ASX 200 falls; BHP abandons Anglo pursuit; AACo gains; Sigma's first strike; Politis' Eagers buy-in

Ex-Origin suitor Brookfield in talks to buy Neoen for $9.98bn. Sigma eyes Chemist savings, awaits ACCC call. BHP abandons Anglo American bid. Eagers' billionaire Nick Politis buys the dip.

Heavyweight BHP’s moves are in focus for ASX investors on Thursday.

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, May 30. The ASX 200 index closed 0.5 per cent lower at 7628.20 points, led by mining, utilities and energy declines. US markets closed lower with the Dow Jones index shedding 411 points.

The Aussie dollar is trading around US65.99c.

Updates

4:26 pm May 30, 2024

ASX 200 ends down 0.5pc; materials weakest

David Rogers

Australia's stock market fell for a third day running as sharp falls in US stock index futures and commodity prices added to negative offshore leads.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 0.5 per cent at 7628.2 points after hitting a four-week low of 7601.5 as it continued to lose upward momentum after a strong rise over the past seven months.

After a the S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent on Wednesday as the US 10-year bond yield hit a four-week high on a weak bond auction, S&P 500 futures dived 0.5 per cent in APAC trading pointing to a further selloff in the US market.

On top of that, Singapore iron ore futures fell 3.1 per cent to $US115.20 a tonne and Comex copper futures fell 2.4 per cent to $US4.6785 a pound.

The materials sector dived 2 per cent with BHP down 1.8 per cent, Fortescue Metals down 3.5 per cent and Rio Tinto down 1.7 per cent.

Northern Star fell 3.2 per cent as gold fell 0.5 per cent to $US2,325 an ounce.

Major banks trimmed early falls with ANZ ending up 0.2 per cent.

The S&P/ASX 200 is heading for a second consecutive weekly fall and a second consecutive monthly fall, something not seen since October.

The chart remains bearish with a Head & Shoulders Top pattern targeting 7530 while 7720 caps and a potential Double Bottom pattern that could target 7080 if the April low at 7493 gives way.

3:46 pm May 30, 2024 Highlight

Brookfield in talks to buy Neoen

Lilly Vitorovich

Canadian investment giant Brookfield is in exclusive talks with Impala and other shareholders to buy Neoen for EUR6.1bn ($9.98bn) after its near-$20bn deal for Origin Energy collapsed in December.

The group says its "intention is to accelerate Neoen’s development and strengthen its position as a global leader in renewable energy".

Brookfield is in exclusive negotiations with Impala, the Fonds Stratégique de Participations managed by ISALT, Cartusiai and Xavier Barbaro, and other shareholders to acquire 53.32 per cent of Neoen at EUR39.85 a share.

The acquisition price represents a 26.9 per cent premium over the last closing price. Brookfield’s offer implies an equity value for 100 per cent of the shares of EUR6.1bn.

Subject to closing of the block acquisition, Brookfield would file an all-cash mandatory tender offer for all of the remaining shares and outstanding convertible bonds in Neoen with the intention of implementing a squeeze out.

The Neoen board of directors have unanimously welcomed Brookfield’s proposal and has appointed Finexsi as independent expert for the Board of Directors of Neoen.

In December, Brookfield warned it could turn its attention to a plethora of other companies keen for a partner to help fund an accelerated energy transition after its bid to buy Origin collapsed.

Origin in February said it would reassess its renewable energy plans, which calls on the company to develop at least 4GW of zero emission generation capacity after the collapse of the near $20bn acquisition by Brookfield and EIG Partners.

Founded in 2008, Neoen is one of the world’s leading independent producers of exclusively renewable energy, according to its website. The company says it is the largest owner and operator of renewables in Australia with 3.8 GW of operating and under construction assets.

3:45 pm May 30, 2024 Highlight

Sigma hit with first strike

Megan Neil

Sigma Healthcare has been hit with a first strike on its executive pay.

Results of the pharmacy group's annual general meeting show that 47.5 per cent of total votes were cast against Sigma's remuneration report – well in excess of the 25 per cent vote that constitutes a first strike.

If repeated at next year's AGM, a second strike could result in a board spill motion.

2:09 pm May 30, 2024 Highlight

Sigma eyes Chemist savings, awaits ACCC call

Valerina Changarathil

Sigma Healthcare, which is working through an $8.8bn merger with pharmacy group Chemist Warehouse, says it has identified $60m of potential cost synergies as it awaits the green light from competition regulator ACCC on June 13.

Chairman Michael Sammells told investors at the annual general meeting on Thursday the deal "provides the biggest transformational opportunity in the long and proud history of Sigma".

The ACCC have undertaken their market enquiries phase and may release a statement of issues or make a final decision next month. "Whilst timing remains unclear, we are hopeful of a positive decision in the second half of this calendar year, which will then be followed by a shareholder approval process that is expected to take around 3 months," Mr Sammells said.

"It is this timing and completion uncertainty, combined with the unique nature of the merger transaction, that led the board to implement certain remuneration arrangements that are being voted on today".

No proxy votes have been revealed in the documents lodged with the ASX yet, but "having reflected on comments received from proxy advisors", Mr Sammells says he remains "confident that the board has acted in the best interest of shareholders". At 2.10pm AEST, shares in Sigma are near $1.24.

1:45 pm May 30, 2024 Highlight

‘Small bump’ might have pushed BHP bid

Cameron England

Word on the street was that a “small bump” in BHP’s bid price for fellow global miner Anglo American might have convinced the target to engage and open its books, while questions are now being asked about what’s next for Anglo.

Tribeca Global Natural Resources Fund portfolio manager Ben Cleary said on Thursday that Anglo was obviously a good fit for the BHP portfolio and the failure of the approach must be “fairly disappointing” for the company.

“They’re obviously very high conviction on Anglo, I think their shareholders were very supportive of the Anglo deal,’’ Mr Cleary said. Shares in BHP are down 1.6 per cent to $44.34 at 1.45pm AEST.

Full story here.

12:51 pm May 30, 2024

Farmers welcome China beef export reinstatement

Joseph Carbone

The National Farmers' Federation, Australia's peak agricultural body, have welcomed the announcement of five Australian meatworks being allowed to resume export to China.

NFF president David Jochinke said: "This is another important step in the right direction towards improving our trading relationship with one of Australia’s major partners.

"This builds on the welcome lifting of restriction on wine imports announced in March this year."

Earlier Thursday, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt confirmed the sanctions were lifting, telling the ABC it was "fantastic news for the cattle producers, for the meat processing industry and for the workers in those industries".

The announcement comes after bans on Australian exports such as wine, barley and cotton to China had been lifted over the past year.

12:50 pm May 30, 2024 Highlight

Eagers Auto billionaire buys the dip

Valerina Changarathil

Billionaire businessman Nick Politis appears to be paying close attention to the rapid fall in the share price of Eagers Automotive following its dismal trading update on May 22 – if his $3.2m buy-in since then is any indication.

Mr Politis is the biggest shareholder in Eagers Automotive via his WFM Motors Pty Ltd and NGP Investments businesses.

He has acquired 300,000 additional shares since the automotive dealership giant flagged a 15 per cent drop in underlying profit for the first half on May 22, citing cost of living pressures on consumer spending and inflationary strain on business costs.

Mr Politis didn't waste too much time, buying 200,000 shares on the day in two separate transactions, shelling out $2.1m when most investors appeared to be bailing out as its share price crashed 19 per cent. Another 100,000 shares were bought on May 28 for $1.1m, a notice to the ASX on Thursday shows.

Shares are currently near $10.04, down about 18 per cent since its May 21 close of $12.19 before the update. Mr Politis now owns 72.8 million of them.

12:37 pm May 30, 2024

Ticketmaster silent on data hack claims

Joseph Lam

A cyber criminal organisation has claimed to have hacked one of the world’s most popular online ticket sales companies, illegally acquiring the personal data of hundreds of millions of customers worldwide.

The group, known as ShinyHunters, say they were able to breach Ticketmaster’s systems and collect 1.3 terabytes of customer data.

See all the details so far here.

12:36 pm May 30, 2024

ASX 200 trims fall to 0.5pc

David Rogers

Australia's share market trims a sharp opening fall but continues to lose upward momentum after a strong rise over the past seven months.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is down 0.5 per cent at 7630 points.

The materials sector leads broad-based falls though the consumer discretionary, tech and industrials sectors have turned up slightly.

Big iron ore miners fall 1.3-2.2 per cent led by Fortescue as iron ore futures continue to run out of steam after hitting resistance around $US120 a tonne.

Major banks mostly recover from relatively sharp intraday falls.

The index fell 0.8 per cent to a four-week low of 7601.5 in early trading as the S&P 500 lost 0.7 per cent on Wednesday and futures fell 0.3 per cent.

The ASX 200 is heading for a third-consecutive daily fall after higher than expected domestic inflation data and a rise in US bond yields this week.

It's heading for a second consecutive weekly fall and a second consecutive monthly fall, something not seen since October.

The chart remains bearish with a Head & Shoulders Top pattern targeting 7530 while 7720 caps and a potential Double Bottom pattern that could target 7080 if the April low at 7493 gives way.

11:44 am May 30, 2024

Building approvals undershoot estimate

David Rogers

Building approvals for April rose 0.3 per cent on-month, undershooting a 1.8 per cent rise expected by economists after a 2.7 per cent rise in March.

Approvals for private houses fell 1.6 per cent while approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 1.1 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms.

The value of total building approved fell 3.8 per cent after rising 3.8 per cent in March.

Total residential building value fell 3.2 per cent, with new residential building down 3.8 per cent and alterations and additions up 0.4 per cent.

The value of non-residential building approved fell 4.6 per cent, after a 21.7 per cent March rise.