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AFR Agribusiness

November

Venture capital is not all Canva and Culture Amp.

Dear VC, can you please improve our farming industry?

Fruit and vegetable growers have called in the white sneaker brigade to solve the horticulture sector’s problems and open up new markets sooner.

  • Anthony Macdonald
Every few years, we get bankers picking over Australia’s rural services groups. This time it is Elders buying Delta Ag.

Monday’s big deal shows domestic M&A is definitely not dead

For all the bluster we hear from bankers and lawyers about the ACCC, companies are still willing to take on the competition regulator.

  • Anthony Macdonald

October

Cobram Estate co-founder Robert McGavin will prolong his stay on the company’s board.

Glass Lewis backflip prompts AGM proxy process questions

It is one thing to have a view, it is another to stand behind it. How much work goes into some of these proxy recommendations?

  • Anthony Macdonald

August

Beef heir Anthony Lee, current Australian Country Choice CEO and son of billionaire Trevor Lee.

The beef baron, the waste magnate and the battle for Brisbane

A bustling weekend farmer’s market on the city’s fringes has emerged as a battleground in a stoush between two industry titans.

  • James Hall

July

Like tequila? Try these three new Australian agave spirits

A growing number of enterprising Australian distillers are working to meet the demand for agave spirits.

  • Max Allen
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Mauro Neves was supposed to be running an explosives maker that feeds the mining industry.

Spilt milk everywhere as Incitec pivots, again

We have another “deal yourself in, deal yourself out” situation. And it isn’t pretty.

  • Anthony Macdonald

June

PSP Investments’ CEO Deborah Orida has been in Australia visiting some of the pension fund’s investments, including farmers in NSW’s Riverina region.

In Canadian giant PSP v Aware Super, who wins?

There are very different ways to make 10 per cent a year. We compare Canada and Australia’s third-biggest super funds, with a combined $470 billion in assets.

  • Updated
  • Anthony Macdonald
Six years ago, ProTen was producing 68 million birds or 11 per cent of Australia’s supply. Today’s figures are around 133 million chooks and 19 per cent market share.

Aware Super, Roc calls in bankers at $1b No.1 chicken farmer ProTen

ProTen is listed among Aware Super’s infrastructure portfolio disclosures with a valuation of between $500 million to $1 billion.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

May

Shareholders will back growth stories, but only if they trust management can deliver them.

How to build a cash war chest and get permission to spend it

Thursday’s two big profit results show what investors want from Australia’s big companies. And it doesn’t have to be just buybacks and special dividends.

  • Anthony Macdonald
Rob Scott’s portfolio of businesses at Wesfarmers is constantly evolving. The spotlight is on its digital, health and lithium moves.

Wesfarmers sprays growth bets, waiting for payoff

Wesfarmers’ hefty businesses proved their resilience in the pandemic. Now, with shares breaking $65 for the first time, Rob Scott needs us to think about growth. 

  • Updated
  • Anthony Macdonald

March

Robert Millner, Washington H Soul Pattinson & Co chairman, is a rare business leaded not afraid to ruffle feathers.

Soul Patts’ Millner rails against secretive new laws

Two words are frightening senior Australian executives; few are willing to say them publicly. The words are “nature positive”.

  • Anthony Macdonald

November 2023

GrainCorp boss Robert Spurway is doing the capital allocation dance with investors.

What investors want that GrainCorp doesn’t want to give

A few good years and a spin-off helped GrainCorp build a hefty war chest. Chief executive Robert Spurway wants to invest, but hasn’t forgotten about shareholders.

  • Anthony Macdonald
Methane from ruminants, like cattle and sheep, account for almost 70 per cent of agricultural emissions.

Farmers are next in Labor’s emission-cutting plans

The Albanese government says the agriculture sector needs to set a more ambitious climate agenda or face a backlash from customers in Europe.

  • Jacob Greber

September 2023

Data centres are going to get huge: Robin Khuda

Five ways big investors are betting on property

Blackstone, QIC, Macquarie and Charter Hall are looking outside the traditional property asset classes as they try to pick the next big things. 

  • James Thomson

August 2023

Sugar cane is a source of green energy with the crop being primary feedstock for ethanol.

Global buyers sweet talk Bundaberg Sugar, owners start $600m auction

Belgium’s Finasucre, which has controlled the Queensland business for more than two decades has tapped Lazard Australia and Kidder Williams.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
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Navis Capital boss Phil Latham has tapped Luminis Partners to test buyer appetite for his premium poultry producer.

No yolk! Navis Capital puts poultry business up for sale, taps adviser

When it does hit the auction block, Mainland is expected to draw a decent crowd of tyre kickers across trade buyers and financial sponsors.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

July 2023

Incitec Pivot’s board is trying to unscramble its explosives/fertilisers business model. One option is to sell the fertilisers unit, which is an important player in Australia’s agriculture sector.

Incitec fertilisers sale has the ingredients of a FIRB hotpot

Incitec Pivot’s fertilisers business could be the Albanese government’s first big foreign investment test.

  • Anthony Macdonald

May 2023

Incitec Pivot CEO Jeanne Johns.

Floods, fertiliser, gas: Why Incitec Pivot tanked on results day

Incitec Pivot is dealing with a lot of factors outside its control. Its board reckons a planned demerger should help simplify things.

  • Anthony Macdonald

March 2023

United Malt felt the pain of lockdowns and less drinking at pubs and clubs during COVID-19 restrictions.

United Malt in play as European suitor drops by; MacCap on defence

ASX-listed United Malt Group has joined the long-time takeover targets to get a bid, with the company expected to unveil as approach as early as Monday. 

  • Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood

Telstra CEO eyes agriculture in plan for next decade

Telstra boss Vicki Brady has named growth in services to agriculture and non-traditional telco markets as a key focus of her leadership of the company.

  • Paul Smith

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/AFR-Agribusiness-1nrd