MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – GREAT BRITAIN

Sky’s the limit as Murdoch tries again

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 12-Dec-16

Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has approached UK pay-TV group Sky with a cash offer of Stg10.75 per share. Fox currently has a 39 per cent stake in Sky, and the proposed Stg11.2bn ($A19bn) bid values the target at $A31bn. Fox previously launched a takeover bid in 2011 but was forced to abandon it in the wake of the telephone hacking scandal in the UK. Any deal is likely to attract regulatory scrutiny given that Murdoch’s News Corporation owns several major British newspapers.

CORPORATES
21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, SKY PLC, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GABELLI AND COMPANY, GREAT BRITAIN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, LABOUR PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN), FOX NEWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS PTY LTD

Wesfarmers takes Bunnings to the UK

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Hatch, Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 19-Jan-16

Wesfarmers has acquired British-based home improvement chain Homebase. The $A705 million deal involves taking over Homebase’s 265 stores. Wesfarmers MD of home improvement John Gillam said the Australian conglomerate intends to invest Stg500 million ($A1.03 billion) on expansion of the chain in the UK and Ireland within five years.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, HOMEBASE, HOME RETAIL GROUP PLC, COLES GROUP LIMITED, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Sims’ threat to $100bn gas merger

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 18-Sep-15

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) is concerned about the impact of the proposed Royal Dutch Shell-BG Group merger on the Australian gas market. ACCC chairman Rod Sims said on 17 September 2015 that the $US70 billion ($A98 billion) deal could lead to price rises and gas shortages. The ACCC believes that the merger "may" substantially lessen competition.

CORPORATES
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BG GROUP PLC, ARROW ENERGY LIMITED, MANUFACTURING AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Slater & Gordon takes $1b bet on fallen angel

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro, Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 31-Mar-15

Australian-listed law firm Slater & Gordon will raise $A890m from investors to partially finance the acquisition of Quindell, a UK-based professional services firm. The $A1.2bn deal, which will also be partly financed via debt, will make Slater & Gordon one of Australia’s 100 largest listed companies. Matt Haupt of Wilson Asset Management notes that the deal will increase Slater & Gordon’s market share in the UK to 12 per cent

CORPORATES
SLATER AND GORDON LIMITED – ASX SGH, QUINDELL PLC, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, ERNST AND YOUNG, LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE. ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT MARKET