Caltex Australia Ltd (CTX):
The $7.4 billion listed fuels and convenience business Caltex Australia has drafted in advisory firm Grant Samuel as part of its plans last year for a potential spin-off of its retail operations into a separate vehicle. Caltex was working hard on the move as early as six months ago, although it remains unclear how advanced the plans are now and whether they will eventuate. Chief executive Julian Segal indicated that the company may have cooled on the idea while delivering its annual results in February. Sources told DataRoom that Caltex was currently sitting tight as of about a month ago after considering a wide range of moves through its asset review, which was flagged to the market when the company reported its full-year results. Also up for consideration has been a potential sale of its real estate or infrastructure assets, but the understanding is a sale or spin-off of those assets has been shelved for the time being. The company has indicated it plans to spend about $200 million on its convenience retail business as it told the market it would move all franchise sites to retail company operations by mid-2020.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
CBA’s chief risk officer, David Cohen, has admitted to serious failings in risk management at Australia’s biggest bank, telling the financial services royal commission that the bank lacked compliance policies, had substandard control on non-financial risks and was not able to properly log misconduct. Mr Cohen said that since becoming chief risk officer in July 2016, after almost eight years as the CBA’s top lawyer, he had been working to improve the bank’s risk management systems by simplifying policies and better defining the risks it was prepared to take on. CBA’s lack of effective risk management has been on display in recent years through a series of scandals in areas as diverse as financial planning, life insurance and anti-money laundering and counter-terror finance (AML-CTF) controls. Its culture was slammed in a withering report from the prudential regulator released earlier this month as a result of the latter scandal, in which financial intelligence agency Austrac has taken the bank to court over more than 53,000 alleged breaches of AML-CTF laws.
MYOB Group Limited (MYO):
MYOB Group has pulled the pin on its $180 million bid for rival accounting software maker Reckon, citing regulatory delays and “uncertainty”. It comes after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in March flagged concerns that MYOB would have a monopoly on accounting software for medium-to-large accounting firms if the takeover went ahead, putting the deal in doubt. In a statement to the ASX this morning, MYOB (MYO) said the regulatory process had “taken considerably longer” than anticipated and that further delays in the ACCC and NZCCC processes had created uncertainty, which could impact on its trading. The two companies could not agree on terms to extend the six-month sale and purchase agreement and MYOB notified Reckon that it would exercise its right to terminate the sale.
Santos Ltd (STO):
Santos will invest more than $400 million in its Arcadia gas development in Queensland’s Bowen Basin to boost its Gladstone LNG project. The $400 million investment is in addition to the nearly $1 billion Santos said in February it would spend to develop new gas fields in the Surat and Bowen basins to provide additional gas for GLNG. It is forecast to start production late next year and produce around 27 petajoules of gas by 2022. The financial investment comes only weeks after Santos rejected a $14.5 billion takeover proposal from US private equity firm Harbour Energy, claiming the bid undervalued the Australian oil and gas company. Knocking back the offer, Santos said was focused on the growth of its existing projects, which would bring more value to the company.
Sino Gas & Energy (SEH):
US private equity firm Lone Star Funds has made a $530 million takeover bid for Australian-listed Sino Gas and Energy. Sino Gas’ board has backed the 25¢-a-share cash offer, saying it represents an "attractive premium to recent trading prices". Sino Gas was trading at 21¢ a share on Wednesday. “While Sino Gas directors remain of the view that the business and assets have significant potential, they acknowledge that the cash consideration provides shareholders with cash certain value now versus the future risks and uncertainties associated with the business,” Sino Gas managing director Glen Corrie said in a statement. The deal needs approval from shareholders and the Foreign Investment Review Board.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (TLS):
Telstra’s management is gearing up for a “big reveal” at the next investor update, with more job cuts and a further hit to dividends on the cards. With the market unconvinced that the telco’s current strategy is enough to ride out the storm, Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew McLeod said yesterday Telstra might have to take a leaf out of its trans-Tasman peer Spark’s book for its June 20 update. According to Mr McLeod, Telstra could look to increase the pace of its ongoing process to cut $1.5 billion in costs by fiscal year 2022 as part of its productivity and cost-out program.
Westfield Corporation Limited (WFD):
Westfield shares ceased trading under the “WFD” ticker at yesterday’s market close, following its $30 billion takeover by French retail property heavyweight Unibail-Rodamco. The merged company, which will be listed on the Euronext in Paris and Amsterdam as well as on the Australian Securities Exchange, is set to debut on the local market at midday today. It will trade under the ticker “URW”, initially on a deferred settlement basis, with regular trade expected to start on June 12. lt marks the close of a four-decade chapter for Westfield, which listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange in 1960, after beginning life in 1959 as a single shopping centre in western Sydney.
(Source: AIMS)
The $7.4 billion listed fuels and convenience business Caltex Australia has drafted in advisory firm Grant Samuel as part of its plans last year for a potential spin-off of its retail operations into a separate vehicle. Caltex was working hard on the move as early as six months ago, although it remains unclear how advanced the plans are now and whether they will eventuate. Chief executive Julian Segal indicated that the company may have cooled on the idea while delivering its annual results in February. Sources told DataRoom that Caltex was currently sitting tight as of about a month ago after considering a wide range of moves through its asset review, which was flagged to the market when the company reported its full-year results. Also up for consideration has been a potential sale of its real estate or infrastructure assets, but the understanding is a sale or spin-off of those assets has been shelved for the time being. The company has indicated it plans to spend about $200 million on its convenience retail business as it told the market it would move all franchise sites to retail company operations by mid-2020.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
CBA’s chief risk officer, David Cohen, has admitted to serious failings in risk management at Australia’s biggest bank, telling the financial services royal commission that the bank lacked compliance policies, had substandard control on non-financial risks and was not able to properly log misconduct. Mr Cohen said that since becoming chief risk officer in July 2016, after almost eight years as the CBA’s top lawyer, he had been working to improve the bank’s risk management systems by simplifying policies and better defining the risks it was prepared to take on. CBA’s lack of effective risk management has been on display in recent years through a series of scandals in areas as diverse as financial planning, life insurance and anti-money laundering and counter-terror finance (AML-CTF) controls. Its culture was slammed in a withering report from the prudential regulator released earlier this month as a result of the latter scandal, in which financial intelligence agency Austrac has taken the bank to court over more than 53,000 alleged breaches of AML-CTF laws.
MYOB Group Limited (MYO):
MYOB Group has pulled the pin on its $180 million bid for rival accounting software maker Reckon, citing regulatory delays and “uncertainty”. It comes after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in March flagged concerns that MYOB would have a monopoly on accounting software for medium-to-large accounting firms if the takeover went ahead, putting the deal in doubt. In a statement to the ASX this morning, MYOB (MYO) said the regulatory process had “taken considerably longer” than anticipated and that further delays in the ACCC and NZCCC processes had created uncertainty, which could impact on its trading. The two companies could not agree on terms to extend the six-month sale and purchase agreement and MYOB notified Reckon that it would exercise its right to terminate the sale.
Santos Ltd (STO):
Santos will invest more than $400 million in its Arcadia gas development in Queensland’s Bowen Basin to boost its Gladstone LNG project. The $400 million investment is in addition to the nearly $1 billion Santos said in February it would spend to develop new gas fields in the Surat and Bowen basins to provide additional gas for GLNG. It is forecast to start production late next year and produce around 27 petajoules of gas by 2022. The financial investment comes only weeks after Santos rejected a $14.5 billion takeover proposal from US private equity firm Harbour Energy, claiming the bid undervalued the Australian oil and gas company. Knocking back the offer, Santos said was focused on the growth of its existing projects, which would bring more value to the company.
Sino Gas & Energy (SEH):
US private equity firm Lone Star Funds has made a $530 million takeover bid for Australian-listed Sino Gas and Energy. Sino Gas’ board has backed the 25¢-a-share cash offer, saying it represents an "attractive premium to recent trading prices". Sino Gas was trading at 21¢ a share on Wednesday. “While Sino Gas directors remain of the view that the business and assets have significant potential, they acknowledge that the cash consideration provides shareholders with cash certain value now versus the future risks and uncertainties associated with the business,” Sino Gas managing director Glen Corrie said in a statement. The deal needs approval from shareholders and the Foreign Investment Review Board.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (TLS):
Telstra’s management is gearing up for a “big reveal” at the next investor update, with more job cuts and a further hit to dividends on the cards. With the market unconvinced that the telco’s current strategy is enough to ride out the storm, Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew McLeod said yesterday Telstra might have to take a leaf out of its trans-Tasman peer Spark’s book for its June 20 update. According to Mr McLeod, Telstra could look to increase the pace of its ongoing process to cut $1.5 billion in costs by fiscal year 2022 as part of its productivity and cost-out program.
Westfield Corporation Limited (WFD):
Westfield shares ceased trading under the “WFD” ticker at yesterday’s market close, following its $30 billion takeover by French retail property heavyweight Unibail-Rodamco. The merged company, which will be listed on the Euronext in Paris and Amsterdam as well as on the Australian Securities Exchange, is set to debut on the local market at midday today. It will trade under the ticker “URW”, initially on a deferred settlement basis, with regular trade expected to start on June 12. lt marks the close of a four-decade chapter for Westfield, which listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange in 1960, after beginning life in 1959 as a single shopping centre in western Sydney.
(Source: AIMS)
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