MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – AUSTRALIA

FIRB tick for Ten takeover

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 19 : 24-Oct-17

CBS Corporation’s acquisition of the Ten Network has cleared a key hurdle, with the Foreign Investment Review Board advising that it will not oppose the deal. The Supreme Court of New South Wales is scheduled to commence a hearing on the deal in late October, and small shareholders David Gubbay and Yunfeng Du are expected to challenge the transfer of Ten’s shares to CBS.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CBS CORPORATION, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED

Cash plan to dam union ‘rivers of gold’

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 19-Oct-17

The Federal Government’s Proper Use of Worker Benefits Bill will be put before parliament on 19 October. The bill is aimed at preventing worker entitlement funds – which boast assets of about $A2bn – from making payments to either unions or employers. Some 14 unions have received an average of $A25m annually from worker entitlement funds over the last five years. Meanwhile, a bill that would enable the Government to block mergers between unions has been put on hold, as some senate crossbenchers have concerns about it.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

TPG-News mulled sale of AFR

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian – Page: 29 : 16-Oct-17

Fairfax Media’s former suitor TPG Capital approached News Corp about on-selling "The Australian Financial Review" if its takeover bid succeeded. The approach is believed to have been made before TPG submitted its first indicative bid for Fairfax, although the private equity firm eventually decided to retain all of Fairfax’s assets. Although TPG was primarily interested in the Domain property listings business, it ultimately submitted a $A2.7bn bid for the whole of Fairfax.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, TPG CAPITAL LP, DOMAIN.COM.AU, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, HELLMAN AND FRIEDMAN, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

CBS to take Ten as rivals submit

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Original article by Stephen Brook, Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 26 : 16-Oct-17

Lachlan Murdoch failed to lodge a legal challenge to the transfer of Ten Network’s shares to CBS Corporation by the deadline of 13 October, and Bruce Gordon is also believed to have not done so. News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller says Ten’s acquisition by the US media group now seems to be inevitable, and he has told the Radio Alive conference that News Corp would be willing to produce local content in partnership with CBS.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CBS CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, COMMERCIAL RADIO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, VIACOM INCORPORATED, CHANNEL 5 BROADCASTING LIMITED

Investors back Accor deal, says Mantra chief

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 13-Oct-17

Mantra Group shareholders are expected to vote in March 2018 on its proposed merger with Accor by means of a scheme of arrangement. Mantra Group head Bob East says its shareholders are very supportive of the $A1.3 billion merger, which will create an entity with over 300 hotels and around 15 per cent share of the Australian hotels market. The deal will also have to be approved by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the Foreign Investment Review Board.

CORPORATES
MANTRA GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTR, ACCOR SA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, PEPPERS HOTEL GROUP, BREAKFREE LIMITED, CHOICE HOTELS AUSTRALIA, MFS LIMITED, HIGHBURY PARTNERSHIP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, CENTRAL BANK OF NORWAY

Network Ten equity has no value, according to KPMG report

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 11-Oct-17

An independent expert’s report from KPMG has concluded that the Ten Network has an equity value of between negative $A529.2m and negative $A543.7m, or negative $1.055bn when the debt claims of CBS and 21st Century are taken into account. The negative valuation could make it harder for Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon to challenge the transfer of Ten’s shares to CBS Corporation. They will have a deadline of 13 October to decide whether to launch a legal challenge.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CBS CORPORATION, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED

Ten report could spark challenge

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 24 : 9-Oct-17

Failed bidders for the Ten Network have until 13 October to challenge the transfer of its shares to US media giant CBS Corporation. A KPMG report to be released on 9 October may determine whether there will be a legal challenge to the CBS deal. The report concludes that Ten has negative net worth, but Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon are believed to have commissioned their own independent expert’s report which includes a positive valuation of Ten’s shares.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CBS CORPORATION, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, ILLYRIA PTY LTD, BIRKETU PTY LTD, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, VIACOM INCORPORATED, CHANNEL 5 BROADCASTING LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

BC Iron inks deal with Palmer firm for Pilbara

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 2-Oct-17

BC Iron reported on 29 September that it had entered into an agreement to acquire mining tenements in Western Australia’s Pilbara region from Clive Palmer’s Mineralogy company. BC Iron, in which billionaire Kerry Stokes has a 22.7 per cent stake, will pay Mineralogy $A9 million for the tenements, along with two ongoing royalties. The tenements are located near BC Iron’s Buckland iron ore project.

CORPORATES
BC IRON LIMITED – ASX BCI, MINERALOGY PTY LTD, CITIC PACIFIC MINING MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Beach bulks up with $1.6bn Lattice deal

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 29-Sep-17

Beach Energy’s oil and gas production will be increased by about 150 per cent as a result of its deal to acquire the Lattice Energy assets of Origin Energy. Beach will significantly increase its debt to finance the $A1.585bn acquisition of the conventional oil and gas assets, but MD Matt Kay is confident that the company will be net cash positive by 2021. Origin had been weighing up both an IPO and trade sale of Lattice Energy, and CEO Frank Calabria says an IPO had remained under consideration until the deal with Beach was finalised.

CORPORATES
BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, LATTICE ENERGY LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, WOOD MACKENZIE, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW

Tabcorp-Tatts merger up in air as court orders new competition hearing

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Original article by Damon Kitney, Scott Murdoch
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 21-Sep-17

The Australian Competition Tribunal will reassess the proposed merger between Tabcorp and Tatts Group after the Federal Court upheld an appeal against its decision to approve the deal. However, the court has placed a five-day embargo on disclosing its reasons for ruling in favour of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, which will give the competition regular limited time to prepare a new submission on the $A11bn merger. The ACCC had argued that several points of law regarding the merger needed to be clarified.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, CROWNBET PTY LTD