MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – AUSTRALIA

Nine a potential winner

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 1-Oct-15

Credit Suisse believes that reforms to cross-media ownership laws are inevitable under new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Fraser McLeish of Credit Suisse says Nine Entertainment Company would be well-placed to acquire a regional broadcaster if the "reach rule" is abolished. Credit Suisse has a share price target of $A1.80 and an "outperform" rating on the stock.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Rio Tinto finds New Hope after early win on coal exit

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 & 28 : 1-Oct-15

Australian-listed New Hope Corporation will pay $A867m for Rio Tinto’s 40 per cent stake in the Bengalla thermal coal mine in New South Wales. Rio is also seeking to offload its stakes in the Mount Thorley Warkworth and Hunter Valley Operations coal mines in the Hunter Valley. A number of other companies submitted bids to acquire the stake in Bengalla, which produced 8.6 million tonnes of thermal coal in 2014.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, BENGALLA COAL MINES, COAL AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, TAIWAN POWER COMPANY, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE EQUITIES LIMITED, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, GLENCORE PLC

Japanese Asahi buys Australian craft beer brewer Mountain Goat

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 29-Sep-15

Japanese beverage company Asahi has acquired Australian boutique brewer Mountain Goat for an undisclosed sum. Mountain Goat was established by Cam Hines and David Bonighton in 1997. It employs about 25 full-time staff and 20 casual workers at breweries in Richmond and Laverton in Victoria.

CORPORATES
ASAHI BREWERIES LIMITED, MOUNTAIN GOAT BEER PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, IBISWORLD PTY LTD, KIRIN AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Vocus and M2 merger to create $3b titan

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 29-Sep-15

Geoff Horth will become CEO of the merged M2 Group and Vocus Communications, which will rank as the fourth-biggest telco in Australia and the third-largest in New Zealand. Horth is currently CEO of M2, whose board has endorsed the $A3bn merger proposal. M2 owns the Dodo and iPrimus brands, which may allow Vocus to revive its plan to build its own fibre-to-basement service for apartment buildings. The merger is subject to approval by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

CORPORATES
M2 GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTU, VOCUS COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX VOC, DODO INTERNET PTY LTD, IPRIMUS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, NBN CO LIMITED, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, COMMANDER COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED, AAPT LIMITED, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Hegarty-backed private equity vehicle snaps up copper mine

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 22-Sep-15

EMR Capital will pay $A45m for the Mt Gordon copper mine in Queensland, which was placed in care and maintenance mode by Aditya Birla Minerals in 2013. EMR was founded by Owen Hegarty and Jason Chang, and the private equity firm acquired the Mt Gordon Mine via its inaugural investment fund. Chang has flagged further acquisitions for EMR in the mining sector, with copper, gold, coking coal and potash assets among the likely targets.

CORPORATES
EMR CAPITAL PTY LTD, ADITYA BIRLA MINERALS LIMITED – ASX ABY, LIGHTHOUSE MINERALS PTY LTD

G8 Education backs rival deal for Affinity

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Original article by Tim Binsted
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 16-Sep-15

Directors of Affinity Education Group have endorsed Anchorage Capital Partners’ takeover bid, which is pitched at $A0.92 per share. Rival childcare group G8 Education will no longer pursue its bid for Affinity and will instead accept the $A212m offer from Anchorage. G8 Education had offered $A0.80 per share for Affinity, and it has built a stake of 24.6 per cent when acceptances for its offer are taken into account.

CORPORATES
AFFINITY EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED – ASX AFJ, G8 EDUCATION LIMITED – ASX GEM, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD, PETRA CAPITAL PTY LTD, ORD MINNETT GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. TAKEOVERS PANEL

Woodside takes takeover offer directly to Oil Search investors

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Original article by Perry Williams, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 16-Sep-15

Woodside Petroleum’s rejected takeover bid for Oil Search was pitched at a premium of 14 per cent, but it will most likely need to increase this to at least 20 per cent before Oil Search will consider the bid. Meanwhile, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Gresham – which are advising Woodside on the bid – have directly approached Oil Search shareholders regarding the offer.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, GRESHAM PARTNERS LIMITED, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, NATIONAL PETROLEUM COMPANY OF PNG LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Crescent lobs $215m bid for Cardno majority stake

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 15-Sep-15

Private equity firm Crescent is seeking a controlling stake in Australian-listed Cardno. Crescent is offering $A3.15 for one of every two shares held by shareholders in the engineering firm. The announcement of the $A215 million bid triggered a rise of as much as 16.4 per cent in Cardno’s share price on 14 September 2015.

CORPORATES
CARDNO LIMITED – ASX CDD, CRESCENT CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED

Top sectors for feeding the dividend beast cited

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 15-Sep-15

Beulah Capital’s Peter Mavromatis does not expect further increases in Australian companies’ dividend payout ratios. He forecasts that companies will instead pursue mergers and acquisitions as investors continue to seek high dividend yields. Mavromatis believes that local and offshore companies will target sectors such as IT, property, transport and logistics. Gerald Moser of Credit Suisse Private Bank suggests that the healthcare and IT sectors are likely to experience more consolidation.

CORPORATES
BEULAH CAPITAL PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FIDELITY AUSTRALIAN OPPORTUNITIES FUND, 3P LEARNING LIMITED – ASX 3PL, LEARNOSITY PTY LTD

Rejected Woodside turns to PNG

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 15-Sep-15

Woodside Petroleum CEO Peter Coleman is expected to discuss the company’s takeover bid for Oil Search with the Papua New Guinean Government, which controls 10 per cent of the takeover target. Woodside offered one Woodside share for four Oil Search shares, but Oil Search rejected the offer as inadequate. Oil Search chairman Rick Lee said the company would consider any rival offer that offers fair value to shareholders.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, BERNSTEIN INVESTMENT RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION