STOCK TRANSFER – AUSTRALIA

$50m share raid puts Nine takeover in picture ahead of sector reforms

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 4-Mar-16

Shares in Nine Entertainment Company closed 3.42 per cent higher at $A1.51, amid revelations that an unknown buyer purchased 3.4 per cent of its shares via Deutsche Bank. The $A50m transaction was executed at $A1.60 per share, prompting speculation that Nine may become a takeover target. Fairfax Media has been touted as a potential suitor if cross-media ownership laws are relaxed, but the group has downplayed such speculation.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, DOMAIN.COM.AU, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL

Ainsworth cashes out $473m pokies stake

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 24-Feb-16

Australian-listed poker machine maker Ainsworth Game Technology has posted a 2015-16 interim net profit of $A33.1m, which is four per cent lower than previously. Meanwhile, founder Len Ainsworth has sold his 53 per cent stake in the group to Novomatic for about $A473m. Ainsworth will remain chairman, and intends to donate some of the proceeds of the sale to philanthropic causes such as medical research.

CORPORATES
AINSWORTH GAME TECHNOLOGY LIMITED – ASX AGI, NOVOMATIC, ARISTOCRAT LEISURE LIMITED – ASX ALL, ST VINCENT’S HOSPITAL SYDNEY LIMITED, WATERMARK FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

CBA’s heavily traded shares look to tip BHP from perch

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 60 : 23-Dec-15

Turnover in the Commonwealth Bank’s shares has totalled $A64.94bn so far in 2015, and the banking major seems poised to claim the title of the most heavily-traded stock by value for the year. BHP Billiton held this title for the previous five years, but just $A56.88bn worth of its shares have changed hands in the year to date, compared with $A152.9bn in 2010. BHP’s shares have fallen sharply in 2015, due to factors such as the downturn in commodity prices and the tailings dam disaster in Brazil.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32

Nine confirms Apollo’s exit from share register

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 24-Nov-15

Apollo Global Management has sold its remaining 9.82 per cent stake in Nine Entertainment Company. The US hedge fund sold out of the media group at $A1.61 per share, gaining about $A140m from the transaction. Apollo and Oaktree Capital provided Nine with a financial lifeline in 2012, and they have progressively reduced their stakes. Oaktree now holds 7.8 per cent of Nine’s shares.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Strong start to year buoys optimism

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 6-Jul-15

Data from IRESS shows that equity trading volumes on the Australian Securities Exchange and Chi-X Australia have totalled around $A1.5bn so far in 2015. This compares with about $A1.2bn for the same period in 2014. Bruce Rolph of Citigroup expects trading volumes to remain strong in the second half of the calendar year, citing factors such as the potential for greater mergers and acquisitions activity and the August reporting season.

CORPORATES
IRESS LIMITED – ASX IRE, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, CHI-X AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, PATERSONS SECURITIES LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, GREENSTONE LIMITED, IVE GROUP LIMITED, CARTER HOLT HARVEY LIMITED

Westpac sells down BT stake for $700m gain

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Original article by Clancy Yeates, James Thomson, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 17-Jun-15

TS Lim of Bell Potter suggests that Westpac’s move to trim its 59 per cent stake in BT Investment Management is primarily aimed at lifting the bank’s capital ratio. Westpac plans to offload about 82 million shares in BT, which will raise between $A600m and $A700m while reducing its stake in the listed fund manager to 31-40 per cent. The bulk of Westpac’s BT shares will be offered to institutional investors via a bookbuild, while about 27 million will be made available to the retail shareholders of both Westpac and BT.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX ALL ORDINARIES INDEX

Mesoblast takes US cancer giant Celgene as latest partner

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 14-Apr-15

Shares in Mesoblast rose by 24 per cent to $A3.99 on 13 April 2015, after US-based Celgene acquired a stake of around 4.5 per cent in the listed biotechnology group. Celgene paid $A58.5m for 15.3 million shares in Mesoblast, which specialises in the development of stem cell treatments for a range of medical conditions. Celgene will also have first right of refusal to license some of Mesoblast’s products

CORPORATES
MESOBLAST LIMITED – ASX MSB, CELGENE INCORPORATED, TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED, LODGE PARTNERS PTY LTD

Murdoch eyes radio assets in APN play

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Original article by Dominic White, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 20-Mar-15

Independent News & Media (INM) and Baycliffe have exited the share register of Australian-listed APN News & Media. INM netted about $A180m for its 191 million shares, while Baycliffe offloaded 125 million shares for $A117m. Meanwhile, News Corporation has built a 14.99 per cent stake in APN, although under existing media ownership laws it is prohibited from increasing this. APN shares were placed in a trading halt at $A0.94 on 19 March 2015

CORPORATES
APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, INDEPENDENT NEWS AND MEDIA PLC, BAYCLIFFE LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, KIIS1065, AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, 101.7 WS-FM, NOVA 96.9 PTY LTD, SMOOTHFM, 2DAY FM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NZME, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Equity volumes soar on low rates

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 2-Mar-15

Data from IRESS shows that equity trading volumes in Australia rose by 15 per cent to $A438.9bn during the first two months of 2015. This is the highest level of trading activity for the first two months of the year since 2008, and the S&P/ASX 200 Index is close to breaching the 6,000-point level. Meanwhile, a number of companies are slated to undertake IPOs in the near-term, including MYOB, Fleetpartners and GenesisCare

CORPORATES
IRESS LIMITED – ASX IRE, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MYOB TECHNOLOGY PTY LTD, FLEET PARTNERS PTY LTD, GENESIS CARE PTY LTD, TOUCHCORP LIMITED, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, CHI-X AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, VEDA GROUP LIMITED – ASX VED, EVOLUTION MINING LIMITED – ASX EVN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, EUROZ LIMITED – ASX EZL, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE SECURITIES PTY LTD

Goodman gets big tick

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Original article by Sue Mitchell, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 17-Feb-15

Goodman Fielder shareholders will vote on a proposed $A1.3bn takeover bid by Wilmar International and First Pacific on 26 February 2015. Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board approved the deal in late 2014, and the Chinese Government gave the green light on 16 February. The offer of $A0.675 per share also requires approval in New Zealand. Hedge funds bought about 160 million of the target’s shares in early February, and stand to make a healthy profit from the transaction

CORPORATES
GOODMAN FIELDER LIMITED – ASX GFF, WILMAR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, FIRST PACIFIC COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, CHINA. MINISTRY OF COMMERCE, NEW ZEALAND. OVERSEAS INVESTMENT COMMISSION, ELLERSTON CAPITAL PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, AUSTRALIAN SHAREHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION