APA Group (APA):
Pipeline giant APA Group has made a bold move into gas processing, striking a $250 million deal to provide the infrastructure needed for Cooper Energy’s planned Sole gas project off Victoria and adding momentum to efforts to ease the strain on east coast supplies. The preliminary agreement, which reduces Cooper’s investment cost for Sole by 40 per cent, puts the project firmly on track for a go-ahead for construction next month. Production is targeted for 2019 to supply a number of customers struggling to source gas in the tight and expensive east coast market. Meanwhile, Cooper managing director David Maxwell has flagged a potential second deal down the track that will result in Cooper reducing its stake in the gas production part of the Sole venture from 100 per cent.
Bellamy’s Australia Limited (BAL):
Bellamy’s Australia chairman Rob Woolley is expected to announce plans to resign from the infant formula company at a shareholder meeting today as part of a compromise to partially back rebel shareholder Jan Cameron’s bid to roll four of the group’s directors. Ms Cameron has waged a two-month campaign to remove directors she believed were responsible for the company’s operational problems. Bellamy’s Australia chairman Rob Woolley is expected to announce plans to resign from the infant formula company at a shareholder meeting on Tuesday as part of a compromise deal that is expected to partially back rebel shareholder Jan Cameron’s bid to roll four of the group’s directors.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has signed a landmark deal with online jobs marketplace Airtasker that they hope will change the way customers prove the veracity of their identity in the online sharing economy. The companies have kicked off a pilot program that lets CBA customers prove their identity on the online jobs market to help establish a more reliable reputation. Engendering trust is crucial for platforms, individuals and businesses in the online realm where strangers hook up to complete jobs and pay for jobs. After connecting through an application programming interface (API), CBA will verify Airtasker customer names and dates of birth against bank account information to let them add a CBA ‘‘badge’’ to their Airtasker profile. In the future, CBA could vouch for its customers by publishing the longevity of the banking relationship and, should customers approve, the strength of their balance sheet.
Cimic Group Limited (CIM):
Shareholders in takeover target Macmahon Holdings say fresh earnings guidance from the mining contractor has given them greater confidence it will shake off CIMIC’s hostile takeover bid, as the company’s board recommended shareholders reject the ‘‘inadequate’’ and ‘‘opportunistic’’ offer. On Monday, Macmahon’s fourmember board said investors should reject CIMIC’s offer of 14.5¢ s share in cash after independent expert Lonergan Edwards and Associates found it ‘‘neither fair nor reasonable’’. Lonergan valued the company at $211.9 million to $244.1 million, or between 17.7¢ and 20.3¢ a share. ‘‘Given that the offer price is materially below our valuation range, in our opinion the offer price does not provide sufficient value to compensate Macmahon shareholders for the fact that control could pass to CIMIC under the offer,’’ the report said.
QBE Insurance Group Limited (QBE):
QBE chairman Marty Becker has set a welcome precedent by docking the pay of QBE chief executive John Neal for his failure to notify the board in a timely manner of a relationship with his personal assistant. The extraordinary move will overshadow the strongest profit result at QBE for several years. It comes after the CEO of Seven West Media, Tim Worner, had his pay docked by $100,000 for having an ‘‘unacceptable’’ relationship with the personal assistant of senior executives. The QBE annual report released on Monday shows that Neal’s shortterm incentive was docked by 20 per cent, or about $550,000, because ‘‘some recent personal decisions by the CEO have been inconsistent with the board’s expectations’’.
Spark Infrastructure Group (SKI):
Spark Infrastructure managing director Rick Francis has told investors that the growth experienced by 15 per centowned TransGrid in connecting renewable energy plants is beating expectations, but he has done little to hose down expectations that Spark is a keen bidder for another NSW asset, Endeavour Energy. Spark, part of a consortium that acquired TransGrid from the NSW government in late 2015, is understood to be bidding for distributor Endeavour alongside partners including Hastings Funds Management, its key ally in the earlier deal. Speaking after Spark reported fullyear results broadly in line with consensus, Mr Francis wouldn’t comment directly on Endeavour and voiced confidence in the company’s ‘‘organic’’ growth opportunities, which have been expanded by the TransGrid deal.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (WPL):
A disproportionate sell-down in oil stocks on Monday had fund managers questioning whether Royal Dutch Shell was gearing up for a $3.6 billion exit from Woodside Petroleum. Fund managers told Street Talk of ‘‘very soft’’ soundings late last week on a potential block trade by the oil giant, which still holds 13.28 per cent of the local oil and gas producer. Shell has been a patient investor waiting for a final exit from the Woodside register, and the share price is well below the $40-plus per share that Shell got in previous sell downs in November 2010 and June 2014, both in Australian and US dollars.
（Source: AIMS）
Pipeline giant APA Group has made a bold move into gas processing, striking a $250 million deal to provide the infrastructure needed for Cooper Energy’s planned Sole gas project off Victoria and adding momentum to efforts to ease the strain on east coast supplies. The preliminary agreement, which reduces Cooper’s investment cost for Sole by 40 per cent, puts the project firmly on track for a go-ahead for construction next month. Production is targeted for 2019 to supply a number of customers struggling to source gas in the tight and expensive east coast market. Meanwhile, Cooper managing director David Maxwell has flagged a potential second deal down the track that will result in Cooper reducing its stake in the gas production part of the Sole venture from 100 per cent.
Bellamy’s Australia Limited (BAL):
Bellamy’s Australia chairman Rob Woolley is expected to announce plans to resign from the infant formula company at a shareholder meeting today as part of a compromise to partially back rebel shareholder Jan Cameron’s bid to roll four of the group’s directors. Ms Cameron has waged a two-month campaign to remove directors she believed were responsible for the company’s operational problems. Bellamy’s Australia chairman Rob Woolley is expected to announce plans to resign from the infant formula company at a shareholder meeting on Tuesday as part of a compromise deal that is expected to partially back rebel shareholder Jan Cameron’s bid to roll four of the group’s directors.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has signed a landmark deal with online jobs marketplace Airtasker that they hope will change the way customers prove the veracity of their identity in the online sharing economy. The companies have kicked off a pilot program that lets CBA customers prove their identity on the online jobs market to help establish a more reliable reputation. Engendering trust is crucial for platforms, individuals and businesses in the online realm where strangers hook up to complete jobs and pay for jobs. After connecting through an application programming interface (API), CBA will verify Airtasker customer names and dates of birth against bank account information to let them add a CBA ‘‘badge’’ to their Airtasker profile. In the future, CBA could vouch for its customers by publishing the longevity of the banking relationship and, should customers approve, the strength of their balance sheet.
Cimic Group Limited (CIM):
Shareholders in takeover target Macmahon Holdings say fresh earnings guidance from the mining contractor has given them greater confidence it will shake off CIMIC’s hostile takeover bid, as the company’s board recommended shareholders reject the ‘‘inadequate’’ and ‘‘opportunistic’’ offer. On Monday, Macmahon’s fourmember board said investors should reject CIMIC’s offer of 14.5¢ s share in cash after independent expert Lonergan Edwards and Associates found it ‘‘neither fair nor reasonable’’. Lonergan valued the company at $211.9 million to $244.1 million, or between 17.7¢ and 20.3¢ a share. ‘‘Given that the offer price is materially below our valuation range, in our opinion the offer price does not provide sufficient value to compensate Macmahon shareholders for the fact that control could pass to CIMIC under the offer,’’ the report said.
QBE Insurance Group Limited (QBE):
QBE chairman Marty Becker has set a welcome precedent by docking the pay of QBE chief executive John Neal for his failure to notify the board in a timely manner of a relationship with his personal assistant. The extraordinary move will overshadow the strongest profit result at QBE for several years. It comes after the CEO of Seven West Media, Tim Worner, had his pay docked by $100,000 for having an ‘‘unacceptable’’ relationship with the personal assistant of senior executives. The QBE annual report released on Monday shows that Neal’s shortterm incentive was docked by 20 per cent, or about $550,000, because ‘‘some recent personal decisions by the CEO have been inconsistent with the board’s expectations’’.
Spark Infrastructure Group (SKI):
Spark Infrastructure managing director Rick Francis has told investors that the growth experienced by 15 per centowned TransGrid in connecting renewable energy plants is beating expectations, but he has done little to hose down expectations that Spark is a keen bidder for another NSW asset, Endeavour Energy. Spark, part of a consortium that acquired TransGrid from the NSW government in late 2015, is understood to be bidding for distributor Endeavour alongside partners including Hastings Funds Management, its key ally in the earlier deal. Speaking after Spark reported fullyear results broadly in line with consensus, Mr Francis wouldn’t comment directly on Endeavour and voiced confidence in the company’s ‘‘organic’’ growth opportunities, which have been expanded by the TransGrid deal.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (WPL):
A disproportionate sell-down in oil stocks on Monday had fund managers questioning whether Royal Dutch Shell was gearing up for a $3.6 billion exit from Woodside Petroleum. Fund managers told Street Talk of ‘‘very soft’’ soundings late last week on a potential block trade by the oil giant, which still holds 13.28 per cent of the local oil and gas producer. Shell has been a patient investor waiting for a final exit from the Woodside register, and the share price is well below the $40-plus per share that Shell got in previous sell downs in November 2010 and June 2014, both in Australian and US dollars.
（Source: AIMS）
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