MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – AUSTRALIA

Rinehart, SQM unite for $1.7b Azure bid

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 20-Dec-23

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has teamed up with Chile-based lithium miner SQM to make a joint bid for Azure Minerals. The target’s board had backed a takeover offer from SQM pitched at $3.52 per share in late October, but Hancock subsequently acquired an 18.4 per cent blocking stake in Azure. Hancock and SQM currently have a combined stake of 37.8 per cent in Azure, and have made a cash offer of $3.70 per share. They will pursue an on-market bid priced at $3.65 per share if the scheme of arrangement bid does not succeed.

CORPORATES
AZURE MINERALS LIMITED – ASX AZS, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, SOCIEDAD QUIMICA Y MINERA SA

Bankers strike $5b in M&A deals

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Original article by Aaron Weinman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 14 : 19-Dec-23

Australian investors benefited from a pre-Christmas spike in mergers and acquisitions activity on Monday. Share registry administer Link Group endorsed a $1.2bn buyout offer from Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and building materials group Adbri advised that it has received a $2.1bn takeover bid from Barro Group and CRH. Dental group Pacific Smiles has in turn been the subject of a $233m takeover offer from Genesis Capital. Ian Holmes from E&P suggest that the end-of-year surge in takeovers may be driven by a desire for suitors to avoid dragging out a bid into the new year.

CORPORATES
LINK ADMINISTRATION HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LNK, MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP INCORPORATED, ADBRI LIMITED – ASX ABC, BARRO GROUP PTY LTD, CRH PLC, PACIFIC SMILES GROUP LIMITED – ASX PSQ, GENESIS CAPITAL, E&P FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX EP1

Pharmacy giant’s 100-year plan

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Original article by Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 16 : 12-Dec-23

Sigma Health has forecast that its merger with Chemist Warehouse will generate annual cost savings of $60m. The combined group will boost EBIT in excess of $495m and a market capitalisation of about $8.8bn. Chemist Warehouse operates a network of more than 600 franchised stores, while Sigma owns the Amcal and Discount Drug Store brands and a pharmaceuticals wholesaling arm. The merged group will be headed by Sigma CEO Vikesh Ramsunder and chairman Michael Sammells. Chemist Warehouse CEO and co-founder Mario Verrocchi says that listing the company on the sharemarket is a "life dream". Further expanding the Chemist Warehouse brand overseas will be part of the merged group’s 100-year growth strategy.

CORPORATES
SIGMA HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX SIG, CHEMIST WAREHOUSE

ANZ-Suncorp deal no threat

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Original article by Glen Norris
The Australian – Page: 15 : 5-Dec-23

The ANZ Bank’s appeal against the blocking of its deal to buy Suncorp Bank continued before the Australian Competition Tribunal on Tuesday. Cameron Moore SC, who is representing Suncorp Group, contended that the $4.9bn deal would not undermine competition in the banking sector, as Suncorp Bank is a relatively small player that had until recently been losing market share in its home state of Queensland. He also argued that a merger between Suncorp Bank and Bendigo Bank would not make financial sense for shareholders of either company.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, SUNCORP BANK, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN

AusSuper’s offer to Origin

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 15 : 5-Dec-23

A spokeswoman for Brookfield has indicated that the Canadian group will consider its "next steps" regarding Origin Energy, after a $20bn takeover bid was rejected by 68.9 per cent of the target’s shareholders on Monday. This was well short of the 75 per cent threshold required for the bid from Brookfield and EIG to succeed. Meanwhile, AustralianSuper has indicated that it is open to providing Origin with capital to help finance its energy transition, while Simon Mawhinney from Allan Gray Australia says Origin should consider demerging its energy markets business and its gas export venture.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT INCORPORATED, EIG GLOBAL ENERGY PARTNERS, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Top proxy group backs Origin bid

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 8-Nov-23

Proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services has endorsed the takeover bid for Origin Energy, recommending that shareholders should vote in favour of the deal on 23 November. The revised offer of $9.53 per share from Brookfield Asset Management and EIG values the deal at nearly $20bn. The offer price represents a 70 per cent premium to Origin’s share price when the consortium made its initial bid in late 2022. However, AustralianSuper maintains that the offer still undervalues Origin. The industry superannuation fund has a stake of more than 15 per cent in Origin, and could sway the vote given that the deal must be approved by 75 per cent of shareholders.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT INCORPORATED, EIG GLOBAL ENERGY PARTNERS, INSTITUTIONAL SHAREHOLDER SERVICES INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD

Telfer ‘a strategic asset for Newmont

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 16 : 8-Nov-23

Newmont Corporation’s CEO Tom Parker has emphasised that the US-based company is committed to retaining its secondary listing on the Australian sharemarket. He has also downplayed speculation that the Telfer gold and copper mine in Western Australia is among the assets that Newmont will divest following its acquisition of Newcrest Mining. He has highlighted the strategic potential of Telfer and its associated infrastructure in the northern Pilbara region. Parker adds that Newmont has moved quickly to appoint its own managers to all of Newcrest’s operating mines, while Newcrest’s top executives have left the company.

CORPORATES
NEWMONT CORPORATION – ASX NEM, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED

AusSuper puts Origin deal on edge

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 22 : 1-Nov-23

The $18.7 billion takeover bid for Origin Energy will require the support of 75 per cent of shareholders when they vote on the deal later in November. However, the acquisition of Origin by Brookfield Asset Management and EIG Partners appears to be increasingly uncertain, following AustralianSuper’s decision to reject the deal. The industry superannuation giant has a 13.7 per cent stake in Origin, contending that the offer of about $8.81 per share is substantially below its estimate of Origin’s long-term value. Several other institutional investors believe that the offer price is too low.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT INCORPORATED, EIG GLOBAL ENERGY PARTNERS, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD

Target wary of opportunistic ARN

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 30-Oct-23

ARN Media and Anchorage Capital Partners are offering 0.753 ARN shares for each Southern Cross Austereo share, along with $0.296 in cash and $0.127 in franking credits. Southern Cross chairman John Murray has labelled the takeover bid "opportunistic", while describing it as quite complex and one that could take months to evaluate. Murray and Southern Cross CEO John Kelly have established a sub-committee of its board and management to assess the offer, while its shareholders are supportive of it considering the bid.

CORPORATES
SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, SOUTHERN CROSS AUSTEREO PTY LTD, ARN MEDIA LIMITED – ASX A1N, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD

Deal activity dives as rates hit hard

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Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 22-Sep-23

Data from Refinitiv shows that mergers and acquisitions involving Australians companies has totalled $US81.3bn so far in 2023, which is 27 per cent lower than at the same time in 2022. Investment banks’ advisory fees for completed M&A deal are 62 per cent lower than the same period in 2022, at $US354m. Underwriting fees for equity and debt capital market transactions have in turn fallen by 16 per cent and nine per cent respectively. Nick Sims from Goldman Sachs Australia expects deal-making activity to pick up for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024, in the absence of any macroeconomic or geopolitical shocks.

CORPORATES
REFINITIV AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD