AGL Energy Limited (AGL):
Tony Abbott says he is dismayed that energy company AGL is proceeding with plans to close the Liddell coal-fired power station, notwithstanding “Prime Ministerial entreaties”. Malcolm Turnbull and senior ministers, including Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg, met AGL chief executive Andy Vesey in September, and received an undertaking from the company to reconsider its intention to close the NSW Hunter Valley power station by 2022. Over the weekend the company confirmed it would close Liddell and replace its output with a mixture of gas, wind and solar plants, as well as examine pumped hydro. Mr. Abbott renewed his calls for the government to invest in coal-fired power. “I was dismayed to see that the Liddell power station, notwithstanding all of those Prime Ministerial entreaties, appears to be closing now, in five years time, which is going to put an enormous question mark over energy security and is going to I think contribute to a continued inexorable rise in power prices,” the former prime minister told.
Australia And New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ):
ANZ Banking Group is in late stage negotiations for the sale of its $2.5 billion life insurance business. Sources told Street Talk Zurich was in pole position as of Monday, and was working with adviser Credit Suisse, while US group MetLife Insurance is said to be out of the running. New York-listed American International Group is thought to be around the periphery. In the ANZ camp, parties are working toward having a transaction signed this week, with a view to announcing it ahead of the bank's annual general meeting. The bank has adviser Goldman Sachs in its corner. ANZ will hold its AGM in Sydney on December 19. An ANZ spokesman declined to comment. It has, however, not been an easy divestment process for ANZ which set out to sell its life insurance and wealth businesses in one transaction earlier this year. In October, IOOF Holdings agreed to buy ANZ's OnePath pensions and investments business and four aligned dealer groups for $975 million. That transaction included an agreement to provide wealth management solutions to the bank's customers. Morgan Stanley analysts have said ANZ's life business has a book value of $2.5 billion to $3 billion. ANZ's inforce life insurance premiums, spanning group and individual policies, amounted to $1.6 billion for the year ended September 30, flat on the prior period. If a life insurance transaction is announced over the next week the deal will likely complete in the latter half of 2018.
AWE Limited (AWE) &Mineral Resources Limited (MIN):
Oil and gas producer AWE has attracted a second takeover bid, with Australian miningservices company Mineral Resources lobbing a share-based offer that trumps a cash offer from a Chinese energy company. AWE (AWE) said it received a proposal after the close of trading last Friday from Mineral Resources, hours after state-owned China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group Co said it was taking a takeover bid directly to AWE’s shareholders after being rebuffed by the company’s board. Mineral Resources’ bid values AWE at about $510 million with an offer of 80 cents a share, structured as one new share for each 22.325 AWE shares, which trumps the 73c a share that CERCG said it was offering. AWE said the offer, if accepted, would be through a scheme of arrangement - meaning shareholders would vote to sell the whole company - and that it was not conditional on due diligence. AWE’s board plans to evaluate both offers and provide shareholders with their recommendation in due course. Meanwhile, shareholders should take no action, it said.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
As the price of the nation’s second biggest export, coking coal, soars in the final months of the year, BHP Billiton has revealed it is studying Queensland mine developments with the potential to boost its production beyond recent guidance. BHP’s Minerals Australia boss Mike Henry has described recent medium-term guidance that its share of Queensland coking coal production will grow to around 48 million tonnes per year as “light”. And the company is advancing plans for two low-cost open pit expansions and two new underground mines, with the potential to bring on more than a combined 20 million tonnes of coking coal a year (including joint venture partners’ share). While Mr. Henry stresses BHP’s desire to avoid big spends in coking coal as it focuses on copper and oil has not diminished, it is clear the company is developing longer-term options.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has set up a new internal legal team to coordinate the bank's response to the upcoming royal commission. Street Talk understands CBA group general counsel Anna Lenahan has re-called Hong Kong-based lawyer Jacqui Schrader to head what she dubbed the "Royal Commission Response Team", effective immediately. In a statement to staff, Lenahan said the royal commission would be a significant undertaking for the bank and its legal team over the coming 12-months and Schrader had the governance and controls expertise to head the new unit. Lenahan told staff that Schrader was just the first of a number of appointments to the new response team. "Our goal is to establish a skilled, exceptional and cross functional team to manage the various requirements of the Royal Commission as it progresses," Lenahan said in a note to staff. Schrader, a former Macquarie Bank lawyer, had been CBA's legal counsel for its international financial services team, based in Hong Kong. The government announced a 12-month the banking royal commission last month, with an interim report due by September,2018 and a final report by February 1,2019.
Cleanaway Waste Management Limited (CWY) & Tox Free Solution Limited(TOX):
Cleanaway Waste Management has agreed to buy Tox Free Solutions, which provides services to the healthcare and infrastructure sectors, for around $671 million. Cleanaway (CWY) is offering $3.425 in cash for each Tox share, and said it would fund the deal through a mix of new equity and debt. Tox Free shareholders will also be eligible for a 5c a share interim dividend. Cleanaway Chief Executive Vik Bansal forecast savings totaling about $35 million from the deal, and said he expects it to boost earnings and cash flow significantly by adding “prized infrastructure assets across the country, as well as contributing an exciting new business in the form of a leading, vertically integrated provider of healthcare waste management products and services.” Cleanaway will launch a fully underwritten 1- for-3.65 pro rata entitlement offer to raise $590 million and draw down a new debt facility to fund the deal. New shares would be offered to investors at $1.35 each, representing an 8.2 per cent discount to Friday’s closing price. Tox Free (TOX) has been vulnerable to a takeover since losing a major waste management contract with Chevron at its Gorgon liquefied natural gas project, although the company has partially offset the revenue loss by picking up additional contracts, including with BHP Billiton at its Olympic Dam mine.
HT&E Limited (HT1):
Listed media company HT&E is back in the spotlight among dealmakers, with reports that management is eager to embark on an exit and have made presentations about its prospects to potential private equity suitors. The company’s share price has languished of late — falling to $1.90 or $583.8 million with respect to its market value. Only two years ago it was trading above $4. Much of whether a deal occurs depends on the stance of News Corp, owner of The Australian, which holds a 13.2 per cent interest in the business. Any suitor would be forced to deal with the media heavyweight. As reported in May, Seven West Media was said to be running the ruler over the company but no deal at that time ever eventuated.
News Corporation (NWS):
News Corp Australia will exclusively use Enhanced Media Metrics Australia for its readership figures following positive feedback from advertisers and media buyers. In doing so, the company will withdraw all its newspapers from the twice-yearly national newspaper audit, reflecting the company’s repositioning as a cross-platform publisher to focus on digital publishing. The company is set to notify trade group Audited Media Association of Australia it is withdrawing newspaper sales from listings with the Audit Bureau of Circulations and Circulation Audit Board. Effective from today, the decision followed an extensive review with more than 100 advertisers and media agencies. The move means the January to June 2017 circulation audit was the last for News Corp as the company puts more resources into cross-industry measurement standard EMMA.
360 Capital Group (TGP):
The Tony Pitt-led group has boosted its earnings forecast after winning control of the Asia Pacific Data Centre Group, forging into non-bank lending and flagging the float of a new listed fund. The company said the moves meant earnings this year were now forecast to be 5.5c per security, an 83 per cent leap on an earlier forecast of 3c per security, as it deployed capital. Distributions for the year will also go from 3c to 5.5c per security. Sydney-based 360 now controls 67.3 per cent of Asia Pacific Data Centre Group and has representatives on its board. The target fund just unveiled a $100m and is restarting distributions after a takeover stoush in which 360 emerged victorious. The company now wants to transform the data centre trust into a vehicle that funds centres across the region and operates as a “takeout partner” for developers. 360 has also capitalized on the pull back of major banks from commercial real estate lending to emerge as a leader among listed property groups in lending to the sector. “With APRA continuing to place restraints on the Australian banks capital allocation to certain property sectors, we see real estate debt investment as a strong growth area for the Group,” the company said.
TPG Telecom Limited (TPM):
TPG Telecom’s mobile play in Singapore could become a costly distraction, says MyRepublic’s Malcolm Rodrigues. “They are not going to make a lot of money out of it,” the boss of the Singapore-based telco told The Australian. TPG beat MyRepublic to the punch on securing the fourth telco license in Singapore last year, and Mr. Rodrigues said the ASX-listed telco would now have its work cut out. MyRepublic plans to compete directly with TPG in Singapore as a mobile virtual network operator, with generous data allowances at the heart of its pitch to customers. It’s also planning to pitch a similar mobile product in Australia by the end of next year. TPG, which is spending close to $300 million on getting its - mobile network off the ground in Singapore, expects to complete the outdoor portions of its network by the end of next year. However, Mr. Rodrigues said that MyRepublic would make life difficult for TPG and could steal market share without investing in physical infrastructure. TPG, on the other hand, according to Mr Rodrigues, will need to carve out a bigger piece of the pie. “It’s all depends on what model they deliver,” he said. “If they follow a very traditional architecture then they will need a 12 to 15 per cent market share, which will be very tough.”
(Source: AIMS)
Tony Abbott says he is dismayed that energy company AGL is proceeding with plans to close the Liddell coal-fired power station, notwithstanding “Prime Ministerial entreaties”. Malcolm Turnbull and senior ministers, including Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg, met AGL chief executive Andy Vesey in September, and received an undertaking from the company to reconsider its intention to close the NSW Hunter Valley power station by 2022. Over the weekend the company confirmed it would close Liddell and replace its output with a mixture of gas, wind and solar plants, as well as examine pumped hydro. Mr. Abbott renewed his calls for the government to invest in coal-fired power. “I was dismayed to see that the Liddell power station, notwithstanding all of those Prime Ministerial entreaties, appears to be closing now, in five years time, which is going to put an enormous question mark over energy security and is going to I think contribute to a continued inexorable rise in power prices,” the former prime minister told.
Australia And New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ):
ANZ Banking Group is in late stage negotiations for the sale of its $2.5 billion life insurance business. Sources told Street Talk Zurich was in pole position as of Monday, and was working with adviser Credit Suisse, while US group MetLife Insurance is said to be out of the running. New York-listed American International Group is thought to be around the periphery. In the ANZ camp, parties are working toward having a transaction signed this week, with a view to announcing it ahead of the bank's annual general meeting. The bank has adviser Goldman Sachs in its corner. ANZ will hold its AGM in Sydney on December 19. An ANZ spokesman declined to comment. It has, however, not been an easy divestment process for ANZ which set out to sell its life insurance and wealth businesses in one transaction earlier this year. In October, IOOF Holdings agreed to buy ANZ's OnePath pensions and investments business and four aligned dealer groups for $975 million. That transaction included an agreement to provide wealth management solutions to the bank's customers. Morgan Stanley analysts have said ANZ's life business has a book value of $2.5 billion to $3 billion. ANZ's inforce life insurance premiums, spanning group and individual policies, amounted to $1.6 billion for the year ended September 30, flat on the prior period. If a life insurance transaction is announced over the next week the deal will likely complete in the latter half of 2018.
AWE Limited (AWE) &Mineral Resources Limited (MIN):
Oil and gas producer AWE has attracted a second takeover bid, with Australian miningservices company Mineral Resources lobbing a share-based offer that trumps a cash offer from a Chinese energy company. AWE (AWE) said it received a proposal after the close of trading last Friday from Mineral Resources, hours after state-owned China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group Co said it was taking a takeover bid directly to AWE’s shareholders after being rebuffed by the company’s board. Mineral Resources’ bid values AWE at about $510 million with an offer of 80 cents a share, structured as one new share for each 22.325 AWE shares, which trumps the 73c a share that CERCG said it was offering. AWE said the offer, if accepted, would be through a scheme of arrangement - meaning shareholders would vote to sell the whole company - and that it was not conditional on due diligence. AWE’s board plans to evaluate both offers and provide shareholders with their recommendation in due course. Meanwhile, shareholders should take no action, it said.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
As the price of the nation’s second biggest export, coking coal, soars in the final months of the year, BHP Billiton has revealed it is studying Queensland mine developments with the potential to boost its production beyond recent guidance. BHP’s Minerals Australia boss Mike Henry has described recent medium-term guidance that its share of Queensland coking coal production will grow to around 48 million tonnes per year as “light”. And the company is advancing plans for two low-cost open pit expansions and two new underground mines, with the potential to bring on more than a combined 20 million tonnes of coking coal a year (including joint venture partners’ share). While Mr. Henry stresses BHP’s desire to avoid big spends in coking coal as it focuses on copper and oil has not diminished, it is clear the company is developing longer-term options.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has set up a new internal legal team to coordinate the bank's response to the upcoming royal commission. Street Talk understands CBA group general counsel Anna Lenahan has re-called Hong Kong-based lawyer Jacqui Schrader to head what she dubbed the "Royal Commission Response Team", effective immediately. In a statement to staff, Lenahan said the royal commission would be a significant undertaking for the bank and its legal team over the coming 12-months and Schrader had the governance and controls expertise to head the new unit. Lenahan told staff that Schrader was just the first of a number of appointments to the new response team. "Our goal is to establish a skilled, exceptional and cross functional team to manage the various requirements of the Royal Commission as it progresses," Lenahan said in a note to staff. Schrader, a former Macquarie Bank lawyer, had been CBA's legal counsel for its international financial services team, based in Hong Kong. The government announced a 12-month the banking royal commission last month, with an interim report due by September,2018 and a final report by February 1,2019.
Cleanaway Waste Management Limited (CWY) & Tox Free Solution Limited(TOX):
Cleanaway Waste Management has agreed to buy Tox Free Solutions, which provides services to the healthcare and infrastructure sectors, for around $671 million. Cleanaway (CWY) is offering $3.425 in cash for each Tox share, and said it would fund the deal through a mix of new equity and debt. Tox Free shareholders will also be eligible for a 5c a share interim dividend. Cleanaway Chief Executive Vik Bansal forecast savings totaling about $35 million from the deal, and said he expects it to boost earnings and cash flow significantly by adding “prized infrastructure assets across the country, as well as contributing an exciting new business in the form of a leading, vertically integrated provider of healthcare waste management products and services.” Cleanaway will launch a fully underwritten 1- for-3.65 pro rata entitlement offer to raise $590 million and draw down a new debt facility to fund the deal. New shares would be offered to investors at $1.35 each, representing an 8.2 per cent discount to Friday’s closing price. Tox Free (TOX) has been vulnerable to a takeover since losing a major waste management contract with Chevron at its Gorgon liquefied natural gas project, although the company has partially offset the revenue loss by picking up additional contracts, including with BHP Billiton at its Olympic Dam mine.
HT&E Limited (HT1):
Listed media company HT&E is back in the spotlight among dealmakers, with reports that management is eager to embark on an exit and have made presentations about its prospects to potential private equity suitors. The company’s share price has languished of late — falling to $1.90 or $583.8 million with respect to its market value. Only two years ago it was trading above $4. Much of whether a deal occurs depends on the stance of News Corp, owner of The Australian, which holds a 13.2 per cent interest in the business. Any suitor would be forced to deal with the media heavyweight. As reported in May, Seven West Media was said to be running the ruler over the company but no deal at that time ever eventuated.
News Corporation (NWS):
News Corp Australia will exclusively use Enhanced Media Metrics Australia for its readership figures following positive feedback from advertisers and media buyers. In doing so, the company will withdraw all its newspapers from the twice-yearly national newspaper audit, reflecting the company’s repositioning as a cross-platform publisher to focus on digital publishing. The company is set to notify trade group Audited Media Association of Australia it is withdrawing newspaper sales from listings with the Audit Bureau of Circulations and Circulation Audit Board. Effective from today, the decision followed an extensive review with more than 100 advertisers and media agencies. The move means the January to June 2017 circulation audit was the last for News Corp as the company puts more resources into cross-industry measurement standard EMMA.
360 Capital Group (TGP):
The Tony Pitt-led group has boosted its earnings forecast after winning control of the Asia Pacific Data Centre Group, forging into non-bank lending and flagging the float of a new listed fund. The company said the moves meant earnings this year were now forecast to be 5.5c per security, an 83 per cent leap on an earlier forecast of 3c per security, as it deployed capital. Distributions for the year will also go from 3c to 5.5c per security. Sydney-based 360 now controls 67.3 per cent of Asia Pacific Data Centre Group and has representatives on its board. The target fund just unveiled a $100m and is restarting distributions after a takeover stoush in which 360 emerged victorious. The company now wants to transform the data centre trust into a vehicle that funds centres across the region and operates as a “takeout partner” for developers. 360 has also capitalized on the pull back of major banks from commercial real estate lending to emerge as a leader among listed property groups in lending to the sector. “With APRA continuing to place restraints on the Australian banks capital allocation to certain property sectors, we see real estate debt investment as a strong growth area for the Group,” the company said.
TPG Telecom Limited (TPM):
TPG Telecom’s mobile play in Singapore could become a costly distraction, says MyRepublic’s Malcolm Rodrigues. “They are not going to make a lot of money out of it,” the boss of the Singapore-based telco told The Australian. TPG beat MyRepublic to the punch on securing the fourth telco license in Singapore last year, and Mr. Rodrigues said the ASX-listed telco would now have its work cut out. MyRepublic plans to compete directly with TPG in Singapore as a mobile virtual network operator, with generous data allowances at the heart of its pitch to customers. It’s also planning to pitch a similar mobile product in Australia by the end of next year. TPG, which is spending close to $300 million on getting its - mobile network off the ground in Singapore, expects to complete the outdoor portions of its network by the end of next year. However, Mr. Rodrigues said that MyRepublic would make life difficult for TPG and could steal market share without investing in physical infrastructure. TPG, on the other hand, according to Mr Rodrigues, will need to carve out a bigger piece of the pie. “It’s all depends on what model they deliver,” he said. “If they follow a very traditional architecture then they will need a 12 to 15 per cent market share, which will be very tough.”
(Source: AIMS)
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