MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – AUSTRALIA

Accenture paid $63m for The Monkeys

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Original article by Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 12-Jul-17

It has been revealed that a May 2017 deal for consulting firm Accenture to acquire Sydney-based creative agency The Monkeys was worth $A63m. The Monkeys posted a net profit of $A2.45m in 2015-16 and revenue of $A21.6m. The deal is part of a growing trend for consulting firms to diversify into the advertising and marketing sector. However, WPP Group’s Sir Martin Sorrell is among those to have questioned the merits of the deal given the different corporate cultures at Accenture and The Monkeys.

CORPORATES
ACCENTURE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, THE MONKEYS PTY LTD, WPP GROUP PLC, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, ERNST AND YOUNG, KPMG, MAUD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, McKINSEY AND COMPANY, ENVISION

Woolworths, BP brace for ACCC fuel stations decision

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 11-Jul-17

BP will have a similar number of petrol retailing sites as Caltex if a deal to acquire Woolworths’ petrol business is approved by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. The deal would also increase BP’s share of the wholesale fuel market to 30 per cent, compared with about 18 per cent at present. Grant Saligari of Credit Suisse says the ACCC may raise some issues regarding the proposed $A1.8bn deal, although they might not be of sufficient concern to completely veto the transaction.

CORPORATES
BP AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, SHELL COMPANY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COLES EXPRESS, MILEMAKER PETROLEUM PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW

ACCC appeals Tabcorp-Tatts merger ruling

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 11-Jul-17

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission will challenge the Competition Tribunal’s decision to approve the $A11bn merger between Tabcorp and Tatts Group. The ACCC has argued in the Federal Court that the tribunal made three legal errors in approving the deal. Amongst other things, it claims that the tribunal only considered whether the merger would be detrimental if it resulted in a "substantial" lessening of competition. The ACCC is of the view that the tribunal should have considered whether there would be any lessening of competition.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, PACIFIC BRANDS LIMITED

ACCC looks at bids for shaky Ten

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 5-Jul-17

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has been approached to assess whether a joint bid for the Ten Network by Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon would be likely to substantially reduce competition. The ACCC will issue a statement of issues by 24 July on a potential bid for Ten by their investment vehicles, Illyria and Birketu. A formal bid for Ten by Murdoch and Gordon would be conditional on changes to cross-media ownership rules, given their other media interests.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ILLYRIA PTY LTD, BIRKETU PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, CANWEST GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, PPB ADVISORY

Fairfax dives as suitors vanish

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 4-Jul-17

Fairfax Media has advised that its 2016-17 EBITDA will be within the range of $A262m to $A266m, compared with $A283.3m previously. Group revenue will be six per cent lower, although the Domain property listings business has posted revenue growth of 10 per cent. Fairfax shares fell sharply on 3 July after the media group ended talks with private equity suitors TPG Capital and Hellman & Friedman. Fairfax will now proceed with the demerger of Domain before the end of 2017, although it will retain a majority stake.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, DOMAIN.COM.AU, TPG CAPITAL LP, HELLMAN AND FRIEDMAN, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, ONTARIO TEACHERS’ PENSION PLAN, CCZ STATTON EQUITIES PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Private equity walks away from Fairfax

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Original article by Max Mason, Anthony Macdonald
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 3-Jul-17

TPG Capital will not proceed with a $A2.7bn bid for Fairfax Media after undertaking due diligence. Rival private equity suitor Hellman & Friedman had not submitted a binding bid by the deadline of 30 June, and Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood has indicated that the media group will now press ahead with its proposal to spin off the Domain property listings business. Thorney Investment Group chairman Alex Waislitz supports the demerger plan, and he has previously forecast that Domain’s EBITDA could rise from around $A115m at present to at least $A200m in the future.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, TPG CAPITAL LP, HELLMAN AND FRIEDMAN, DOMAIN.COM.AU, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Spread the word: he’s a happy little Vegemite

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Original article by John Durie
The Australian – Page: 21 : 30-Jun-17

Australian-listed Bega Cheese will assume ownership of the iconic Vegemite brand on 30 June. Bega paid $A460m for the local food brands of Mondelez, including Vegemite, Zoosh, Bonox and peanut butter products that were formerly sold under the Kraft brand. The Mondelez assets will contribute 40 per cent of Bega’s earnings and 25 per cent of its revenue. Bega undertook a $A122.5m capital raising to help finance the Mondelez deal.

CORPORATES
BEGA CHEESE LIMITED – ASX BGA, MONDELEZ AUSTRALIA (FOODS) LIMITED, MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED, KRAFT FOODS INCORPORATED, MURRAY GOULBURN CO-OPERATIVE COMPANY LIMITED

Expansion takes REA into mortgage broking

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 28-Jun-17

Australian-listed REA Group will pay $A67m for an 80 per cent stake in mortgage broker Smartline. REA, which owns the realestate.com.au property listings business, has also established a partnership with National Australia Bank to provide mortgage broking services and realestate.com.au-branded home loans. REA forecasts that the acquisition of Smartline and the alliance with NAB will boost group revenue by $A26m to $A30m in fiscal 2018.

CORPORATES
REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, REALESTATE.COM.AU, SMARTLINE HOME LOANS PTY LTD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, CHOICE HOME LOANS

Tribunal dismisses concerns in Tab deal

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 23-Jun-17

The Australian Competition Tribunal, which approved Tabcorp’s $A11 billion merger with Tatts Group on 20 June 2017, has published in full the reasons for its decision. The tribunal has rejected claims by Racing.com that it would be placed in crisis if conditions were not imposed on the merged entity when bidding for future broadcasting rights. The tribunal also did not believe the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s view that allowing the merger to proceed would reduce competitive bidding for the next wagering licence in Victoria.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL, RACING.COM, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, RACING VICTORIA LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, ODYSSEY GAMING LIMITED

ACCC bypass comes up trumps for Tabcorp

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 21-Jun-17

The Australian Competition Tribunal has cleared the proposed $A11bn merger of gambling giants Tabcorp Holdings and Tatts Group. Tribunal president Justice John Middleton rejected the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s concerns about the impact on competition, arguing that the merger will result in significant benefits for the public. However, he has stipulated that Tabcorp must proceed with the sale of Odyssey Gaming Services. Tabcorp hopes to finalise the merger by September.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, CROWNBET PTY LTD, RACING.COM, RACING VICTORIA LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SUN BETS