November 2014
Childcare spat the first salvo in long fight
A skirmish for control between childcare property trusts Arena REIT and Folkestone Education Trust may be the first salvo in a longer campaign for consolidation in a boutique but growing asset class.
- Nick Lenaghan
June 2014
- Opinion
- Opinion
Linc hires PAC Partners to find buyer for coal assets
Singapore-listed Linc Energy is pushing ahead with plans to sell its Australian coal assets, organising meetings with potential trade and private equity buyers for next week.
- Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Gretchen Friemann
May 2014
Court battle looms for Olney-Fraser
ASIC’s case against Mariner is shaping up for an old-style courtroom grilling of key witnesses to allegations the corporate raider, led by Darren Olney-Fraser, launched an unfunded takeover bid.
- Nick Lenaghan
April 2014
Beacon Lighting blazes trail to IPO
Beacon Lighting Group founder and chairman Ian Robinson and silent partner electrician Martin Hanman began planning for the latter to cash out via an initial public offering six years ago.
- Updated
- Sally Rose
Property updates
Demand for office space in the Sydney central business district declined from 1.2 per cent to 1.1 per cent in the March quarter, according to the DEXUS barometer.
ASIC takes action against Olney-Fraser
Corporate raider Darren-Olney Fraser is facing the prospect of disqualification and fines over the conduct of his failed tilt at Melbourne-based Austock Group.
- Updated
- Nick Lenaghan
January 2013
Property briefs
Austock Group has sold its remaining 35 per cent stake in its property funds management business to Folkestone for $5.5 million. Folkestone bought 65 per cent of the business in September.
October 2012
Wilson HTM bid could prompt more shuffles
Beleaguered broking house Wilson HTM has been offered a lifeline, but do not expect the company or its shareholders to latch on to this offer.
- Updated
- Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald
August 2012
Austock settles Groves share sale claim
Failed child-care tycoon Eddy Groves has settled a multimillion-dollar legal claim against Austock in a confidential deal, but the stockbroker says it has not admitted liability.
- Updated
- Patrick Durkin
July 2012
Austock Group (ACK)
Former broker Austock Group, which was recently a takeover target by corporate raider Mariner Corporation, is looking to sell its $555 million property funds management to Folkestone.
- Updated
- Ruth Liew
Nomura, Instinet to merge by year-end
Global agency broker Instinet is expected to have completed the merger of its operations with Japanese parent Nomura in Australia by the end of the year.
- Updated
- Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald
June 2012
Austock lambastes Mariner bid
The chief executive of former embattled mid-tier broker, Austock, has slammed corporate raider Mariner Corporation’s recent takeover bid as “unwelcome” and “certainly against shareholders’ wishes”.
- Updated
- Ruth Liew | Joyce Moullakis
- Opinion
- Opinion
Goldman, JBWere in talks to extend retail agreement
It doesn’t get much tougher than retail stockbroking at the moment. Just ask Austock and Wilson HTM.
- Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald
May 2012
Austock appoints new chief executive
Diversified financial services company Austock has appointed company director Bill Bessemer as its new chief executive – the group’s third CEO in three years.
- Updated
- Ruth Liew
Mariner may be fishing for Austock
Now that Austock has bowed to trading room pressures and offloaded its brokerage business to Intersuisse, attention has turned to what will happen to Austock’s rump, which continues to trade on the Australian Securities Exchange.
- Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald
March 2012
Paul Masi appointed Austock CEO
Masi brings a wealth of experience to Austock but has the market forgotten the botched CBA raising?
- Updated
- Jamie Freed | Sarah Thompson
September 2011
Broker lobby to resist ASIC capital plan
The Stockbrokers Association of Australia will argue against a rise in capital for brokers which do not clear their own trades, although some of its members take the opposite view.
- Updated
- Matthew Drummond
Financial services briefs
Moody’s Investors Service has confirmed the ratings of 10 tranches of residential mortgage backed securities issues by non-bank lender Firstmac. The tranches were placed on review for downgrade in March.George Liondis
August 2011
Company briefs
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting sold 1.19 million Ten Network shares for just over $1.1 million, trimming its stake from 10.11 per cent to 10 per cent.
January 2011
Large GrainCorp stake offloaded
Grain Growers Limited, the largest shareholder in GrainCorp, last night sold its entire stake of 16.8 million shares, or 8.45 per cent, of eastern Australia’s biggest grains handler. Melbourne-based Austock Group offered the shares to institutions at $6.95 - an 8.7 per cent discount to the closing price of $7.61 - in a deal worth about $116.8 million.
- Updated
- Sarah Thompson and Paul Garvey