Mark Beyer

A SMALL Sydney company has become the unlikely home for two well-known faces from the Perth business scene.

In the final instalment on equity raising, Mark Beyer looks at the impact of the weak stock market.

IT’S a long way from negotiating corporate finance deals on St Georges Terrace to repairing broken sewer pipes in the back blocks of Jandakot, but John Hassen i

ROBERT Homes a Court and Alan Bond have both owned it in the past. Now a third West Australian entrepreneur, Seven Network chairman Kerry Stokes, is poised to own the NSW dealership for Caterpillar.

CONVERTIBLE notes are gaining popularity as a fund raising option for Western Australian companies, with Skywest Airlines and Xanadu Wines among local companies

PERTH’S newest insurance law firm, established by former partners of Jackson McDonald, has opened its doors for business.

KWINANA-based steel pipe manufacturer Tyco Water is planning a major expansion after winning an $80 million contract with the Water Corporation.

THE Gallop Government plans new legislation to ensure Western Australia can benefit fully from national venture capital laws. The State moves follow changes to Federal laws, which grant favourable tax treatment to venture capital limited partnerships.

THE Australian Stock Exchange’s listing rules are hindering capital raisings by smaller companies, according to West Perth investment banker John Kenny.

THE State Government’s new fabrication facility at Jervoise Bay has completed its third small project as it continues to chase the large-scale contracts for which it was designed.

A SELECT group of Western Australian lawyers has been nominated by their national peers as being among the best in the country. The nominated lawyers have been included in publishing group Asian Legal Business’s inaugural Legal Who’s Who.

BROKING house Hartleys will lose two senior staff next month, when high-profile dealer Andrew Frazer and industrial analyst Steve Piotrowski join rival firms.

FOR companies wanting to list on the Australian Stock Exchange, the traditional path is via an initial public offering. An alternative route that is comparatively attractive in the current depressed market is a ‘backdoor’ listing.

WORK on Western Australia’s largest fish farming project got under way this month at Exmouth.

THE Federal Privacy Commissioner has effectively set a new standard for the debt collection industry as a result of a settlement with Alliance Factoring.

DOZENS of private sector projects are launched every year in Western Australia. Of all these projects, a select group has received big-ticket financial assistance – $600,000 or more – from the State Government.

WEST Perth law firm Blakiston & Crabb has expanded its technology practice with the acquisition of Silks Technology & Commercial Lawyers.

THERE is only a handful of venture capital firms with a permanent on-the-ground presence in Perth.

VENTURE capital has played a critical role in the growth of some of Western Australia’s best-known companies.

AFTER more than two years of reviews and planning, the reform of Western Australia’s electricity industry is starting to get under way.

A NATIONAL survey designed to find the employers of choice in the accounting industry has failed to deliver any good news for local firms.

THE administrator of Ian Diffen World of Tyres & Mufflers has closed its Spearwood store as he moves toward a sale or capital injection for the business.

WESTERN Australia’s venture capital industry is experiencing a burst of change, with two local venture capital providers restructuring their business and a ‘business angels’ group holding its first Perth meeting.

In the first of a series on raising equity finance, Mark Beyer assesses the various alternatives.

THE State Government’s grand tax reform plans started with a whimper rather than a bang this week after several key initiatives were delayed.

A MANAGEMENT buyout is the acquisition of an existing business by an alliance between management and private equity financiers. More than 50 MBOs have occurred in Australia between 1987 and 2002.

A new study has highlighted the many benefits flowing from management buyouts. Mark Beyer reports on a little known Perth company that has been thriving since completing its MBO.

Major changes to Western Australia’s tax laws are due to come in soon. Mark Beyer investigates some of the issues surrounding these.

THE new State secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia is expected to push for a hardline stance on industrial issues. Socialist Alliance member Chris Cain, who headed the Rank and File ticket, clearly defeated incumbent Wal Pritchard.

THE transport and retail industries are possible targets for the Western Australian Government’s next campaign of checking wages records.

THE Office of State Revenue has experienced a last minute rush by employers accepting its partial payroll tax amnesty.

TAX Commissioner Michael Carmody has signalled a crackdown on the use of service trusts by professional firms such as accountants and lawyers.