THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)
Rail freight group QR National has ramped up its advertising campaign as it seeks to attract investors for its A$6 billion float next month. The company, which is currently owned by the Queensland Government, last week said it had secured A$1.05 billion in firm offers from retail brokers. The state government will retain a stake in the company of between 25 and 40 percent depending on the level of support from retail and institutional investors. Page 16.
Casinos and wagering company Tabcorp yesterday held its annual meeting, with chief executive Elmer Funke Kupper using the occasion to call for reforms to the taxation of wagering. Mr Funke Kupper said internet betting agencies now have an advantage over licensed tote operators, and called for federal and state governments to co-operate to create a national wagering regime.
Page 16.
Mick McMahon, the former chief operating officer of supermarket chain Coles, owned by Wesfmarmers, has been appointed chief executive of labour hire and recruitment firm Skilled Group. Skilled's current chief executive, Greg Hargraves, in April announced that he would retire following the company's second profit warning in six months. Mr McMahon will take up his new role next month. Page 16.
Mining company Equinox Minerals yesterday announced an A$1.25 billion takeover offer for Citadel Resource Group. The friendly takeover bid is part of a trend towards consolidation in the small to medium mining sector, and has been recommended by Citadel's board. The bid could increase Equinox's annual copper production to above 260,000 tonnes a year, making it the 13th largest producer globally. Page 17.
THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
Mining company BHP Billiton's largest investor, BlackRock World Mining Fund, has called on the company to undertake a sustained share buyback program. The fund's manager, Evy Hambro, said 'there is room in their balance sheet for them to be able to do it,' even as BHP continues its US$40 billion bid for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers has so far rejected calls for a buyback, saying the company has development projects that allow it to reinvest its cashflow. Page 21.
Gas and petroleum group Santos has reached an agreement to sell 750 petajoules of gas over 15 years to its planned Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas plant. The gas will come from the Cooper Basin, with the deal potentially worth around A$4.5 billion at A$6 a gigajoule, a price level that Santos chief executive David Knox has previously said would make the extraction of gas from 'unconventional' sources profitable. Page 22.
Contracting group Leighton Holdings has applied to the Takeovers Panel seeking orders to protect the interests of its minority shareholders. The move has been prompted by Spanish group Actividades des Construccion y Servicios' (ACS) bid for Germany's Hochtief, which owns 54.5 percent of Leighton. Leighton chairman David Mortimer said Leighton has an arrangement with Hochtief ensuring Leighton's independence, which may not automatically apply should ACS succeed in its bid for Hochtief. Page 23.
Shareholders in media agency Mitchell Communication Group yesterday voted to approve its acquisition by London-based global marketing company Aegis Group.
Founder Harold Mitchell will become executive chairman of the Aegis group in Australia. Mr Mitchell said the merger of the two groups would create the largest media buying group in Australia, and the third-largest in Asia. Page 23.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
United States-based private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts' (KKR) A$1.75 billion offer for Perpetual has been rebuffed by one of the investment group's largest shareholders. The Australian Foundation Investment Company's managing director Ross Barker yesterday rejected the bid. 'We are an investor in Perpetual but we're not sellers at A$38,' Mr Barker said. He also warned that Perpetual must appoint a chief executive to fend off the bid as the expiry of David Deverall's contract looms. Page B1.
In a report due to be released today, working-age population growth is expected to slump to rates not seen since the 90s.
Access Economics' Business Outlook report for the September quarter says growth in Australia's working-age population will drop to just 1 percent in 2012. The report blamed the election debate on population growth as well as a crackdown on foreign students and changes to permanent residency rules. Page B3.
Judge Michael Bozic last week ruled that two claims against Allco Finance Group receiver Peter Gothard by Geoffrey Kinghorn, the son of Allco founder John Kinghorn, should proceed. Mr Bozic rejected a pre-trial application by Mr Gothard for the case to be thrown out because there was 'no reasonable cause of action' in Mr Kinghorn's pleading. Mr Kinghorn is suing Mr Gothard for malicious prosecution over an abandoned Federal Court case relating to the collapsed company's aviation assets. Page B3.
Sydney-based Thai gold producer Kingsgate Consolidated yesterday made a A$22 million scrip bid for gold and silver explorer Laguna Resources. Laguna owns the Arqueros gold and silver project in Chile, and Kingsgate believes this has the potential to be the company's first development in South America. This latest offer follows Kingsgate's takeover bid last week for South Australian gold producer Dominion Mining . Page B4.
THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
United States financier turned philanthropist Michael Milken was a guest speaker at yesterday's Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation fundraiser, at Melbourne's Crown ballroom. Mr Milken - nicknamed the 'junk bond wizard' for his financing ventures in the 80s which landed him in a US jail after he pleaded guilty to securities fraud - is now pushing philanthropy and a cure for cancer. Some of Australia's most powerful and influential business people and public servants attended yesterday's event, where they raised more than A$1 million. Page B1.
Surging house prices have increased mortgage pressure on Melbourne's first home buyers. New figures reveal that more than half of Melbourne's first home buyers now pay over 30 percent of their disposable income on housing. According to a report by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, the median house price in Melbourne has surged 138 percent over 10 years to A$470,000. Report author Ben Phillips said the high cost of buying meant there were now fewer first home buyers. Page B2.
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) stockbrokers who held on to their shares since the listing of the markets operator could reap more than A$7 million from the merger with Singapore Exchange. When the ASX floated 12 years ago, stockbrokers made up the bulk of shareholders. They received 160,000 shares valued at A$500,000 as part of the ASX's demutualisation and listing in October 1998. Combining shares and cash, the stake is now worth an estimated A$7.6 million.
Page B4.
Singapore Exchange's A$8.4 billion move on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) sparked impressive gains on the market yesterday led by financial and resource stocks. Macquarie Private Wealth adviser Helen Spencer said it was a 'surprisingly strong day.' ASX shares closed up 19.4 percent to A$6.79 after emerging from a trading halt. The big four banks added between 0.9 percent and 2.3 percent, while Macquarie Group, one of the day's best performers, gained 4.1 percent. Page B9. --
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