Shareholders of Xenith IP have voted to approve a hard-fought takeover proposal by Australia’s largest intellectual property services firm IPH, in a deal that will create an IP services giant employing a staff of over 1,000 across the Asia Pacific.
The competition watchdog has signed off on a proposed merger of AP Eagers and Automotive Holdings Group, Australia’s two biggest auto retailers, on the condition that AP Eagers divest two new car dealerships.
Accounting firm Grant Thornton has thrown off prior concerns and agreed to take on the dual role of scheme administrator of a confidential settlement by KPMG in the Discovery Metals shareholder class action and costs contradictor of Piper Alderman’s $3.5 million legal bill.
Group members in the Fitch Ratings class action have recovered almost 95 per cent of their losses in a $27 million settlement, which was narrowly approved after a judge scolded the parties for a lack of clarity around the mediation and opt-out process.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is planning to sue ANZ over $35 million in allegedly illegal customer fees, which were also at the centre of two class actions settlements reached last year under which customers are expected to walk away with no more than $100 apiece.
The judge overseeing seven class actions against car makers over defective Takata airbags has shot down the applicants’ opposition to a soft class closure order in advance of mediation, saying the cases would not be a “mystery tour” from here on out.
A Federal Court judge has admitted he insulted an applicant in a case against the Commonwealth when he inadvertently sent her an email meant for his associate, in which he sarcastically used the word “sigh” in response to the applicant advising the court of her hospitalisation.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has expressed competition concerns about ANZ Terminals’ proposed acquisition of a unit of global agribusiness GrainCorp, despite the storage specialist offering to divest one of its terminals to win approval for the $350 million deal.
Collapsed engineering and construction company Forge Group has agreed to settle a shareholder class action over alleged continuous disclosure breaches, which will see the funder pocket about $7.5 million.
Mylan and Cipla have reached a speedy resolution of a consumer lawsuit accusing Cipla of copying the get-up of Mylan’s blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipidil.
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