Australia

Woodside torches Santos’ quick activist fix

7 Feb 2024

The oil and gas driller ended talks with its smaller rival about a $52 bln merger Down Under. A deal always looked hard. But it could have got investors off Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher’s back. Now he’ll have to try the slower route of capital returns, cost cuts and asset sales.

Battery minerals pressure causes cracks Down Under

31 Jan 2024

Miner IGO is freezing a nickel project key to a near-$1 bln acquisition just 18 months ago. It’s also having trouble selling lithium. Falling commodity prices and slowing EV growth are proving problematic for many, including BHP. But bad dealmaking has compounded IGO’s pain.

Iron ore investors mine irrational exuberance

16 Jan 2024

The mineral's recent 40% jump has sent BHP, Fortescue and Rio's Aussie-listed shares towards record highs. Yet the trio's earnings are below their peak, as is the commodity, whose price is expected to fall. Absent a sudden upswing in China's economy, the rally looks overdone.

Aussie tycoon will blaze new green activist trail

2 Jan 2024

Atlassian co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes has already used some of his billions to tackle climate change, like battling the country’s top carbon emitter. Quitting the software firm would make him more effective. Other wealthy moguls may then join him in the activist trenches.

Drugstore $6 bln deal has sickly governance

12 Dec 2023

Australian discount chain Chemist Warehouse is going public via a reverse takeover by struggling rival Sigma. It’s a good move for both companies. But insiders will rule the board, and three of them will own half the new firm. Over time, such private company trappings need to go.

Woodside-Santos energy merger hurdles look high

8 Dec 2023

The Aussie duo are discussing a $52 bln deal. Both are industry laggards, paying a big premium would be hard to justify and regulators may object even though Big Oil is consolidating in the US. That could hand foreign rivals like ConocoPhillips and BP a dealmaking advantage.

 

Energy transition investing is caught in traps

8 Dec 2023

COP28 attendees pledged to triple renewables, but there’s still no plan to quit fossil fuel. Brookfield’s $13 bln joint bid for Aussie emitter Origin lined up a poster child deal for how companies can make the leap. Its failure has lessons for the world’s broader efforts.

Every country needs an Inflation Reduction Act

23 Nov 2023

The US's $370 bln in green subsidies left allies fearing they’d be at a disadvantage. Now they’re realising that adapting the blueprint can unlock private capital, boost economies and speed up the energy transition. Funding remains a challenge, but not an insurmountable one.

Australia climate refugee policy is hard to scale

13 Nov 2023

Canberra will welcome Tuvalu’s 11,200 citizens as rising seas threaten the Pacific Island country. It’s smart geopolitics from a top fossil-fuel polluter. But unless emissions are cut fast, there will be hundreds of millions of climate migrants clamouring to enter rich states.

Brookfield’s energy transition Plan C may yet work

2 Nov 2023

The investor’s improved and final $13 bln co-bid for Australia’s Origin looks set to fail after pension fund AusSuper rejected it. A new tweak means the bidders can then launch a tender offer. It would be a desperate messy affair, but Brookfield could emerge with the upper hand.

Aussie winemaker ferments risky US deal vintage

1 Nov 2023

Treasury Wine is spending $900 mln on California’s fast-growing Daou. It’s the latest step in the Penfolds maker’s recovery from Chinese tariffs that corked a third of earnings. But listed US rivals have struggled. And the $5.5 bln buyer has suffered American hangovers before.

Brookfield can lob cranky Origin investors a bone

19 Oct 2023

The money manager’s $12 bln offer for the Australian energy company is fair, according to an independent review. Raising the price just a percent or two should be enough to get sceptical top shareholder AustralianSuper and others on board.

Macquarie’s Norse saga sends telco breakup warning

17 Oct 2023

The Australian firm is mulling options for Danish operator TDC. A lengthy plan to separate its network from its consumer business left both units burdened by debt amid intense competition, which could deter buyers. Others looking to split, like Telecom Italia, may think twice.

Tycoon’s lithium grab leaves investors hanging

16 Oct 2023

Billionaire Gina Rinehart has stifled Albemarle’s $4.2 bln bid for Liontown with deft use of Australia’s takeover rules. Now the minerals producer has to raise cash just as prices for the key battery material are falling. She needs to show why her spoiling tactics were worth it.

Australia’s China détente is a tough one to copy

12 Oct 2023

Beijing freed an Aussie journalist and has lifted import bans on goods like coal and hay. High commodity prices propped up Canberra’s coffers, while a less bellicose administration and a scant manufacturing base helped reconciliation. The US and the EU can’t use such a blueprint.

Brookfield energy deal changes antitrust climate

10 Oct 2023

An Australian regulator decided speedy emissions reductions outweigh competition fears in the Canadian investor’s $12 bln joint bid for power company Origin. The ACCC’s terms for approving the buyout are a handy base for other watchdogs to build on as climate-driven M&A grows.

 

PwC Aussie mess is classic do as I say not as I do

29 Sep 2023

An independent review sparked by a tax-leak scandal lays bare governance failures at the advisory firm including an overly powerful CEO, a supine board, poor risk processes and, ironically, an aversion to external help. Fixing those is just the start of the company's turnaround.

Lithium merger is charged up by tycoon fever

27 Sep 2023

Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, has bought 11% of Liontown, which is sizing up a $4 bln takeover by Albemarle. Whether she makes a full bid or not, she’s only the latest mining billionaire forcing a strategic buyer to dig deeper for an energy transition commodity.

Aussies may let $20 bln burn Brookfield’s pocket

19 Sep 2023

It’s what the Canadian investor wants to plough into renewables once it co-buys Origin Energy for $12 bln. But a big shareholder in the power company wants a higher offer. And the country’s antitrust watchdog may nix the deal, capping CEO Bruce Flatt’s climate options Down Under.

Brookfield’s climate promise faces a dirty test

8 Sep 2023

The investor’s pending $12 bln co-purchase of Origin includes Australia’s largest coal plant. Fear of blackouts may keep it running past an expected 2025. Even with deep pockets and oodles of renewables expertise, it may be hard to avert such an epic energy transition fail.