Tracking the ASX takeover deluge since 2019

2025: 9 completed deals so far

January: 1

1. Latin Resources (LRS): Pilbara Minerals agreed to issue about $530m worth of its stock to buy Latin Resources which had a market cap of $308m on August 15, before the agreed takeover was announced with a 185 page implementation agreement. Pilbara is a rare profitable lithium operator with a market cap of $8.57b going into the deal and Latin has a good lithium project in Brazil, amongst other prospects, which it is effectively selling in exchange for 6.4% of Pilbara's stock. Latin Resources first floated in 2010 when it raised $6m at 20c. The stock jumped 50% to 18c when trading resumed after the deal was announced, whilst Pilbara shares dipped 3.5% suggesting it was overpaying. All lithium boats have been lifted by Rio Tinto's $10b splash on Arcadium. The 496 page scheme book was lodged with ASIC on November 29. The two scheme meetings were held as physicals in Perth on January 16 and were approved by 99% of voted stock and 93% of voting shareholders. ASX trading ended on January 20 ahead of the second court hearing on January 21 and the effective date of January 22 ahead of trading ceasing on January 23. The record date is January 28 and the implementation date February 4.

February: 2

2. Auswide Bank (ABA): the Bundaberg-based former building society has agreed to merge with Tasmanian small bank rival Mystate in an all scrip deal that will see Auswide emerge with 34% of the combined operation which will be capitalised at around $600 million. Will require Auswide shareholder approval and they're aiming for a pre-Christmas completion. The 340 page scheme book was lodged with the ASX on October 23 and the scheme meeting was a hybrid scheduled for 11am in Brisbane on December 2 but the NSW Supreme Court ordered that it be delayed until February 3, 2025. The scheme passed with 93% support from shares voted and 90% support from voting shareholders. The shares will stop trading on February 10, the record date is February 12 and the new shares were issued on February 19.

3. Red Hawk Mining (RHK): Fortescue offered $254m for the wannabe iron ore miner in an agreed deal announced on January 28. The stock soared 44% on the day it was announced. It was pitched as an off market bid at $1.05 per share, rising to $1.20 per share if it reached 75% within 7 days of the bid launch. The company has a colourful history and was called Flinders Mines until a 2023 name change. The largest shareholder is New Zealand's billionaire Todd family through TIO (NZ) which launched a takeover bid for Flinders Mines in 2016. The second largest shareholder is China-connected OCJ Australia and together they own 70% of the company and have endorsed the bid. FMG had already snaffled 79% by February 5, a week after the bid was launched and was through 90% by February 19. Removed from the ASX on February 28 so it was all done in a month.

March: 2

4. Hotel Property Investments (HPI): Charter Hall and Hostplus bid $3.65 per unit for the hotels landlord in September 2024 but were initially rebuffed with their offer which valued the equity at $711 million. The AFR's Chanticleer column pointed out it was pitched at a 10% discount to net assets. The offer was increased to $3.85 on October 18 and eventually landed at $3.785 after payment of a 6.5c distribution. They'd hit 26.6% by November 13 as the board continued to resist, re-affirming their rejection on November 25, after which the offer was extended until December 17. They hit 52% at the close which triggered a board capitulation on December 20 in the context of a falling market. The offer was extended to January 31 and the bidders had reached 90.8% by February 17, meaning they could issue these compulsory acquisition notices on February 18. Was removed from the ASX on March 4 and my compulsory acquisition cheque arrived on June 23.

5. Arcadium Lithium (LTM): Rio Tinto secured board approval for a $10 billion cash offer which was announced on October 9 and was pitched at $US5.85, a 90% premium to the previous close of $US3.08. Released this 300 page proxy statement for the transaction on November 4 and the LTM shareholders voted 98% in favour around Christmas. Was delisted from the ASX on March 17, 2025.

April: 3

6. Bigtincan (BTH): two bidders have been duking it out for several months. On December 5, the board endorsed the Vector offer after Investcorp AI failed to improve its earlier offer, which was voted down with only 22% support at the November 29 AGM. Current market cap is around $160m and scheme meeting is being held on February 27. See notice of meeting. See latest scheme book released on March 5 for the hybrid scheme meeting being held in Sydney at 10am on April 3 which was comfortably passed. The stock was suspended on April 9 ahead of the April 23 implementation date.

7. SG Fleet (SGF): went public with a non-binding offer from private equity firm PEP pitched at $3.50 a share on November 25 and this quickly morphed into a 128 page scheme implementation deed on December 4 at the same price, which valued the equity at $1.227 billion. This means investors who paid $1.85 a share in the 2014 IPO have done well. The scheme meeting was a virtual on April 8 at 3pm Sydney time. See wrap of questions asked. The second court hearing was April 15, stock was suspended on April 16 and the scheme implementation date is April 30.

8. De Grey Mining (DEG): agreed to an all scrip takeover by bigger Perth-based gold rival Northern Star. They dropped this 150 page takeover agreement on December 2, along with this 37 page slide pack. By December 6, De Grey was
capitalised at $4.57 billion and Northern Star was worth $19 billion so a gold giant is being created. 2pm hybrid scheme meeting in Perth via Zoom on April 16 to vote on the deal. See 452 page scheme book released on March 11. See text of question asked at scheme meeting. The second court hearing was on April 22 followed by the delisting and effective date on April 23.

May: 1

9. Dropsuite (DSE): the Melbourne-based company agreed to sell itself for $420m to Texas-based IT automation giant NinjaOne, which agreed to pay $5.90 a share, a 34% premium to the previous close of $4.40. The 117 page scheme implementation agreement dropped on January 28, the same day the deal was announced with no earlier public clues. The scheme meeting was an 11am hybrid in Melbourne on May 9 where the deal was comfortably approved. See wrap of 3 questions asked and 172 page scheme book released on April 2. The second court hearing is scheduled for May 14 which coincides with the last day of trading. The implementation date is May 30.

June: 1

10. Engenco (EGN): billionaire Dale Elphinstone launched a mop-up bid pitched at 30.5c a share which valued the whole company at around $100m. See 90 page Target statement released on May 9. He started with 65% on March 9 and the bid cracked 90% by mid June so they filed this compulsory acquisition notice on June 20 and the stock was suspended on June 27.

July: 1 so far

11. The Reject Shop (TRS): agreed to a takeover from Canadian firm Dollarama, priced at a hefty 112% premium of $6.68 per share, which values the equity at $259 million. See the scheme implementation agreement announced on March 27. The virtual scheme meeting was at 2.30pm on June 23 and was comfortably approved. The company first floated on June 1, 2004. Trading ceased on July 1, the 77c special dividend will be paid on July 14 and the balance of $5.91 will be paid on July 22.

20 agreed deals ranked in order of likely chronological completion date

Spartan Resources (SPR): is being acquired by fellow goldminer Ramelius Resources (RMS) to create a $4.2 billion giant focused on WA. See 152 page agreement announced on March 17, 2025. Ramelius is offering 25c in cash and 0.6957 new Ramelius shares, implying a value of $1.78 per Spartan share. Spartan shareholders will own just under 40 per cent of the new company. Spartan shares closed at $1.985 on June 30, giving it a market cap of $2.52 billion. The hybrid scheme meeting has been called for July 11 at 10am in Perth. See notice of meeting.

AV Jennings (AVJ): announced an unsolicited 67c share offer at its November AGM from two private offshore investment groups with existing operations in Australia and immediately agreed. Not much more emerged after the original 5 page announcement on November 28 and then a competing 70c offer was lodged by Ho Bee Land on January 15. Ho Bee Land was granted confidentiality on January 19 and on February 3 AV Jennings advised that the rival AVID Group was continuing to confidentially scrutinise the books. On April 1 it entered into a scheme implementation deed to sell the business for 65.5c per share to PM Nominees, a joint venture between AVID Group and Proprium Capital Partners. It listed in January 1994 and the equity is being sold for $340m. Scheme meeting is scheduled for a hybrid in Sydney at 3pm on July 11.

Hutchison Telecommunications (HTA): the parent company has launched a mop-up bid to buy the remaining 12.12% at 3.2c per share. This bidder statement was lodged on May 22, 2025 and HTA has appointed an independent board committee comprising Justin Gardener and John Scanlon but there is no agreement as yet. The 2024 annual report says HTA has 5,151 shareholders and it has already moved to 88.48% thanks to some early acceptances. There are 13.572 billion shares on issue so the richest man in Asia, Li Ka-shing, is effectively offering $52.6 million to mop up a business which has amassed accumulated losses of $4.25 million and claims to have net assets of only $23.8 million. One of the largest retail shareholders, Jim Piliouras, is running a campaign to push for a higher bid and is publicly calling for Spark NZ, the second largest shareholder with 10%, to reject the offer. The 135 page target statement was released on June 10. Spark announced it was accepting the offer on June 23, so that's the ball game but no compulsory acquisition notice as yet.

Sayona Mining (SYA): completed a $40m conditional placement at 3.2c, a discount to the previous close of 3.5c, as a precursor to its all-scrip merger with Piedmont Lithium to create a bigger Canadian lithium play, as The AFR's Street Talk column explained in this well-briefed deal leak. As part of the deal, on November 20 Piedmont Lithium (PLL) also completed a $40m conditional placement at 16.8c. The deal is subject to Sayona shareholder approval and Piedmont's shares rose to 18.7c after the announcement suggesting it might have got the better of the negotiations. See this 162 page merger agreement lodged on November 19. Puzzled by this termination of a $200m equity facility announcement. They announced these amendments to the merger agreement on April 23, 2025. The hybrid scheme meeting is scheduled for July 31 at 10.30am. See scheme booklet.

Domain (DHG): US real estate giant Costar was first reported to be looking to bid $4.20 per share on February 20. The first announcement by the company said Co-Star had secured a 16.9% stake and confirmed the $4.20 offer price. Nine responded 3 hours later pointing out that Domain was "of strategic importance to Nine's media eco-system and our long term growth strategy". CoStar lifted its bid to $4.43 on March 27 and was granted access to the books and on March 31 Nine agreed to the deal, subject to due diligence. After being demerged by Fairfax Media in November 2017, Domain is set to change hands for about $2.8 billion in cash for the equity. The scheme implementation agreement dropped on May 5 and Nine is talking about paying a special fully franked dividend of 47-49c once the deal closes. The 211 page scheme book dropped on June 30, 2025 and the hybrid scheme meeting is being held in Sydney at 10am on August 4 via the Link/MUFG platform.

Silk Logistics (SLH): On November 11 it announced an agreed deal with DP World priced at $2.14 per share, a 45.6% premium to the previous close. The 3 largest shareholders collectively signed up to accept for their combined 46% stake. The company is offering around $160m and the ACCC is concerned, releasing this statement of issues on March 13. On December 23 the scheme book was released and March 7 was announced as the scheme meeting date, before the ACCC got involved. The later March 28 scheme meeting date was also pushed back due to the regulatory delays. The ACCC has set July 10 as its latest deadline for making a decision and the scheme meeting has been delayed until July 19. Melanie Leydin is co sec on this latest deed extension. ACCC approval finally came through on July 4.

Pointsbet (PBH): announced an agreed bid at $1.06 per share with a Japanese Group called Mixi Inc on February 26 but then listed rival BETR/Bluebet lobbed a counter-bid later the same day. BETR lodged this 21 page proposal on March 6 and announced a capital raising in late April which included securing a 20% stake in Pointsbet. Pointsbet pushed on with the Mixi bid and a scheme meeting was initially called for 9am on June 12 but BETR was in a good position to vote it down so there was no certainty it would complete. The Mixi offer was increased to $1.20 per share on June 4 and on June 16 they promised to lodge a takeover bid if the scheme fails, conditional only on securing 50.1%. Meanwhile, BETR claimed its offer was superior with the $1.20 per share cash and scrip mix, but Pointsbet prefer the certainty of Mixi's all cash offer. The scheme meeting was rescheduled to 9am on June 25. BETR lobbed a revised scrip offer on Friday, June 20 which it claimed valued Pointsbet at $1.22. The AFR's Rear Window column had an interesting piece on the $20m incentive payout to the various Pointsbet execs if the Mixi bid gets up. See final Pointbet announcement dissing BETR for not producing a proper offer on June 23, two days before the meeting. Asked the only two questions at the scheme meeting where the scheme was seemingly defeated on the proxies only to have BETR accidentally rescind its proxy vote when logging into the meeting, as these voting results show. BETR quickly demanded a recount and then Pointsbet clarified the situation which headed back to court the next morning. Chanticleer summed up the farce well.

Mayne Pharma (MYX): US firm Cosette Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay $7.40 a share, valuing the equity at $672m. The 120 page scheme implementation agreement was the first anyone knew of the deal when it dropped on February 21, 2025. The company did a 20-for-1 consolidation in late 2022 coinciding with a $113 million return to shareholders following the divestment of its Metrics business. Its last result before the deal was inked showed a $173m full year loss for 2023-24, leaving it with accumulated losses of $944m and net assets of $455m so once the takeover completes the total shareholder experience will be a loss of about $700m. A scheme meeting has been scheduled for 10am on June 18 in Melbourne. See 222 page scheme book which dropped on May 15. Cosette warned of a material adverse change on May 21 but hasn't yet walked away. Mayne Pharma provided this update on June 4 which didn't really clarify Cosette's intentions and then later on June 4 informed the market that Cosette had filed a "purported notice of termination" which is rejected. The stock fell another 5% to below $4.50 so investors don't believe the deal will go through. Shareholders comfortably approved the scheme at the June 18 EGM. See text of 4 questions asked. It's now up to the court to determine if there has been a material adverse event.

Ainsworth Gaming Technology (AGI): announced a $1 a share mop up bid by its Austrian controlling shareholder on April 28, which is far less than the $2.75 it paid control when founder Len Ainsworth sold out for $473m in 2016. Minority shareholders are furiously venting to The AFR. See scheme implementation agreement which puts an enterprise value of $336m on the whole business in 2025. The company has been knocked about by recent media reports about its CEO.

Mac Copper (MAC): The AFR's Street Talk column reported on May 27 that an offshore bid was coming and it landed later that day with Harmony Gold offering $1.6 billion in cash or $14.26 per CDI listed on the ASX. See 88 page binding bid implementation agreement lodged on May 26. The stock was at $18.61 by June 16.

Smart Pay (SMP): agreed to sell itself to a US payment processing company for $1.20 per share in a deal which values the equity at $274m. See scheme implementation agreement released on June 23, 2025.

Envirosuite (EVS): has agreed to a takeover at 9c a share which values the equity at $132m. See 133 page scheme agreement with UK firm Ideagen which was released on May 12. The latest balance sheet shows accumulated losses of $105.3 million and net equity of $89 million, so investors as a whole are not getting all of their money back from this takeover. Also, see Alan Kohler's 2021 interview with the CEO. The scheme meeting is a 9am virtual affair Melbourne time on August 1 via the Lumi platform. See 318 page scheme book.

Platinum Asset Management (PTM): Regal Partners (RPL) launched a hostile scrip takeover bid on September 17 which was all scrip besides a 24c full franked special dividend. They signed a confidentiality agreement on October 4 with a view to increasing the offer and rival Wilson Asset Management is also engaging with the takeover process, according to this November 12 AFR Street Talk column. Platinum copped huge protest votes at the AGM as founder and largest shareholder Kerr Neilson threw his weight around. See package of the action. Platinum continues to suffer from heavy funds outflow and had a market cap of $666m compared with $1.27 billion for Regal, which is offering 0.274 Regal shares for each Platinum share which would dilute Kerr Neilson's 21.5% stake in Platinum down to around 10% of Regal if he voted in favour and delivered the deal, making him the second biggest shareholder after Regal founder Phil King. Wilson was the first to walk and then Regal bailed on December 9. See how Platinum framed the end of discussions. Stock was down at just 70c on February 14, 2025, capitalising the business at $413m. On May 1, Platinum announced it was in merger discussions with L1 Capital which had bought a 9.6% stake off founder Kerr Neilson with an option to go to 19.9% if a competing merger proposal was lodged. L1 then moved and bought 17% of Platinum Capital, a $400m LIC managed by PTM. A binding merger was announced on July 8. See 143 page implementation deed. A Platinum merger vote is expected in September.

Platinum Capital (PMC): After a strategic review, proposed a merger with a Platinum-managed ETF in July 2024. PM Capital Global Opportunities fund (PGF) proposed an alternative takeover of both PMC and its stablemate Platinum Asia Investment (PAI) back on February 27. On April 7, PMC said it still believed the PTM proposal was superior. Market cap was $398m on June 10. Looks likely to fail as L1 Capital advised on June 23 that it would be voting its 16.85% stake against the proposal. Announced on June 6 that a draft scheme book with an independent experts report had been lodged with ASIC. The scheme meeting will be held on August 12.

New World Resources (NWC): the aspiring US copper miner entered into a $185m scheme agreement on May 21, 2025 with Central Asia Metals Plc (CAML) based on a bid pitched at 5c per share. The latest balance sheet shows accumulated losses of $101.2 million and net equity of $76.8 million so investors are collectively broadly getting their money back. After a rival shareholder Kinterra snapped up 12% and lobbed a complaint with the Takeovers Panel, CAML lifted its offer to 5.3c and made some on-market purchases. Kinterra then lodged an offer at 5.7c, prompting CAML to lift its bid to 6.2c.

Adriatic Metals PLC (ADT): announced an agreed $US1.25 billion takeover by Canada's Dundee Precious Metals Inc on June 13, 2025. Macquarie is advising Adriatic and Australia's L1 Capital was a key fund which helped green light the deal. See Reuters coverage. The market cap was $1.9b in June 2025.

Brickworks (BKW): Soul Pattinson has proposed taking over its long term sibling in a deal which will create a $14 billion conglomerate and will require approval from both sets of shareholders. The AFR's Street Talk column broke the news on the $500m raise for the proposed new company at 8.20am on June 2 and the details then dropped at 8.47am but the $550m of equity in a new corporate vehicle won't be stumped up until the merger is approved. See 140 page agreement between the companies.

Gold Road Resources (GOR): South African giant Goldfields lobbed a $2.27 per share non-binding offer late on March 24 which the board rejected. The stock is already trading above this level, although there's complexity with the De Grey shareholding proposal. Chair Tim Netscher sent this interesting letter to shareholders on March 27 detailing all the back and forth between the joint venture partners. They eventually agreed to an offer on May 5 which was the equivalent of $3.40 a share or $3.7 billion for the equity. The scheme meeting is not until September.

Santos (STO): granted due diligence to a consortium comprising the Emirates and private equity firm Carlyle which is offering $8.89 per share pr around $30 billion in cash, as The AFR's Chanticleer column explained on June 16 when it dropped. Jim Chalmers could yet block this on national interest grounds. Is it really right that the government of UAE should own 80% of Santos. Don't be surprised if the Future Fund ends up taking a 15% placement at $9 and a board seat. This will bring back memories of the failed Shell campaign to take Woodside back in Peter Costello's day. Santos entered into a process and exclusivity deed on June 27.

Peak Rare Earths (PEK): a Chinese company has agreed to buy the aspiring Tanzania miner for $150m. See 13 slide presentation lodged with ASX on May 15. The latest balance sheet shows accumulated losses of $128.2 million and net equity of $73 million so investors are collectively still slightly behind after the takeover. The stock was trading at 12c when the 36c offer was lodged. Still waiting on a scheme book.

13 corporate control moves since the beginning of 2024 with no agreement or completion

Abacus Storage King (ASK): Ki Corp and US-listed Public Storage launched a joint bid pitched at $1.47 per share on April 7, 2025. The previous close was $1.16 and the bid valued the equity at $1.92 billion. External manager Abacus Group owns a 19.7% stake and is key to the bid. The bid was formally rejected on May 13 and the stock was at $1.54 on July 2.

Austal (ASB): received a non-binding offer from South Korean firm Hanwha at $2.825 on April 2 which was always unlikely to succeed for sovereign security reasons. The stock subsequently performed well and was at $3.73 by mid-February 2025 so rejection was the right call. The South Koreans then conducted an on-market raid on March 17 2025 at $4.45 per share, according to The AFR's Street Talk column. It finished with 19% in a complicated structure but control is unlikely to pass given that Andrew Forrest has a 19.4% blocking stake. The US-based chair Richard Spencer, a former US Navy Secretary, launched a fruity media attack on the bid on March 19 via The Australian, but no similar sentiments were lodged with the ASX. Hanwha advised the ASX on June 10 that is had received US government clearance for the bid but was still awaiting FIRB approval to move above 10%.

Bapcor (BAP): US private equity firm Bain lobbed an opportunistic $1.83 billion non-binding offer at $5.30 a share on June 11 2024 after a raft of board and executive upheavals, profit downgrades and bad headlines destabilised the company. Bapcor recommended against and appointed Angus McKay executive chair to try and turn things around with some radical restructure plans. Stock was at $5.05 by July 2 2025.

Brightstar (NTR): announced it was in merger discussions with Aurumin (AUN) on June 30, 2025. They share tenements but Brightstar is much more valuable capped at around $230m versus circa $50m for Aurumin.

Humm Group (HUM): founding chair Andrew Abercrombie has lobbed a non-binding indicative $286m privatisation proposal on June 25, 2025. He already owns 26.6% and is offering 58c a share, a premium to the previous close of 43c.

Insignia (IFL): the media broke the story on December 12 and Insignia confirmed on December 13 that US private equity firm Bain had lobbed an indicative offer at $4 a share. A rival PE firm CC Capital Partners then lobbed a $4.30 rival offer on January 6 and Bain matched this on January 13. Brookfield then entered the fray with a $4.60 a share offer that was announced on February 5. On March 7, Insignia announced that both Bain and CC Capital had lobbed improved bids at $5 a share and that they were proceeding with due diligence access to the financials for both. An extension of the exclusivity period for Bain and CC Capital was announced on April 17 then Bain dropped out on May 14. The AFR's Street column pointed out on June 6 that the whole bid process might fail. On July 1 Insignia announced that CC Capital was still in the game working up a bid.

John Lyng Group (JLG): The AFR revealed on June 10 2025 at 8.55am that private equity firm PEP is doing due diligence on an agreed takeover and this immediately halted trading in the shares. The paper also revealed on March 3 this year that two other private equity firms, KKR and EQT, had done due diligence on a deal in 2024 but failed to agree terms. The market cap was just below $800 million when the story broke so any deal would likely to be valued at closer to $1 billion. On June 11, JLG released the PEP exclusivity deed which PEP sent through on May 16 but the disclosure did not include an indicative price, which sparked this feisty Chanticleer column. The stock rose 15% in response.

Pact Group (PGH): after raising $648 million from public investors at $3.80 a share in 2013, the billionaire founder Raphael Geminder tried to privatise it with an 84c a share offer that will cost him about $145 million. Was up to 87% by March 5 but was then slowed down by a Takeover's Panel application which saw it temporarily barred from processing acceptances. Latest filing had him at 87.63% but annoying how the notice doesn't include the percentage. There are 344.29m shares on issue if you want to work it out. The offer closed on June 7 and eventually fell short so the stock remains listed and was at 82c on August 16. The AGM in November was a heavy affair with the two major minority shareholders, David Harris and Mark Gandur, running for the board and causing a second strike spill vote. See package of AGM/EGM action. A sudden surge in the share price sparked this ASX query in early February 2025. Pact Group then called an EGM to delist from the ASX which was approved with 91% support on June 12.

Orora (ORA): the Amcor spin-off received a takeover bid from private equity firm Lone Star which it rejected on August 13, 2024. The $2.55 per share offer valued the company at $3.3 billion and was viewed as opportunistic after the stock had recently hit a 10 year low of $1.87. The AFR's Street Talk column also reported that rival private equity firm Apollo was running the numbers on making a bid but it all went quiet through the AGM season and the stock was wallowing at $1.91 by July 2 2025.

Pacific Smiles (PSQ): The action started on December 18 2023 when Genesis Capital lobbed a $1.40 per share bid and disclosed it had acquired an 18.8% stake. Its two founders originally hailed from Crescent Capital which then entered the fray driving up the price. Co-founder Alex Abrahams was the kingmaker in the buyout battle, initially refusing to disclose how he would vote his 12.6% stake. See Chanticleer column. The original scheme meeting was scheduled for August 1 but then delayed until August 8 as the rival bids kept coming, finishing at $2.05 per share from Crescent on August 1, which Genesis still didn't accept without saying it would go higher again. The proposal was comfortably defeated with 36.7% of voted stock opposing it, meaning Genesis wasn't alone. Genesis then returned to the play with a $1.90 takeover bid on September 17 which included the option for shareholders to roll into a bid vehicle, but this was rebuffed by the board. It was then marginally sweetened and was expected to close on November 29 but was then extended to December 12 after it secured control when HBF accepted for its 10% stake, as Street Talk noted on November 29. Genesis effectively moved to control on November 22 and on November 29 it was announced that it would move to board control after the December 16 board meeting. The founder Alex Abrahams is still holding out but the bidder had secured 88.2% by December 16 with the offer scheduled to close on January 16 before it was extended again until January 30 and again until February 13. Was up to 89.2% by January 29 but no further progress since then so the results were released as usual in late February and they trade on. Launched an unmarketable parcels offer in June 2025 which you could only accept and not reject via the Automic platform, which was odd.

Southern Cross Media (SXL): rival radio operator ARN Media lodged a revised bid and its allies lodged a removal resolution for disagreeable SXL chair Rob Murray, who brought forward his departure, seemingly clearing the last major board obstacle for a deal to be done. The EGM request by Spheria Asset Management was withdrawn on March 28 and the ARN Media offer was withdrawn on May 11 after Anchorage withdrew from the bidding consortium due to earnings weakness in the regional television business. ARN was still talking about merging but SXL was clearly unimpressed so a deal looks unlikely. Antony Catalano later entered the play with a merger proposal with Southern Cross through his ACM outfit. The AFR's Street Talk column had this brutal update on SXL in August 2024. Stock had tumbled to 54c by the November 25 AGM which was a brutal affair as can be seen in this AGM wrap. The CFO quit shortly before Christmas, a day after they announced the sale of 3 regional stations to Network Ten for an estimated $10m-$15m NPV, subject to advertising performance. The share price was back at 60c by mid April 2025 with no takeover action appearing likely to succeed. On May 12, a group of shareholders co-ordinated by activist fund Sandon Capital requisitioned an EGM to remove 4 directors.

Tourism Holdings Ltd (THL): private equity firm BGH and a NZ family lobbed an offer on June 16 for the Kiwi company and BGH quickly disclosed it had acquired a 17.8% stake on June 14. New Zealand's Accident Compensation Commission has since built a 9.3% blocking stake.

Webjet (WJL): private equity firm BGH Capital has its foot on just over 10% and has flagged an 80c offer to gain control but potentially retain the public listing, which is unusual for private equity. There were press reports of a mystery raider on May 8, followed by confirmation of BGH's role on May 9 and then Webjet reported the NBIO offer late on May 13.

2024 - 29 completed deals which saw delistings roll out on a monthly basis as follows

January 2024: no delistings

February 2024: 1 delisting

1. Costa Group: CGC (9 years, 2015-2024): Melbourne based and floated by the Costa family and its private equity partner Paine in 2015 and then Paine returned to privatise the business with a $1.6 billion bid in July 2023, supported by Driscoll and one other player. The scheme meeting approving the deal was held on January 30, 2024. The proxies were disclosed early with formal addresses and trading was suspended on February 8 and shareholders were paid on February 26 before it was delisted the next day on February 27.

March: no delistings

April 2024: 2 delistings

2. A2B Corp: (A2B) (25 years, 1999-2024): the old Sydney-based Cabcharge was founded by Reg Kermode in 1976 and floated in 1999. Was renamed A2B Corporation in 2018 and then taken private by Singaporean company ComfortDelGro in 2024 for the equivalent of $2.30 per share or $182 million, by which time the business had shrunk to a fraction of its former glory. The 245 page scheme book was released on February 21 and the scheme meeting comfortably approved the deal on March 25 in Sydney at The Mint. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses. The shares stopped trading on April 2, with settlement on April 11, the day the scheme became legally effective, and it was delisted the next day on April 12.

3. Boart Longyear: BLY (2007-2024): The scheme meeting to approve a $543 million US private equity takeover took place on February 21 at 10am. The shares were suspended on April 5 with shareholders paid on April 10 before it was delisted the next day on April 11. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses. Head quarters was nominally at Adelaide Airport in last few years.

May 2024: 5 delistings

4. Orecorp (ORR): after a bidding war against SilverCorp, Perseus Mining secured the Africa-focused miner with a cash and scrip bid valuing the equity at around $280 million or 57.5c. It was a conventional bid, not a scheme. The compulsory acquisition notice was sent out on April 19 when Orecorp had 95% of Perseus and it was removed from the official list on May 2.

5. Azure (AZS): (2003-2024) initially floated in November 2003 when it raised $15 million at 25c. The Perth-based lithium company was then bought by Gina Rinehart and Chilean giant SQM in a joint $1.7 billion cash offer priced at $3.70 a share. The 292 page scheme book landed on March 4 and the scheme meeting was a physical only affair on April 8 at the Celtic Club in Perth. Pathetic. The deal was approved by 98.4% of voted stock with 87% of voting shareholders in favour although this only amounted to 517 voting yes and 78 voting against, a poor turnout when the last annual report claimed it had 6,681 shareholders. The shares stopped trading on May 2 and shareholders were paid on May 9 but it wasn't delisted until May 21. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses.

6. Volpara Health Technologies (VHT): an agreed takeover of the Wellington-based company by a South Korea predator Lunit Inc which valued the equity at $296m. See scheme book. Hybrid scheme meeting was held on April 12 . See text of 3 questions asked. Kiwi law requires schemes to be approved by more than 75% of voted stock and 50% of total stock and the respective results were 97% and 68%. The stock was suspended on May 3 and shareholders were paid on May 21, the day before it was delisted on May 22.

7. Link Group, (9 years, 2015-2024) Japanese giant Mitsubishi agreed to pay $2.16 per share or $2.1 billion in enterprise terms after years of poor performance, much of which was associated with its UK division. The share registry and investor services business was floated at $6.37 per share in October 2015. However, when you add back the performance of PEXA, which was spun off in 2021, the performance wasn't as bad. The hybrid scheme meeting was held at 3pm on April 24 in Sydney at the Four Seasons and was approved by 99% of voted stock and 85% of voting shareholders. Shareholders were paid on May 16 and the stock was delisted on May 17 after being suspended on May 1. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses.

8. Newmark Property REIT (NPR): the Bunnings focused BWP Trust successfully bid $250 million for fellow Bunnings landlord Newmark and reached 90% on April 24 before the offer closed on May 17, after compulsory acquisition had been started. Was suspended from trade on May 21 and removed from the official list on May 23.

June 2024: 3 delistings

9. Tietto Minerals (TIE): floated in 2017 when it raised $7.5m at 20c then successfully developed its Sierra Leone gold project and was taken over in 2024 in a deal which valued the company at $774m on AGM day on May 24, 2024. The Chinese predator Zhoujin Mining, first emerged with 7% when it offered 58c a share in October 2023. This was increased to 68c on April 24, 2024 and they moved to compulsory acquisition on May 24 having reached 90.7% when the offer closed on May 14. The stock was suspended on May 31 and it was removed from the official list on June 6.

10. Silver Lake Resources (SLR) (17 years, 2007-2024): raised $30 million in a 2007 float priced at 30c and was set to be acquired by fellow goldminer Red 5 in an all-scrip "merger of equals" in early 2024 which valued the 934m shares on issue at $1.12 billion the day after it was announced. The merger implementation agreement dropped with the announcement on February 5. Scheme meeting was held on May 31 in Perth. Shares were suspended on June 7 when the scheme became effective. It was approved by 97% of voted stock and 79% of voting shareholders. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses. It was delisted on June 20, the day after the scheme was implemented and shares transferred on June 19.

11. Probiotec (PBP): Owns 6 pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in Australia and has agreed to a takeover by Indonesian company PT Pyridam Farma Tbk which values the business at around $260 million. Grant Thornton valued the business at between $2.78 and $3.29, which fell within the $3 per share bid price. See scheme implementation agreement. Hybrid scheme meeting took place in Melbourne at 10am on May 29. Was comfortably approved and suspended from trade on June 5. Shareholders were paid on June 18 and it was delisted the next day on June 19. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses.

July 2024: 6 delistings

12. Boral (BLD): Seven Group launched a mop-up bid on February 19 comprising $1.50 in cash and total value of $6.25 a share, based on the value of Seven Group shares at the time of the bid. It was said to be a final bid and there were heavy handed de-listing threats. The independent directors recommended against, with the backing of an independent experts report from Grant Samuel which valued Boral shares at between $6.50 and $7.13 when the implied value of Seven's mop up offer was only $6.07. The offer was then sweetened on April 12, winning board endorsement. Shareholders were guaranteed a minimum $1.70 in cash, a 26c fully franked dividend was paid on April 26, costing $286m and they also announced a buyback of up 55 million shares to try and get to the 90% compulsory acquisition threshold. It worked. Seven Group started with 71.6%, the buyback topped $100 million and at one point finished up with 95.22% before later dropping back due to some exchangeable note conversions. On May 31, Seven extended the closing date until June 28 as it hit 92.9%, so the stock was suspended from trade after close of business on June 6 because the compulsory acquisition notice was issued on May 30. The final compulsory acquisition occurred on July 4, diluting Kerry Stokes down to 50.93% of Seven Group. Boral was delisted on July 5.

13. Adbri (ABC): Irish concrete giant CRH teamed up with controlling shareholder Barro Group to lodge a $3.20 a share bid which was supported by the independent directors. The AGM was scheduled for Friday, May 24 but they received an exemption from ASIC to hold it in conjunction with the June 12 scheme meeting at 10.30am in Adelaide with an implementation date of July 1. It was a physical meeting with no online voting or questions. The company has around 17,000 retail shareholders but there was no material opposition. The stock was suspended from trade on June 17, shareholders were paid on July 1 and Adbri was removed from the official list on July 2. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses.

14. CSR: French building materials giant Saint Gobain lobbed a $9 a share bid worth $4.3 billion on February 22, securing due diligence. The stock rocketed 17% to $7.95 after a leak before trade was halted. Embarrassing. The $9 deal was agreed on February 26 and the scheme meeting was held on 9am on June 13 in Sydney, with no material opposition. See scheme book. The company has around 51,000 retail shareholders but only about 6,000 voted on the takeover. The stock was suspended on June 19, shareholders were paid on July 9 and the stock was delisted on July 10. Puzzled why there was a 20 day wait for payment after the suspension. The proxies were not disclosed early with the formal addresses.

15. QV Equities (QVE): WAM Leaders secured agreement for a $215 million scrip or cash takeover. The hybrid scheme meeting in Sydney started at 10am on June 28. See text of 6 questions lodged. See scheme book. Was approved by around 92% on both metrics. The stock was suspended on July 4, shareholders got paid on July 8 and it was delisted on July 16. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses.

16. TASK (TSK): the restaurant technology company only shifted its HQ and primary listing to Australia last year and now it is being taken over by NYSE listed rival PAR Technology in a $310 million deal announced with a full scheme implementation agreement on March 11. See our 10 questions at last year's final New Zealand AGM. The scheme book dropped on May 28 and the virtual scheme meeting was scheduled to start at 11am on June 28 Sydney time, but was then adjourned on the day. Ended up being comfortably approved. Trading was suspended on July 10 and shareholders got paid on July 19. It was delisted on July 22. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses.

17. MMA Offshore (MRM): the board agreed to sell the business for $2.60 a share or $1.03 billion (plus debt) in a deal with Cyan Renewables, a portfolio company of Singapore-based private equity outfit Seraya Partners. The pricing was a skinny 11% premium to the previous close, hence major shareholder Pendal has come out and slammed the board for agreeing to an “absolute steal”, which may have contributed to the 10c increase to $2.70 per share announced on June 20. The scheme implementation agreement dropped on March 25 and the physical scheme meeting in Perth is on July 1. Have added them to shame file offering physical only shareholder meetings. The independent expert valued the business at between $2.03 and $2.83 a share. The final votes were 92% support from voted stock and 65% support from the voting shareholders. Trading was suspended on July 11 and shareholders were paid on July 25. The stock was delisted on July 26. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses.

August 2024: 4 delistings

18. Altium (ALU): (25 years, 1999-2024) After floating as Protel International at $2 a share in August 1999 when 38% of the business was sold for $46.5 million, the electronics software maker reached agreement on February 14, 2024 for Japanese company Renesas to acquire the company at $68.50 a share or $9.1 billion in cash. The scheme meeting was a physical affair at 9am in Sydney at 9am on July 12 and deal was approved with support from 99.8% of voted stock and 96.7% of voting shareholders after 2,023 voted in favour and just 114 voted against. See scheme implementation agreement. Shareholders were paid on August 1 and the scheme become effective on July 19, when the stock ceased trading. The proxies were disclosed early with the formal addresses and it was delisted on August 2.

19. Genex (GNX): Japanese firm JPower offered 27.5c which the board accepted on April 12. See sale agreement. Current market cap $380m. The scheme meeting is a genuine hybrid via Lumi at 10am on July 16. See full scheme document. The proxies were disclosed early and showed an 8.6% against vote. The final poll showed 94.9% support by voted shares and 76.44% by the shareholder metric with 850 in favour and 262 against. Shareholders were paid on July 31, the stock stopped trading on July 22 and it was removed from the official list on August 1.

20. Alumina (AWC): (22 years, 2002-2024): was demerged out of WMC in late 2002 and then Alcoa of America finally launched its long predicted mop-up bid in February 2024, but were only offering their own shares and no cash. Alcoa will become dual listed on the ASX, a bit like the way Newcrest shareholders could swap into Newmont which is also listed on the ASX. The scheme implementation agreement was announced on March 12 and the scheme meeting is scheduled for July 18. Announced this amendment on May 21 which would limit Chinese giant CITIC to 4.5% of Alcoa's voting stock in order not to breach US laws which limit investors in US banks from owning more than 5% of US public companies. Failed to disclose the proxies early with the formal addresses and only secured CITIC's public support on the day, which ended up delivering a solid mandate with 99.77% of voted stock in favour and 87.5% of the voting shareholders (1,598 for and 227 against out of circa 52,000). See text of 6 online questions asked at 45 minute scheme meeting. Alumina shareholders received their Alcoa CDI on August 1 and the stock was delisted on August 2.

21. QANTM Intellectual Property Limited (QIP): floated on the ASX in 2016 when it raised $31.7m at $2.22. Joined the ASX exodus on July 31, 2024 when shareholders voted in favour of a bid from Adamantem Capital valuing the equity in the business at $255m or $1.817 per share. A maximum of 24% of shares on issue were made available for those wishing to roll into the bid vehicle and remain exposed to the intellectual property business. Shareholders were paid on August 19.

September 2024: 1

22. Ansarada Group: the Brisbane-based software as a service provider wracked up $54m in accumulated losses over the journey as a public company but was privatised in August 2024 in a deal which valued the equity at around $250 million with fund manager CapVest buying most of the business and CEO carving out Samuel Riley taking part of it. Claimed to have net assets of $48 million at the time of the deal so created more than $200m in value for shareholders. The 337 page scheme book was released on April 14, shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour on August 21, shares were suspended on August 28 and shareholders were paid on September 6.

October 2024: 5

23. Virgin Money (VUK): includes the old NAB UK business and received a $5.7b cash offer from Britain's largest building society, Nationwide, priced at £2.20 a share, a 38% premium to the previous close. The business is two thirds owned by Australian shareholders courtesy of being demerged by NAB in 2016. It later merged with Virgin Money in 2018. The scheme meeting vote was held on May 22 in London and was approved by 89.3% of voted stock even though only 433 shareholders bothered to vote. After competition approval was received on July 22, they predicted a December quarter close on the deal and were booted from the ASX200 on September 26. The shares stopped trading on September 30 and the scheme became effective on October 1, when it was delisted from the ASX impacting more than 50,000 Australian retail shareholders.

24. Base Resources (BSE): the Australian-based and Africa-focused critical minerals company agreed to a $375 million largely scrip takeover offer from US company Energy Fuels. The stock was last traded at 10.5c and shareholders will receive a 6.5c dividend and then Energy Fuels shares which they claim lift the total consideration to 30.2c per share, or a premium of 188%. Yes, but that depends on where the Energy Fuels share price goes. The 452 page scheme book landed on August 2 and the virtual scheme meeting was held on September 5, generating negligible against votes. The implementation date was October 2.

25. APM Human Services (APM): Chicago-based private equity firm and 29% shareholder Madison Dearborn submitted a privatisation proposal after earlier floating the business at $3.55 a share in a disastrous IPO for public investors. They came back with a firm offer at $1.40 a share which required key management to stay with the business and roll over into the bid vehicle, a feature which is proposed for other institutional shareholders. Eventually, the board endorsed an offer at $1.45 per share. The scheme meeting was a virtual affair on September 18 which featured appalling question censorship when the question wrangler protected all of the key brass from answering questions. Sadly, I was the only shareholder trying to ask questions. A majority of the shares on issue elected to roll into the bid vehicle. The stock was suspended on September 25 and the scheme will be implemented on October 10.

26. PSC Insurance (PSI): announced an agreed takeover by PE-owned Ardonagh Group (which is 50% Madison Dearborn which features above) on May 8 which values the business at $2.43 billion after it agreed to pay $6.19 in cash per share, a 32.7% premium to the previous close of $4.50. The Manningham-based business only floated in 2015 after raising $43m at $1 a share so well done to all involved. The scheme book was only 240 pages and the hybrid scheme meeting was held at 9.30am on September 26 in Melbourne with no material protest votes but appalling censorship again with only 1 of the 6 questions dealt with, although the CEO later emailed through some answers. The stock was suspended after trading closed on October 2 and the scheme will be implemented on October 11.

27. Rex Minerals (RXM): floated in 2007 when it raised $7m at 25c and 17 years later the Adelaide-based company has agreed to sell itself to MACH Metals, which is controlled by Indonesian billionaire Anthoni Salim. The offer was pitched at 47c a share which values the equity at $393m. The key asset is the Hillside copper-gold mine in South Australia which is expected to cost almost $900m to develop. MACH is already the largest shareholder with a 15.8% stake. See 75 page sale agreement. The 256 page scheme book landed on September 4 and the physical only scheme meeting is in Melbourne at 10am on October 10. The effective date is October 16 and the implementation date is October 30, so it was delisted on October 31. Copper-focused BHP should arguably have bought this business.

November 2024: 0

December 2024: 2

28. Anteris Technologies (AVR): The Brisbane-based "structural heart company" floated on the ASX in March 2004 when it raised $5m at 20c. The $200m redomicile to Delaware and US IPO was first announced on August 13 and the 282 page scheme book was released on September 9, 2024. The scheme was approved by the Queensland Supreme Court on December 4. The scheme became effective on December 5, the same day trading was suspended. The record date for payment will be December 9. The scheme meeting was held on December 3 with 97.66% share support but a poor turnout with just 153 shareholders in favour and 24 against. The latest annual report says it had 5,783 shareholders, so the 3% turnout was pretty poor. They then released this 30 page supplementary scheme book on December 16.

29. Capitol Health (CAJ): the Andrew Demetriou chaired imaging diagnostics company agreed to a merger proposal from Integral Diagnostics (IDL) on June 17 which will see 2 CAJ directors join the expanded board and the CAJ CEO secure a 2 year extension of his contract. The combined company will have a market cap of around $850 million. See merger implementation agreement. This update on September 2 explained that the ACCC is having a look and the 280 page scheme book landed on September 24. The scheme meeting was originally a physical affair at 11.30am in Melbourne on October 31 but was delayed until December 2. It was comfortably approved on both metrics despite some hiccups in securing ACCC approval. The Federal Court approved the scheme on December 10 after ACCC approval came through and the stock was suspended on December 11. The payment by shares was made on December 13 with the scheme officially implemented on Friday, December 20 and the stock was removed from the ASX on December 23.

2023 - 9 completed

Blackmores, (38 years, 1985-2023): founded in 1938 by Maurice Blackmore, listed in 1985 and then taken over by Japanese giant Kirin after a $1.9 billion takeover bid which completed in July 2023.

Estia Health (9 years, 2014-2023): originally floated in 2014 when it raised $725 million at $5.25 a share in a Quadrant driven private equity roll-up and flip. After woeful performance, it was then privatised by private equity firm Bain on December 15 2023 in a deal which valued the equity at $3.20 a share or $828 million. Its market cap peaked at $1.4 billion in 2015-16 when the shares topped $7 but then crashed during COVID so this was a dud for public investors who endured the full 9 year public journey.

Invocare, (20 years, 2003-2023): the death industry giant has agreed to a takeover by private equity firm TPG with a shareholder vote due later this year. It was floated in 2003 at $1.85 a share raising $186 million for the equity.

Mincor Resources (1997-2023): listed in 1997 as AfricWest Gold before later pivoting to nickel. Twiggy Forrest privatised the nickel miner in July 2023, paying $1.40 a share or $760 million in cash.

Newcrest Mining (NCM): The last big gold miner standing and recently agreed to be taken over by Denver-based US giant Newmont in an all-scrip offer valued at $29 billion which completed on November 6, 2023.

OZ Minerals, (15 years, 2008-2023): was created from the 2007 merger of Oxiana Resources and Zinifex but then almost collapsed after the GFC when most of its assets were sold to CCP-controlled entities. Was left with the fabulous Prominent Hill copper gold mine which BHP bought for almost $10 billion when it paid $28.50 a share for the company in 2023.

Pendal, (16 years, 2007-2023): initially partially floated by Westpac as BT Investment Management in 2007, then after the bank fully exited it changed its name and was taken over by rival Perpetual in a $2.4 billion deal after a lengthy battle which finally settled in January 2023.

Slater and Gordon, (16 years, 2007-2023): never officially collapsed as was rescued in a scheme of arrangement but the final full year result was a $546.8 million loss in 2016-17 and this followed a $1.017 billion loss in 2015-16. Did a massive debt for equity swap to stay listed before Allegro privatised it in 2023.

United Malt, (3 years, 2020-2023): was spun out of Graincorp in 2020 but then snapped up by Soufflet Group, a private French company controlled by the Soufflet family when it offered $5 a share or $1.5 billion in July 2023.

2022 - 8

Ausnet Services, (17 years, 2005-2022): originally floated as SP Ausnet by Singapore Power in 2005 when it raised $1.6 billion at $1.38 after aggregating some privatised gas and electricity utilities. Changed its name to Ausnet after the Singaporeans sold a 20% stake to the Chinese Government's State Grid and was then taken private by Brookfield in February 2022 in a deal which valued the business at more than $15 billion, including debt.

Coca Cola Amatil, (49 years, 1972-2021): taken over by sister company Coca Cola Enterprises in May 2021 with an offer of $13.50 a share which valued the business at $9.8 billion.

Crown Resorts/PBL, (30 years, 1992-2022): effectively started with Kerry Packer's 1992 IPO of ACP Magazines which was then merged with Nine, which in turn was the rebranded Bond Media. Privatised by private equity giant Blackstone in June 2022 for about $9 billion.

Leighton-CIMIC, 2022: was controlled by German giant Hochtief for decades as Wal King built it into an Australian giant, then Spanish rival ACS bought Hochtief and later fully privatised the renamed CIMIC in 2022.

Senex Energy (SXY): taken over by Korea's POSCO and Gina Rinehart at $4.60 a share in 2022 which valued the aspiring Queensland gas producer at about $860m. The final balance sheet showed $216m in accumulated losses and net assets of $345m so about $300m in value was created.

Sydney Airport (SYD), (20 years, 2002-2022): floated by Macquarie in the early 2000s as Macquarie Airports then sold off everything except Sydney Airport which was privatised by a group of industry funds and international investors for more than $20 billion with an $8.75 a share bid in 2022.

Uniti Group, (3 years, 2019-2022): only floated in 2019 with an $18m raising at 25, the undertook a blizzard of takeovers the broadband networks owner fell to a consortium led by New Zealand's Morrison & Co and Canada's Brookfield Asset Management after they offered $3.6 billion or $5 a share in 2022.

Western Areas (WSA), (22 years, 2000-2022: floated at 20c in 2000 after $5m raising and was eventually taken over by nickel-lithium outfit IGO after protracted negotiations in a deal that valued the company at $1.3 billion. Just been blasted by The AFR's Chanticleer for writing the investment down by $700m.

2021 - 8

Afterpay, 2021: Block Inc, the US payments company founded by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey (which used to be called Square), bought Afterpay in 2021 offering 18% of its own expanded share capital, although some analysts value the Afterpay business at zero.

ALE Property Group (LEP), 2021: the pubs landlord was privatised in December 2021 after a joint bid by Charter Hall and industry fund HostPlus priced at $5.88 a share.

Bingo, (4 years, 2017-2021): floated by the founding Tartak family at $1.80 a share in 2017 and then privatised by a Macquarie fund in 2021 which paid $2.3 billion or $3.45 a share.

Galaxy Resources, (15 years, 2006-2021): taken over by lithium rival Orocobre in a $4 billion all scrip deal in 2021 although it was a more a merger of equals with Galaxy shareholders finishing up with 45.8% of the new entity which trades as Allkem. Stock has since soared to a $10.5b market cap with Toyota as the only substantial shareholder with a 6.16% stake. Galaxy Resources was first floated in 2006 after raising $3m at 20c.

Milton (MLT), (63 years, 1958-2021): mopped up by Soul Pattinson through an over the top all scrip $4 billion offer in 2021 which took out 29,000 shareholders.

Spark Infrastructure, (16 years, 2005-2021): floated in 2005 when the Chinese purchasers of privatisated state utility asset raised $1.81 billion at $2 a share. Was then privatised in December 2021 by private equity firm KKR and the Ontario Teachers fund with an offer pitched at $2.95 a share.

Tassal, (18 years, 2003-2021): floated at 50c a share in 2003 when it raised $31 million and eventually bought by Canadian fish giant Cooke Inc which paid $1.1 billon for Tasmanian-based salmon giant in 2021.

Vocus Communications, (22 years, 1999-2021): raised $20m at $1 a share when it listed in 1999 and then the telco was privatised by Macquarie and Aware Super after they lobbed an offer priced at $5.50 a share in 2021 which valued the business at $3.5 billion.

2020 - 4

Infigen Energy, (15 years, 2005-2020): the old Babcock and Brown Wind was floated in 2005, changed its name to Infigen in 2009 and then bought by Spain's Iberdrola for $841 million in 2020 but it had traded higher.

Nearmap, (22 years, 2000-2022): floated in 2000 after raising $10m at 25c and then US private equity firm Thomas Bravo paid $2.10 a share or $1.05 billion, which at the time was nearly double the prevailing share price.

Oil Search (OSH), 2021: completed a $21 billion all-scrip merger with Santos in 2021 in which Oil Search shareholders finished up with 38.5% of the business. Three Oil Search directors joined the Santos board - Eileen Doyle, Musje Werror and Michael Utsler - whilst Susan Cunningham, Fiona Harris, Bakheet Al Katheeri, Kostas Constantinou and chairman Rick Lee all departed.

Village Roadshow (VRL), 2020: privatised by private equity firm BGH in 2020 after previously trading at much higher prices.

2019 - 6

Aveo, (25 years, 1998-2019): Canadian giant Brookfield plucked the large residential aged care business off the ASX boards in 2019 for a $2 billion enterprise valuation or a $1.3 billion equity value, swooping in with a 28 per cent premium at a time when its target was caving under regulatory scrutiny. It then refinanced a $1.45 billion debt in July 2023. It was previously known as FKP, a Gold Coast-focused property developer which was born in 1998 in the merger of Peter Kurts Properties, founded by the late Peter Kurts in 1964, with Forrester Parker Group, run by Rod Forrester and Phil Parker.

Bellamy's, (5 years, 2014-2019): Chinese firm Mengnui bid $13.25 a share in 2019 for the Tasmanian-based powdered milk company, valuing the business at $1.5 billion.

Dulux, (9 years, 2010-2019): was demerged by Orica in July 2010 and then 9 years later was acquired by Nippon Paint for $4.2 billion.

Healthscope, (5 years, 2014-2019): after being floated by private equity firms TPG and Carlyle in July 2014 raising $2.57 billion at $2.29, the private hospital operator was bought by Canadian giant Brookfield in 2019 for $4.4 billion after winning a takeover bidding war against rival private equity firm BGH which had teamed up with Australian Super.

MYOB, (4 years, 2015-2019): has been floated and privatised twice, the second time in 2019 when private equity giant KKR paid $2 billion, just 4 years after private equity firm Bain floated 39% of the business at $3.65 a share in 2015, raising $833 million.

Navitas, (15 years, 2004-2019): the private education provider was privatised by Melbourne-based private equity firm BGH in a $2.1 billion deal in 2019.

Trade Me, (8 years, 2011-2019): the ebay of New Zealand was floated off by Fairfax in December 2011 at $NZ2.70 a share and then acquired by Apax Partners for $NZ6.45 a share in early 2019.

Copyright © 2025 The Mayne Report. All rights reserved

• share
  Share
  • 
    Facebook
  • 
    Twitter
  • email
    Email
  • print
    Print
  • link
    Copy Link
  • cancel
    Cancel