Mark Beyer

With 1100 staff across Australia, annual revenue nudging $200 million and more growth on the way, Perth-based Kinetic IT is a good case study for privately-owned companies.

Unique Metal Works is set to double in size after striking a deal with the administrators of RCR Tomlinson to purchase its laser business, which employs about 200 people.

PODCAST: Mark Pownall, Mark Beyer and Dan Wilkie discuss Dale Alcock and Adrian Fini, South Perth development, house market sentiment, Infinite Energy, Wright Prospecting’s financials, Kinetic IT, and our special report on major WA private companies.

Austal disclosed today that the corporate regulator is investigating announcements in late 2015 and mid 2016 that triggered a sharp fall in the ship builder’s share price.

The descendants of iron ore pioneer Peter Wright have received total dividends of $702 million over the past three years, according to recently lodged financial statements that also reveal the big legal expenses they have paid.

Big donations to three philanthropic trusts in Western Australia augur well for future charitable donations, although the state’s wealthiest person, Gina Rinehart, has bucked the trend.

SPECIAL REPORT: Tech startups in WA can raise capital if they know where to look and how to ask, a Perth seminar was told.

SPECIAL REPORT: Corporate finance dealmakers in Perth worked on just more than 800 transactions last year worth $51 billion.

Sandfire Resources confirmed today it has approached MOD Resources about a potential takeover, with the target proceeding instead with a $15 million capital raising to support work on its T3 copper project.

Perth-based company Kinetic IT has broken into the federal government market for the first time after signing two contracts with the Department of Defence worth a combined $91 million.

A New York-based hedge fund has moved to majority ownership of specialist business lender Radium Capital after purchasing a 50 per cent stake in the Perth-based company.

PODCAST: Mark Pownall and Mark Beyer discuss Woodside projects, Heath Development, Navitas, rising philanthropy and our special report on WA’s biggest deals and dealmakers.

The Supreme Court has found prominent land developer and real estate agent Colin Heath breached his fiduciary duties in regard to his role in long-running land development ventures with the Godecke family.

BHP Group will be double-checking its advertising copy in future after publishing full-page advertisements that mistakenly claimed major international business CPB Contractors was based in Western Australia.

Navitas directors have recommended shareholders accept an increased $2.1 billion takeover proposal by a consortium that includes its founder and former chief executive, Rod Jones, who says the new ownership would boost the company's prospects .

PODCAST: Mark Pownall and Mark Beyer discuss Perth’s luxury suburbs, crayfishing drama, tourism downturn, bumper grain harvest, Minderoo’s new CEO and our special report on the increasingly important and newsworthy aged care sector.

Andrew and Nicola Forrest have recruited a former banking executive as the inaugural chief executive of their private company Minderoo, while also disclosing its total assets more than doubled last

Finbar Group has announced an on-market share buy-back program under which the company could spend about $16 million repurchasing 7 per cent of its own shares.

Private equity investor Potentia Capital has acquired a majority stake in Nedlands-based Micromine, eight months after the mining software developer hired PwC to find a new owner.

Mission Australia and APM are planning to recruit 370 people in Western Australia after being selected earlier this month as local area coordinators by the National Disability Insurance Agency.

A Perth technology startup backed by mining entrepreneur Kerry Harmanis has developed an artificial intelligence platform it believes can be applied to nearly any industry.

The cost of building the Ichthys LNG project has blown out again, with French group Total saying it has increased by $US5 billion to $US45 billion, but project operator Inpex is disputing the extent of the increase.

PODCAST: Mark Beyer and Matt Mckenzie discuss Stan Perron, our update on major WA projects — some going ahead, some not — Westport, the space agency, lobster quotas, and our person of the year feature.

SPECIAL REPORT: BGC Australia and Perron Group are going through changes that all family-owned businesses face, large or small.

Perron Group has announced key board appointments after the passing of its founder Stan Perron and disclosed the “greater majority” of its $4 billion in net assets will be donated to charity.

PODCAST: Mark Pownall and Mark Beyer discuss property development challenges, weak housing market, Fast Brick Robotics (FBR), subcontractor protections, and our special report on Business Dynasties, including the Buckeridge, Perron, and Blackburne families.

New industrial projects planned for the Burrup Peninsula will need to co-exist with the area’s heritage features.

Nearly 1,000 people attended the funeral of the late Stan Perron this afternoon, with his daughter Elizabeth Perron promising to maintain his legacy as a great philanthropist.

The planned sale of BGC Australia has taken another step forward with the appointment of investment bank Macquarie Capital as corporate adviser to the family-owned business.

SPECIAL REPORT: There can be wide differences between the statutory pay reported by listed companies and the ‘take home’ pay of their senior executives.

SPECIAL REPORT: There has been a notable reduction in the number of high-earning executives in WA, though some individuals do well year after year, research by Business News has found.

Perth marketing agency Roobix has substantially expanded its customer base and staffing by acquiring the assets of Titan Digital for $3.5 million.