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Kylar Loussikian

This Month

A stockpile of coal at a Chongqing port. Weak demand in China is pushing prices down, and hurting Australian producers.

Struggling Bowen Coking Coal hit with $15m demand

The miner’s shares had been suspended for weeks after warning depressed prices and higher royalty payments put its future at risk.

If it were up to Armaguard boss Matt Caulfield, the 50¢ piece would be first on the chopping block.

Banks and major retailers extend Armaguard lifeline to buy cash time

The Fox family-owned business had secured a $50 million injection last year, and will use the money to operate while a permanent solution is found.

Johns Lyng specialises in building services including insurance work, project management, and strata management.

Johns Lyng agrees to $1.3b takeover bid from private equity suitor

The building services giant had seen its share price slump from highs of more than $9 to less than $4 prior to the buyout discussions with Pacific Equity Partners.

A Lactalis cheese factory in Villedieu-les-Poêles. The company is one of the world’s largest dairy processors and interested in Fonterrra’s local consumer products business.

Lactalis gets pre-emptive ACCC green light for Fonterra spin-off sale

The French giant is interested in buying the division behind Mainland and Perfect Italiano cheese and Western Star butter from the New Zealand cooperative.

An auction in Sydney’s inner west at the weekend. Banks say borrowers are not rushing to reduce their repayments despite broader cost of living pressures.

Banks say borrowers aren’t reducing home loan repayments as rates fall

Three major lenders say only one in 10 customers are asking to pay less, a blow to retailers who have hoped the RBA’s moves would stimulate sluggish spending.

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Jason Pellegrino at a Financial Review summit in 2022. He left Domain last year and will return after CoStar acquires the business.

CoStar will appoint Jason Pellegrino to run Domain after $3b buy

The American real estate giant outlined its intentions with the property listings platform, including a possible “major rebrand” before a vote on the deal.

June

Melbourne Airport is one of the most prized infrastructure assets in the country and is owned by some of Australia’s biggest investors.

Future Fund ditches Dexus as manager of its Melbourne Airport stake

The $300 billion fund has only just been approved to manage assets internally. Dexus is already fighting with Australian Pacific Airports Corporation investors.

DigiDirect chief executive Shant Kradjian swooped for struggling online retailer Booktopia in August last year.

Booktopia owner digiDirect snaps up video game hardware business Mwave

The computer accessories and hardware retailer had been backed by private equity firms including Anacacia Capital but fell into administration this month.

The view toward the Austal shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. The facility is the company’s largest.

Hanwha says it has the green light to buy all of Austal, if it wants

But the ASX-listed shipbuilder said the approval from US foreign investment officials claimed by the Korean conglomerate was “different to that claimed”.

Sympli puts up the white flag, proposes working with arch-rival PEXA

The ASX-listed conveyancing services giant, backed by Commonwealth Bank, says it is “not the role of competitors” to discuss industry structure.

Ross Anderson is the chief executive of Murray Cod Australia, which supplies Aquna-branded fish.

Can the Murray cod finally hook Australia an aquaculture giant?

It’s a fish that can be found on the menu of white tablecloth diners. But shrinking supply of premium species is a big opportunity for this ASX-listed company.

Alex Vynokur at the BetaShares head office. He co-founded the firm in 2009 and is expanding into private assets.

Betashares to expand into private credit after ETFs hit $50b

The exchange-traded funds giant, backed by Singapore’s Temasek and Boston-based TA Associates, sees a big opportunity at the polar ends of the market.

May

The Anchor brand of milk in New Zealand. It is one of the products that could be spun off with the Mainland Group business.

Forrests’ Tattarang backs Bega Cheese bid for $4b Fonterra spin-off

The billionaire family’s investment vehicle says it supported the ASX-listed dairy company’s growth ambitions and interest in the NZ-based business.

April

Jayne Hrdlicka will take over as chief executive of Endeavour, which owns Dan Murphy’s and BWS, next year.

New Endeavour chief Jayne Hrdlicka finds backers in Mathieson, Wylie

The former Virgin Australia managing director will have to stare down restive investors when she takes over at the Dan Murphy’s and BWS owner next year.

Fonterra is one of the world’s largest dairy co-operatives and wants to spin off its consumer products division.

Fonterra warns uncertainty over Bega brand ‘could kill’ $4b spin-off

The New Zealand co-operative has failed in its push to have the divestment of its consumer products division declared not to be a change of control transaction.

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Inside an Armaguard coin processing facility. The use of notes and coins has slumped over the last decade.

Big banks draft in Barrenjoey as they consider Armaguard’s future

The banking lobby needs strategic advice on how the Linfox-owned cash transport business could be funded.

Sanjeev Gupta, pictured at one of his plants in 2017, is presiding over a manufacturing empire in crisis.

Ben Brazil’s FitzWalter calls off $800m InfraBuild debt suit

Sanjeev Gupta’s Australian steel-making business declined to provide details except to say the former Macquarie deal maker had agreed to dismiss the claim.

Peter Cooper overhauls $6b local equities fund after years of losses

The veteran stockpicker has told staff he will be directly involved in his firm’s main vehicle, getting rid of some managers to stop long-term underperformance.

Donald Trump’s trade policies have sent the ASX and Wall Street through a wild few days.

Goldman’s 73-minute recession says everything about a reeling market

Was it The Art of the Deal, or just Donald Trump blinking in the face of a bond market shock? Either way, it’s been a day of whiplash for traders and brokers.

Coalition will repurpose $14.5 billion remaining in National Reconstruction Fund.

Coalition to strip $14.5b from key Labor fund

The National Reconstruction Fund was a centrepiece of Labor’s 2022 election pitch to revitalise local manufacturing, but the Coalition has other plans.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/kylar-loussikian-h13xbz