News Articles for UBS

Takeover target Automotive Holdings Group will pursue the sale of its refrigerated logistics business after a strategic review found it had overstated revenue in the underperforming unit.

Pacific Energy has entered a takeover deed with investment group QIC, with major shareholder Kenneth Hall set to reap more than $200 million from the deal.

OPINION: Muffled by the drumbeat of election campaigning as Australia heads towards its May 18 poll is a more sinister noise, demands for a big cut in interest rates, or the dumping of “helicopter” cash on the community – or both.

AP Eagers has made a takeover bid for Automotive Holdings Group, which values the struggling West Perth-based car retailer at around $635.4 million.

ANALYSIS: As many retailers struggle to deal with the internet revolution, Wesfarmers is undertaking two significant experiments in managing the disruptive influence of online trading to bricks-and-mortar businesses.

More affordable housing will soon be available to some struggling Australians, with a federal agency offering community housing providers $315 million worth of loans at cheaper-than-average rates.

Automotive Holdings Group has skidded to a first-half loss, scrapping its dividend and cutting its guidance after a flagged $223 million write-down against its struggling car yards and refrigerated logistics business.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia's first-half cash profit has fallen 2.1 per cent to $4.676 billion, weighed down by Australia's slowing property markets.

Opinion: WA miners stand to benefit as China appears more likely to ride out the damaging trade war run by Donald Trump.

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

Woodside Petroleum has announced December quarter revenue of $1.42 billion, a rise of 43 per cent on the previous corresponding period and surpassing investment bank UBS's estimate of $1.35 billion for the period.

Sheffield Resources has appointed global investment bank UBS as its corporate adviser to help assess potential investments by a strategic partner in the Thunderbird mineral sands project in the Kimberley.

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: WA companies have been on the receiving end of nearly every major takeover completed during the past two decades, with Wesfarmers a notable exception. This article is part of a special series to mark Business News' 25-year anniversary.

BGC Australia has appointed three high profile independent non-executive directors to help advise the family-owned business empire as it enters a global sale process.

Global investment bank UBS is rebuilding its Perth office after a short hiatus, luring Tim Andrew from his Cottesloe boutique practice.

SPECIAL REPORT: Western Australian companies were involved in 235 corporate finance deals worth $6.9 billion in the June quarter, with new advisory firms playing an increasing role, research by Business News has found.

SPECIAL REPORT: A new corporate advisory firm working from a historic building in West Perth has rapidly made an impact, advising on more than a dozen transactions for public and private companies.

Perth investor Andrew Hopkins' planned $508 million buyout of national panel beating business AMA Group has been cancelled after the group failed to get an expected ruling from the Australian Taxation Office.

Mineral Resources has agreed to allow takeover target Atlas Iron to enter discussions with other parties, one day after the Andrew Forrest-chaired Fortescue Metals Group purchased a blocking stake in the junior iron ore miner.

Perth-based Andrew Hopkins has led a $508 million buyout of national panel beating business AMA Group, with the deal backed by private equity giant Blackstone.

The value of Western Australia-related equity capital markets deals jumped to $4.2 billion in the March quarter, helped to a large degree by a handful of large transactions.

SPECIAL REPORT: There have been some big moves among corporate finance dealmakers in Perth, who worked on more than 850 transactions worth nearly $25 billion in 2017.

Sydney-based oil and gas company AWE has backed a revised $526 million takeover offer from Mineral Resources as the Perth-based mining outfit seeks to gain control of the Waitsia gas field in the Perth Basin.

A Chinese state-owned energy company has stepped up its efforts to gain control of the Waitsia gas field north of Perth, launching a hostile bid today for oil and gas group AWE after withdrawing its proposal for a friendly takeover earlier this week.

AWE shares have tumbled after the Chinese state-owned energy corporation interested in buying the Australian oil and gas group withdrew its $430 million proposal, after it was unable to conduct a final due diligence review on the target.

Shares in oil and gas group AWE have jumped more than 20 per cent following a $430 million takeover bid from a Chinese state-owned energy corporation.

Automotive Holdings Group has sold its underperforming refrigerated logistics business to Chinese conglomerate HNA Group for an enterprise value of $400 million.

ANALYSIS: A forecast global surge into electric cars and buyers' growing preference for the state's hard rock lithium ore is putting a rocket into the sector.

Perth-based NRW Holdings has announced plans to acquire east coast contractor Golding Group for an enterprise value of $85 million.

Six months after shutting down specialist oil and gas advisory firm Miro Advisers, Tim Woodall has joined the board of Melbourne-based explorer and producer FAR as a non-executive director.

SPECIAL REPORT: Perth companies Macmahon Holdings and ASG Group have illustrated how contested takeover deals can deliver unexpected outcomes.

Troubled Perth company Quintis plans to take legal action against its founder and former managing director over claims he has failed to meet repayment obligations on an $11 million loan.

Pilbara Minerals will soon begin constructing its Pilgangoora lithium project after its board this morning gave the green light for the $214 million development.

Western Australian merchandise exports were up 36 per cent in February compared to the same month in 2016, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, while the national trade surplus reached the second highest level on record.

A significant lift in private capital expenditure in the tourism sector could provide a tailwind for Western Australia's struggling economy this year, according to the author of a report released by investment bank UBS.

The last 10 days of 2016 were a busy period for WA corporate deals, with the Rae family attracting a bumper price for its Gull New Zealand business, Chinese group MMG selling the Golden Grove mine, Diploma Group going into receivership and seven new listings on the ASX.

Gas and power retailer Origin Energy has outlined a scaled-back version of its long-anticipated plan to split the company's major businesses.

SPECIAL REPORT: The stock market's appetite for new listings is allowing a range of companies, from family-owned engineering firm Veem to big national player Alinta Energy, to raise capital.

Gold miner Resolute Mining has tapped investors for $150 million to fund the restart of operations at its Ravenswood mine in Queensland.

Perth-based contractor NRW Holdings has rattled the tin for $20 million to reduce its debt levels and place the company in a better position to pursue future opportunities.