Private equity firm Blackstone will buy Valad property group for $207 million, the company announced this morning.
“The Valad Board has been considering a range of strategic options to maximise security holder value, including maintaining the status quo, a recapitalisation via an equity raising, a series of select asset sales and an orderly wind-up,” Valad chairman Trevor Gerber said.
The company also said that the Blackstone proposal is considered to provide “the most certain value proposition for all Valad security holders”.
The transaction must meet regulatory and shareholder approval before it can be passed.
Macquarie Group has recorded a 9% fall in full-year profit to $956 million, but the company says it expects better results in 2012.
The result was slightly lower than the $1.05 billion profit recorded in the 2010 financial year. Operating income rose 15% to $7.64 million.
However, that result is better than expected, with a Bloomberg poll expecting a profit of $947 million.
Chief executive Nicholas Moore said the 2012 result is expected to be better, although there will be many factors dictating overall performance.
“The FY12 result will be dependent upon market conditions, particularly for Macquarie Securities and Macquarie Capital which are assuming better market conditions than FY11,” Moore said.
“The FY12 result also remains subject to a range of other challenges including increased competition across all markets, the cost of our continued conservative approach to funding and capital, and regulation, including the potential for regulatory change.”
The company’s shares have remained flat this morning, up 0.11% to $34.94.
Foster’s Group shareholders have voted to split the company’s beer and wine operations, although a final count is not expected for some time.
The decision will see Foster’s create a new division called Treasury Wine Estates, with the Foster’s division to remain the country’s largest brewery.
Analysts expect that as a result of the division, Foster’s may start seeing bids for both entities.
However, the firm has warned that some disadvantages of the split include reduced diversification, some one-off costs and higher interest costs.
The Australian sharemarket has opened flat this morning despite a positive result on Wall Street overnight, where solid corporate financial results have provided investors with some relief.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 60 points or 1.24% to 4812.7 at 12.00 AEST, while the Australian dollar has maintained its position at $US1.09.
AMP shares lost 1.99% to $5.43, while Commonwealth Bank shares have lost 0.65% to $53.31. ANZ lost 1.11% to $24.05 as Westpac lost 1.27% to $24.93.
In the United States, stocks have risen due to solid corporate results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 72.35 points or 0.57% to 12,763.31.
The International Monetary Fund has said Australian inflation remains a risk to the country’s economy.
In the new Regional Economic Outlook, the IMF has said that CPI accelerated to 4.5% in February due to fuel and food prices – but this is beginning to impact on core, underlying inflation.
“Headline inflation is generally expected to increase further in 2011, before decelerating modestly in 2012,” the IMF says in its new report, warning the Government should start saving money from higher commodity prices.
“(This would) ensure a more equal distribution of its benefits across generations and reduce long-term fiscal vulnerabilities from an aging population and rising healthcare costs,” it says.
The Australian has reported two executives of the National Broadband Network did not disclose a corruption investigation targeted at their former employer before heading to the new government entity.
The report claims that Mike Quigley and Jean-Pascal Beaufret did not reveal a corruption investigation undertaken by the Securities and Exchange Commission into former employer Alcatel-Lucent.
The report claims the executives say they were not a part of the investigation, and a spokesperson for senator Stephen Conroy said the Government believes both executives weren’t involved.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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