Anxiety over the protracted Foreign Investment Review Board decision on Hanwha Group's proposed increased stake in Austal was central to shareholder concerns at the shipbuilder's AGM today.
Takeover target Austal's founder John Rothwell has resigned from the board of the shipbuilder he built after 38 years, as a call looms on Hanwha's pursuit of a major stake.
South Korean conglomerate Hanwha has once again fuelled takeover speculation around Austal after placing a high-priced order for 9.9 per cent of the shipbuilder's stock.
Austal has launched a $220 million capital raising to support its US operations, after which major shareholder Tattarang will get a board seat, while founder John Rothwell is selling down.
Today's board moves wrap includes John Rothwell, Richard Spencer, Lincoln Liu, Mauro Piccini, Troy Flannery, Trevor Raman, Tino Kapfumo, David Rich, Mark Miocevich and Amit Kamlesh Kumar Mehta.
Perth company Austal has accepted it breached its continuous disclosure obligations and agreed to pay a financial penalty as part of a settlement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Di Bain has challenged her opponents to disclose their conflicts after it was revealed her lord mayoral campaign had received more than $100,000 in contributions.
Shipbuilder Austal has appointed chief operating officer Patrick Gregg to lead the company next year, replacing current chief executive David Singleton, whose contract is due to end in December.
Prendiville Group is pressing ahead with major upgrades of several hotel properties across Western Australia based on its longer-term optimism for the state.
Kate Lamont and Fiona Wood laid out ambitious plans when they joined other business leaders, including John Rothwell and Tony Joyner, speaking at BN's 25-year anniversary lunch.
Entrepreneur lunch: Navitas managing director Rod Jones recently found a simple way to end in-house confusion about his phased handover to successor David Buckingham.
Entrepreneur lunch: Coogee Chemicals executive director Gordon Martin struck a chord at this year's Entrepreneur of the Year lunch when he said all businesses needed to re-engineer their cost structure every few years.
John Rothwell remembers some of the most significant deals made in the early days of shipbuilder Austal, in the latest instalment in our series to celebrate Business News' 25th anniversary.
Perth's top 20 ASX companies hit a big milestone this month, albeit only for one day – for the first time ever, they all had at least one female director. Click through to read about some of the talented women who made this happen.
While innovation is a necessity in every business founder's toolkit, it seems cutting-edge technology is not always something that plays a critical role in their success.
In 40 years' time, when people look back at the recent crop of winners of the Western Australian of the Year business awards, how will they be remembered relative to the early winners like Ralph Sarich, Sir Laurence Brodie-Hall and Michael Edgley?
SPECIAL REPORT: Some of WA's top company directors have achieved extraordinary gains in their wealth over the past year, and while most held onto their shares, a group of 11 reaped more than $180 million from share sales.
Shipbuilder Austal has successfully completed an export contract to Azerbaijan, delivering a 70-metre catamaran constructed at its Henderson yard, the same facility that will be building a series of vessels for the federal government in two naval contracts.
The chairman and co-chief executive of a Melbourne-based toy company has become the first Australian to be selected as global winner of EY's Entrepreneur of the Year award.
WA business leaders have bemoaned the state government's failure to plan for life beyond the mining construction boom, but still see opportunities in other sectors.
SPECIAL REPORT: For the second year running, the value of shares held by company directors in WA has fallen sharply, though some operators defied the trend.
Decmil Group founder and director Denis Criddle has spent another $500,000 buying shares in the contracting company, adding to a string of big trades by company directors includng his son Scott Criddle, Chris Ellison, John Rothwell and Enzo Gullotti over the past month, according to BNiQ data.
The founder and non-executive chairman of Henderson-based shipbuilder Austal has sold down a portion of his shareholding in the company for $7.24 million.
Two Melbourne-based foreign exchange brokerage founders have been named the Ernst & Young 2014 Australian Entrepreneurs of the Year, with Aurora Oil and Gas founder Jonathan Stewart also being named one of six category winners.
