SHARE ISSUES – AUSTRALIA

Noble Group to challenge Yancoal raising

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 3-Aug-17

Glencore will buy $US300m worth of shares in Yancoal Australia via the latter’s $US2.5bn ($A3.1bn) equity raising, which will be used to finance its acquisition of Rio Tinto’s coal assets in the Hunter Valley. However, Noble Group claims that the capital raising will "oppress" minority shareholders such as itself, with their stakes to be diluted as a result of the new capital. Yancoal estimates that acquiring the Rio Tinto assets will generate synergies of $A120m to $A145m.

CORPORATES
YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, GLENCORE PLC, NOBLE GROUP LIMITED, SENRIGAN CAPITAL GROUP LIMITED, COAL AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED, YANZHOU COAL MINING COMPANY LIMITED, SHANDONG TAIZHON ENERGY COMPANY, GENERAL NICE DEVELOPMENT LIMITED, CINDA ASSET MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, SHANDONG LUCION INVESTMENT HOLDINGS GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

The sharemarket is not working as capital provider: Credit Suisse

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 3-Aug-17

Annual net equity issuance via the Australian sharemarket has averaged $A40bn over the last 10 years. However, Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse estimates that just $A1bn has been raised so far in 2017, saying contributing factors include the limited number of IPOs and access to corporate debt at interest rates of around three per cent. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse has identified BHP Billiton, Qantas and Lend Lease as being among the companies that could potentially announce share buybacks during the August reporting season.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, COMPUTERSHARE LIMITED – ASX CPU, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, ZIP INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA, CRAVEABLE BRANDS LIMITED, ACCOLADE WINES LIMITED, SUPER A-MART PTY LTD, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, CHOW TAI FOOK ENTERPRISES LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED

Santos surprises with $1.5b capital raising

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 15-Dec-16

Australian-listed oil and gas producer Santos will issue new shares at $A4.06 apiece in a $A1.5bn equity raising. It will comprise a $A1.04bn institutional placement and a $A500m share purchase plan for existing shareholders. Santos had previously raised some $A3bn in late 2015. Santos recently revealed plans to shift non-core assets to a separate division in order to focus on its key projects. The group’s shares closed at $A4.41 on 14 December 2016.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, JB NORTH AND COMPANY PTY LTD

Troubled Estia puts Weiss in charge

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 13-Dec-16

Australian-listed Estia Health has advised that Gary Weiss will succeed Pat Grier as chairman of the aged-care group. Weiss became a director of Estia in 2015, following its acquisition of Kennedy Health Care. Estia will undertake a $A136.8m capital raising in order to reduce its debt, with the new shares to be offered at $A2.10 apiece. Estia shares were fetching $A2.68 on 12 December 2016, prior to a trading halt ahead of the capital raising.

CORPORATES
ESTIA HEALTH LIMITED – ASX EHE, KENNEDY HEALTH CARE, JAPARA HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX JHC, REGIS HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX REG, SUMMERSET GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SNZ

Gold company bosses expect more volatility

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 30-Nov-16

The gold price reached a nine-month low of $US1,182 an ounce in late November 2016, defying expectations of a rally following Donald Trump’s presidential election win. It was trading above $US1,300 prior to the election, and Resolute Mining CEO John Welborn expects further volatility in the gold price in the near-term. Meanwhile, Dacian Gold will partially finance its Mount Morgans project via a $A150m equity raising, while Northern Star Resources’ COO Stuart Tonkin will succeed CEO Bill Beament. The latter will become executive chairman.

CORPORATES
RESOLUTE MINING LIMITED – ASX RSG, DACIAN GOLD LIMITED – ASX DCN, NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX NST

Qantas breaks dividend drought with record profit

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Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 25-Aug-16

Qantas has reported a 2015-16 net profit of $A1.029bn, compared with $A557m for the previous financial year. The airline’s pre-tax underlying profit rose from $A975m to a record $A1.53bn. Shareholders will receive a final dividend of $A0.07 per share, which is the carrier’s first payout since 2009, while Qantas will repurchase up to $A366m worth of its shares. Meanwhile, employees will receive a cash bonus ranging from $A2,500 to $A3,000.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Virgin’s $1b rescue plan

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Original article by Michael Smith, James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 16-Jun-16

Virgin Australia Holdings will seek to reduce costs by $A300m a year via a restructuring program, which will include phasing out some smaller planes and job cuts at management level. Virgin will also raise $A852m from shareholders via a rights issue at $A0.21 per share, compared with the stock’s closing price of $A0.26 on 15 June 2016. China-based HNA Group recently invested $A159m in Virgin, which aims to commence flights to China and Hong Kong.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, HNA GROUP, SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED, VIRGIN GROUP LIMITED, NANSHAN GROUP, ETIHAD AIRWAYS, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

APN, Fairfax mulling NZ assets merger

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 10-May-16

APN News & Media will outline details of a proposal to spin off its New Zealand division at its AGM on 11 May 2016. The listed newspaper, radio broadcasting and outdoor advertising group also intends to undertake a capital raising worth up to $A200m. Meanwhile, Fairfax Media has downplayed speculation that it is also looking at demerging its NZ operations. However, Grant Samuel is said to have been commissioned to advise on a potential merger of the two groups’ NZ businesses. The firm is also advising APN on its demerger and capital raising.

CORPORATES
APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NZME, FAIRFAX NEW ZEALAND LIMITED, GRANT SAMUEL AND ASSOCIATES PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Resource raisings hit the pits

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 18 : 18-Jan-16

New figures show that Australian resources groups raised just $A2.41bn in new equity during 2015, which is the lowest level since 2005. There was a sharp decline in IPO activity in particular in the resources sector, while iron ore hopeful Waratah Resources is the latest company to shift its focus to the technology sector. Businessman Nathan Tinkler notes that investors are reluctant to support equity raisings in the resources sector at present.

CORPORATES
WARATAH RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX WGO, AUSTRALIAN PACIFIC COAL LIMITED – ASX AQC, BLOOMBERG LP, PENGANA CAPITAL LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Shareholders to vote on Foxtel

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Original article by Jake Mitchell, Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 21 : 26-Nov-15

Ten Network’s shares closed at $A0.16 on 25 November 2015. However, Morgan Stanley has upgraded its share price target to $A0.29, describing the network as a "early stage turnaround story". Meanwhile, Foxtel has emerged with a 12.5 per cent stake in Ten following a rights issue. Some 50 per cent of Ten’s shareholders will have to approve the issuance of a further 56.8 million shares to the pay-TV group in order to lift its stake to 14.9 per cent.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED