M&A

Reforms to Australia's merger review regime kicked in on 1 January, but late-breaking amendments to the new laws mean changes to notification thresholds and further exemptions.

Swiss-based investment firm Partners Group has exited the Australian wind market, selling its stake in a 242-megawatt wind farm in Victoria to Spanish energy company Iberdrola.

A Dexus managed fund has paid $683 million to Scentre Group to increase its stake in Brisbane's Westfield Chermside shopping centre.

Advised by Johnson Winter Slattery, Morrison-managed investment fund Utilities Trust of Australia has bought out a Canadian pension fund for full ownership of the Sydney Desalination Plant.

Mayne Pharma says it, and not US drug maker Cosette, has terminated their $672 million merger agreement and that it is therefore not on the hook for a break fee.

The ACCC has opposed IAG’s proposed $1.35 billion acquisition of RACWA's insurance operations, saying the deal would substantially lessen competition for motor vehicle and home and contents insurance in Western Australia.

Setting up another potential legal fight, Mayne Pharma has said US drug maker Cosette did not validly terminate their $672 million merger agreement, which failed to receive FIRB approval.

Hong Kong-based Far East Consortium has sold a 50 per cent stake in the Ritz-Carlton Perth to Cayman Islands-based Generation Essentials Group for $100 million. 

National Storage REIT has agreed to a takeover by a consortium of Brookfield Property and GIC Investments that values the self-storage investor at $4 billion.

Charter Hall has acquired the Burwood One shopping centre in Melbourne’s east for $210 million, just days after snapping up a triple-supermarket-anchored shopping destination in Queensland.