jan-18

Tony and Christina Quinn have sold the Darrell Lea confectionery business to Quadrant Private Equity in a deal worth $A200m. The couple, who acquired Darrell Lea from administrators in 2012, previously sold VIP Pet Foods to the private equity firm in 2015. Quadrant has flagged plans to expand the Darrell Lea brand in Australia and offshore. Darrell Lea booked an after-tax profit of $A8.75m in 2016-17, with revenue of $A81.2m.

CORPORATES
DARRELL LEA CONFECTIONERY COMPANY PTY LTD, QUADRANT PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, VIP PET FOODS