Here are today’s headlines from the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO)(ASX: XJO) and Australian finance circles.
First, here are the data points:
Australian Dollar ($A) (AUDUSD): 72.24 US cents
Dow Jones (DJI) : up 0.7%
Oil (WTI): $US75.44 per barrel
Gold: $US1,193 per ounce
Australian Finance News
Wealth management company IOOF Holdings Limited (ASX: IFL) updated Australian investors on its acquisition of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group’s (ASX: ANZ) financial planning groups.
IOOF said it has finalised legal contracts, establishing full ownership of the planning businesses from October 1st. It has also substantially completed financial arrangements for the acquisition of the ANZ One Path Pensions and Investments business (ANZ P&I).
IOOF stated: “Final completion of the acquisition of the ANZ P&I business acquired by IOOF will take place after successful completion of a successor fund transfer (which separates the ANZ P&I business products from OnePath Life), which is expected to occur towards the end of March 2019.”
Also in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) news, the takeover offer by Propertylink Group (ASX: PLG) for Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP) has been rejected by the independent board of Centuria. Its been a case of cat and mouse turns mouse and cat between PropertyLink and Centuria.
Regarding the offer for the Centuria REIT (CIP), an independent board said Propertylink’s proposal resulted in too much uncertainty for investors and the price of the shares/securities offered by Propertylink (PLG) is “inflated due to potential corporate activity”.
Specifically, Propertylink itself is the target of a takeover offer from ESR Real Estate (ESR). “The ESR group holds a 19.89% relevant interest in PLG and relevantly, ESR’s Proposal is conditional upon PLG not proceeding with the Proposal for CIP,” Matthew Hardy, the board of the independent committee said in an ASX release.
Finally, AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) could find itself (again) as the target of regulatory scrutiny. According to Fairfax, corporate regulator ASIC will launch legal action against AMP within weeks. AMP allegedly misled ASIC on numerous counts and has repeatedly found itself in hot water over misconduct within its financial advice businesses, the Royal Commission revealed.
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