Billionaire backers say navy shipbuilder is ‘sovereign champion of Australia’
The former boss of Credit Suisse Australia is set to join the Austal board at the request of Forrest family as a takeover suitor continues to circle.
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The Forrest family has fired a shot across the bows of South Korea’s Hanwha Group amid the spurned suitor’s renewed attempts to gain a strategic foothold in the navy shipbuilder.
Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s private company Tattarang has moved to appoint a second director to the Austal board and signalled it sees no place for Hanwha in the running of the company.
The move comes after Austal chairman Richard Spencer ruled out caving in to Hanwha demands for a seat on the board.
Austal is on the brink of signing a strategic shipbuilding agreement with the Albanese government that will open the door for the company to secure about $20bn of work building heavy landing craft, frigates and other warships at its Henderson shipyards south of Perth.
The work would be on top of what is already a $14bn order book dominated by contracts with the US Navy at its shipyards in Mobile, Alabama.
Experienced banker and ANZ director Richard Gibb will join the Austal board as the Forrests’ second nominee alongside Brent Cubis.
Tattarang chief executive John Hartman said the board now had the capability it needed and underscored the Forrest commitment to Austal as “a sovereign champion of Australia”.
Hanwha has pushed for a board seat since snaring 9.9 per cent of Austal in a March sharemarket raid. It has its foot on another 9.9 per cent through a financial derivative with investment bank Jarden while seeking the Foreign Investment Review Board’s blessing to move to a 19.9 per cent stake.
Hanwha made a $1bn takeover approach last year that got short shrift from the Austal board, which refused access to its books and argued the South Korean entity would not get the necessary regulatory approvals from Australian and US authorities for a takeover.
The market now values Austal at more than $2bn.
Austal has always appeared confident it will have the backing of the Forrests, who own a 19.9 per cent stake through Tattarang, in any showdown with Hanwha.
Mr Hartman said Tattarang had exercised its right to appoint two directors to the board as Austal entered a new phase of growth.
“Tattarang’s appointment of two nominee directors underscores our deep commitment to Austal, a sovereign champion of Australia, and the strength of our long-running partnership with the company,” he said
“With these appointments, the Austal board now has deep capability across finance, M&A, defence, engineering and operations.”
Mr Gibb was the chief executive of Credit Suisse Australia for five years to 2024 and in the past worked in senior international posts for Deutsche Bank and for Merrill Lynch and Bankers Trust.
His appointment boosts the Austal’s board capability in capital markets and M&A in a period of increased investor interest in the defence sector.
Mr Spencer, the former US Navy secretary, said the board was considering recruiting a non-executive director with strong manufacturing, and contracting experience following the departure of Sarah Adam-Gedge.
Originally published as Billionaire backers say navy shipbuilder is ‘sovereign champion of Australia’
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