BREAKFAST DEALS: Telstra trump

Telstra heads to the races with the telco revealed as the major financier behind TVN's $400 million bid for Tabcorp's Sky Channel network. BC Iron's board and its shareholders are stumped as its suitor unexpectedly walks away, and the uncertainty around Future Fund boss David Murray's position has apparently triggered a succession struggle among the board of the sovereign wealth fund. Elsewhere, Gindalbie Metals gets a new boss as costs at its Karara project continue to rise, Rio Tinto big wigs take home more money as the miner returns to robust health, CBA welcomes Target's boss Laura Inman as its third female non-executive director and India's richest man joins the board of Bank of America.

Telstra, TVN, Tabcorp  

Telstra may be looking to slow the pace down of the mooted merger between pay TV operators Foxtel and Austar but it looks like the telco has been pulling some strings behind the scenes to grab a piece of Tabcorp's television racing network, Sky Channel. According to The Australian, Telstra is the major financier of a $400 million-plus bid lobbed for Sky Channel by horse-racing channel TVN (Thoroughbred Vision). The TVN-Telstra bid reportedly landed on Tabcorp's table earlier this month and has been summarily dismissed by the gambling giant, which is working towards the demerger of its wagering and casino divisions. Tabcorp was reportedly not only unimpressed by the price but apparently bemused by TVN's move to recruit Telstra as a heavy hitting partner. It's certainly an interesting about turn for TVN – owned by Sydney-based Australian Turf Club and the four Victorian racing clubs – which has so far been largely seen as a target. Talks of a TVN-Sky Channel merger didn't get anywhere last year and TVN's boss, Peter Sweeney, has told the Herald Sun that buying Sky Channel was a better outcome than a joint venture. Tabcorp clearly sees Sky as an important plank for its wagering business once the demerger is complete and that may explain its reluctance to parlay with the suitor. Of course, there is a regulatory angle to the entire affair and the Productivity Commission has voiced concerns about competition issues surrounding Tabcorp's ownership of Sky Channel and the advantage it provides to the company in the overall wagering market. But coming back to Telstra and its involvement, The Australian suggests that the telco's interest in forging a closer link with TVN may be linked to acquiring greater racing content – and the appointment of Tabcorp's former managing director of wagering, Robert Nason, in 2009 may have provided the necessary kick for Telstra to get the ball rolling. Tabcorp is apparently not interested at the moment and it will be interesting to see what Telstra and TVN may do next.

BC Iron, Regent Pacific, Consmin

Iron ore junior BC Iron's shares took a hammering yesterday, diving over 14 per cent after its erstwhile suitor Regent Pacific walked away from its $345 million bid. Regent scrapped its bid citing strident opposition from BC Iron's major shareholder Consolidated Minerals (ConsMin) but BC Iron's board is understandably perplexed by the move, given the fact that not a single BC Iron shareholder, including ConsMin, has seen a scheme booklet or an independent expert's report to make an informed decision on the bid. According to BC Iron, Regent Pacific has curiously based its decision solely on the basis of an article in US-based Business Insider website, which highlighted doubts within the senior ranks of ConsMin about the merits of the deal. BC Iron's board had said at the time that the article was highly misleading but apparently it was enough to convince Regent Pacific that ConsMin was not willing to play ball. That assertion has now been denied by ConsMin's billionaire boss, Gennadiy Bogolyubov, who said that BC Iron shareholders should be given all the information with regards to the suitor's decision.  

Future Fund

With the clock ticking on Future Fund chairman David Murray's future with the fund it looks like the radio silence from federal treasurer Wayne Swan and finance minister Penny Wong might not be Murray's only problem. According to The Australian Financial Review, the uncertainty around Murray's future, once his term expires on April 3, has sparked a struggle within the ranks of the fund. Murray's seat is now reportedly being eyed by two potential guardians, fund manager Susan Boyle and veteran director Trevor Rowe. There is talk that Murray may be out of favour with the Labor government given his fierce criticism of the mining tax and the national broadband plan. However, it's best to leave politics out of the affair given that the sovereign wealth fund is meant to be independent to Canberra. With regards to the two potential successors, Boyle has extensive experience in the superannuation industry and could likely be a good fit for the job, while Rowe has had a challenging couple of years. Rowe was the former chairman of maligned toll-road developer BrisConnections and was caught up in the ensuing controversy. He resigned from the board of the Queensland Investment Corporation in 2009 and left the board of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in 2010.

Gindalbie Metals

Gindalbie Metals has appointed Newmont Mining Asia-Pacific operations senior vice-president Tim Netscher as managing director and chief executive. Netscher will replace current CEO Garret Dixon who has been forced out after a five-year stint. Dixon's departure at the end of this month was not entirely a surprise, given the fact that the cost of Gindalbie's flagship project is now set to increase by about $600 million to about $2.7 billion. It is the second cost overrun for the Karara iron ore project and the Perth-based miner may now need to tap the market for more capital to close the funding shortfall – and The Australian reports that it may already be mulling the options with its lenders. Gindalbie has so far funded the project through a 70-30 mix of debt and equity and just exactly how the miner will have to raise will come down whether its lenders are willing to lend it more money. Final costing for the project is not expected to be announced until May.

Wrapping up

Rio Tinto is getting closer to its coal prize Riversdale Mining, with mining giant now holding a 30.96 per cent stake in the target, and while the deadline for its $3.9 billion bid is edging closer it was the miner's 2010 annual report that grabbed the attention yesterday. According to the report, Rio boss Tom Albanese's pay packet rose 31.4 per cent to $8.98 million in 2010, compared to the $6.7 million he took home the year before. Albanese wasn't the only one getting a bigger pay check with CFO Guy Elliot and iron ore chief Sam Walsh both receiving a boost. Elliot's packet grew 29.4 per cent to $5.9 million while Walsh's rose 24.4 per cent to $7.5 million. The miner has also used the opportunity to set targets for improving the number of women within its management ranks. Speaking of women and senior management, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has added a third female non-executive director with retailer Target's managing director Launa Inman to join the board. Back in the resources space, rare earth miner Lynas Corp has agreed to grant Forge Resources subleases to develop the Crown Rare Metals and Swan Phosphate deposits in Western Australia in exchange for a 15 per cent stake in Forge. Under the deal, Lynas will receive $20.7 million cash, options to acquire seven million Forge shares and royalties over minerals from the sub-leases. Elsewhere, GrainCorp has appointed a new president and chief executive of its malt business, following the resignation of Ian Wilton. The former malt head led the company through the integration of United Malt Holdings and will be replaced at the helm by GrainCorp's UK malting head Steve Haydon. And in a major overseas appointment, India's richest man Mukesh Ambani has become the first non-American citizen to join the board of Bank of America. Ambani, who is the chairman and managing director of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, will stand for election at the 2011 Bank of America annual meeting of shareholders.