NewsBite

Manufacturing

Yesterday

Sophie Gilliatt (left) and Katherine Westwood at Dinner Ladies HQ in Matraville.

These women are conquering Aussie dinner tables, one lasagne at a time

The Dinner Ladies began with two women selling home-cooked meals to friends. It now delivers 40,000 meals a week and is expanding in a $2 billion market.

This Month

So Hardie’s directors will make billion-dollar bets behind closed doors while the real owners are cut out of having any say.

ASX’s James Hardie waiver is not in the market’s best interests

The bourse has set a terrible precedent by being complicit in undermining shareholder democracy.

James Hardie chief executive Aaron Erter has run the building products group since late 2022. Australian investors are furious over the proposed $14b merger with Azek in the US.

Asbestos victims want compensation assurances from James Hardie

The building materials giant will shift its primary listing to New York under a plan to merge with American group Azek.

BE Campbell’s major sales channels are with Woolworths, Aldi and Coles.

$500m revenue family-owned pork processor kicks off sale; flyer out

BE Campbell has grown revenue 130 per cent over the past 15 years and is forecast to deliver more than $500 million revenue this financial year.

The Whyalla steelworks was forced into administration in February as the SA government lost patience with Sanjeev Gupta’s unpaid bills.

Sanjeev Gupta refuses to hand over control of Whyalla port

KordaMentha has taken the British industrialist to court, claiming he refuses to hand it control of the town’s port, jeopardising plans to find a new owner.

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James Hardie chairwoman Anne Lloyd, with CEO Aaron Erter. The anger from Australian fund managers over the proposed $14 billion buyout of Azek has not diminished.

Investor wants government review of James Hardie waiver on $14b Azek deal

Long-term James Hardie investors say the Azek deal is value destructive and were disappointed by discussions with the company’s chair Anne Lloyd on Monday.

Aaron Erter took the helm at James Hardie in late 2022. He says the integration of Azek will happen at a time of volatility in the US and then the enlarged company will be in a sweet spot to accelerate.

James Hardie chair to meet investors after backlash on Azek deal

The ASX waiver given to James Hardie for its $14 billion deal has hamstrung investors, who have stripped $5 billion but can’t block the unpopular transaction.

Private equity group Allegro Funds bosses Chester Moynihan  (Founding Partner), Adrian Loader (Founder Partner) and Fay Bou (MD, Partner). The firm is now on its fourth fund and manages over $4 billion in total enterprise value.

Allegro Funds inks $375m industrials exit

Five V will pick up Allegro’s majority stake in Questas, putting a roughly $375 million enterprise valuation on the hydraulics and water brands owner.

A used Range Rover at a Land Rover dealership in Tucson, Arizona. The parent company has halted shipments for now.

British car maker Jaguar Land Rover pauses shipments to US

The company, which makes luxury cars that include Jaguars, Defenders and Range Rovers, does not have manufacturing facilities in the United States.

James Hardie chief executive Aaron Erter insists the deal ticks all the boxes.

ASX opens the door to the great James Hardie heist

Last week in broad daylight, the American pirates running James Hardie swept in and stole the company from its Australian shareholders. What did the ASX do?

Sanjeev Gupta in 2017, when he acquired the InfraBuild business out of administration.

Sanjeev Gupta’s InfraBuild reshuffles its debts to hold off default

The steel-making business said it would raise an extra $240 million from bondholders, already owed $880 million, and pay down other loans due next year.

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

Fitch Ratings says Gupta’s InfraBuild faces default within months

The sprawling steel business is the British industrialist’s last good asset. The credit agency says a breach of its lending agreement “appears probable”.

March

Daphne Berry, Molly Benjamin, Emma Edwards and Natasha Etschmann pose for an Instagram story before the lock-up.

Gupta back spruiking ‘spirit of GFG’ at Cafe Sydney

Subtlety isn’t Sanjeev Gupta’s style, so it’s little wonder he isn’t even waiting for administrators to leave Whyalla before again burnishing GFG’s brand.

Sanjeev Gupta in front of an InfraBuild plant in Melbourne in 2017. The British industrialist acquired the operations out of the collapse of Arrium.

Ben Brazil’s InfraBuild lawsuit spurious and illogical: Gupta

In response to a New York lawsuit, the British industrialist said bond agreements expressly allowed the use of company funds to pay GFG Alliance creditors.

Nystar runs two smelters in Australia, one in Hobart and another in South Australia.

Trafigura puts Australian metal processing operations under review

In an interview, the trading house’s chief executive, Richard Holtum, said “uncompetitive” assets should be at least part owned by the government.

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The Whyalla steelworks only had three days worth of coking coal - vital in the steelmaking process - when KordaMentha took over. It has spent $60 million on orders to build up a buffer.

Whyalla steelworks in $60m emergency spend to secure coal supply

The steelworks’ administrators have secured coking coal from BlueScope, China and Indonesia to keep making steel after it was left with only three days’ supply.

James Hardie’s fibre cement sheeting at a warehouse in Melbourne. The company is one of the largest buillding materials groups in the world.

US law firms threaten to sue over James Hardie and Azek’s merger plans

Three American law firms are threatening to sue the New York-listed group because the price is too low, while local analysts are worried the price is too high.

Microcap Sprintex was among Tuesday’s raising candidates.

Sprintex launches capital raising; Alpine Capital on ticket

Sources said the deal had secured cornerstone commitments for 50 per cent of the book before the official launch. 

Sanjeev Gupta in front of an InfraBuild plant in Melbourne in 2017. The British industrialist acquired the operations out of the collapse of Arrium.

Sanjeev Gupta’s InfraBuild delays accounts for third time in a month

Despite having circulated its unaudited half-year financial results to bondholders on March 3, it has repeatedly delayed a call to discuss the finalised figures.

James Hardie’s fibre cement sheeting at a warehouse in Melbourne. The company is one of the largest buillding materials groups in the world.

James Hardie investors worried $14b Azek deal is overvalued

As the building material business’ stock price dived, chief executive Aaron Erter rejected concerns it had overpaid for outdoor products company AZEK.

James Hardie chief executive Aaron Erter insists the deal ticks all the boxes.

James Hardie’s $14b bet exposes gulf between Aussie and US investors

The industrial logic of James Hardie’s big bet on US giant Azek is sound enough, but the price is already worrying investors. 

Whyalla steelworks halted, millions in capex urgently needed

“Because of the underinvestment, inadequate maintenance and servicing of critical infrastructure, the steelworks are in a state of disrepair,” says KordaMentha.

A worker with a pane of glass at a construction project in Sydney.  Oceania was the only local manufacturer of architectural glass.

Oceania Glass collapse brought on by failing machinery: administrator

The 169-year-old company was the country’s only manufacturer of architectural glass before its private equity owner, Crescent Capital, called in Grant Thornton last month.

Austal chairman and former US Navy chief Richard Spencer.

Shipbuilder Austal preps $200m-plus equity raising; founder sells

Andrew Forrest’s Tattarang Ventures is expected to take up its pro-rata share of about $41 million to maintain its stake at 19.6 per cent.

InfraBuild crashes to a loss of $81 million in the December half. It is the biggest customer of the Whyalla steelworks (pictured) which went into administration on February 19, with creditors owed $1.35 billion.

Gupta’s InfraBuild sinks to $81m half-year loss as debts balloon

Documents circulated to lenders show the company, which runs furnaces in Sydney and Melbourne, bought $140 million in steel from the collapsed Whyalla plant.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/companies/manufacturing