BREAKFAST DEALS: Woodside re-jig
Woodside Petroleum
Woodside Petroleum has finally revealed its new CEO, with former Exxon Mobil man Peter Coleman to take the reins from outgoing boss Don Voelte. The appointment of Coleman has really come out of left-field and means that Woodside has again decided against installing a home grown heir to the CEO throne with internal candidates like the executive vice president of Woodside's North West Shelf business Kevin Gallagher; the executive vice president of the Pluto project Lucio Della Martina and former Mallesons partner and current Woodside general counsel Robert Cole, all missing out. While the appointment was a surprise, Victorian-born Coleman, who spent 27 years at ExxonMobil, certainly has the chops for the job. He has been instrumental in running Exxon's global oil and gas developments, including the US oil major's $16 billion LNG project in Papua New Guinea. Coleman's CV also happens to include his stint as production manager at the Esso natural gas plant at Longford which suffered a major explosion in 1998. Analysts on the whole have welcomed the appointment, saying that Coleman has the big industry experience in bringing difficult projects together. Most importantly he has a no-nonsense approach when it comes to project delivery which is crucial to Woodside's growth plans. According to The Australian Financial Review, there's a good chance that a pragmatic Coleman may revise the development timetable for some of Woodside's core projects. There are many in the market who reckon that an outspoken Voelte has been far too aggressive with his timetables and budget for the developments and Coleman may bring in a more conservative schedule. So Coleman ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to running Woodside, however, there are still a few potential unknowns for the market. Firstly, how is Coleman going to deal with the ongoing question marks about Woodside's future ownership, as Royal Dutch Shell sells out of the company? And the other is whether there are any signs of discontent among the internal contenders who have missed out on the top job.
Seven, Ten, James Warburton
The legal scuffle between Seven and former staffer and Ten Network Holdings' new chief executive James Warburton has been put to bed with the Supreme Court of NSW ruling that Warburton cannot start at Ten until January next year. Ten wanted Warburton to start the new job on July 14, only for Seven to claim that conditions in his employment contract meant that Warburton couldn't work for another media company until October 2012. The end result seems to be a compromise position with neither party getting what they wanted, but one suspects that Seven won't be entirely displeased. Warburton is unlikely to appeal the ruling but is reportedly still proceeding with his contempt charge against Seven supremo Kerry Stokes, after Stokes told a meeting of Seven shareholders last month, while the case was still active, that Warburton may have been embellishing the truth to improve his chances. Stokes is set to defend the charge in late June. Back to what all this means for Ten, well Lachlan Murdoch will obviously have to stick around a tad longer than he hoped and will be in charge when the key negotiations with media buyers roll around. There is no doubt about how important Warburton would have been in this process and there is some talk that Seven and Nine Network may even start the talks on ad rates and deals earlier than expected to capitalise. Murdoch may be warming to the task of running Ten but the network is struggling to translate its ratings success to dollars and its digital offerings are still not quite stacking up with Seven's. Murdoch will have to navigate these testing waters until next year and in the mean time may move to cut further costs at Ten. In other media news, Fairfax has confirmed that 82 job will be lost as the company pushes through with its controversial plans of outsourcing sub-editing jobs at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald to Pagemasters. However, Fairfax has fended off any industrial action with no strikes planned at the papers and Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance secretary Chris Warren has told the AAP that, while a public campaign will be continued, there are no plans for any industrial action. Elsewhere, APN News & Media has appointed Profit Drivers' principal Warren Bright to the newly created role of chief executive of Australian Regional Media.
Qantas
Another company that has managed to fend off some industrial action is Qantas after disgruntled engineers called of a planned strike. The action was planned for today but it will be business as usual, however, the engineers have vowed action next week. Qantas has told the media that the last minute U-turn from The Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) highlighted that the unions were playing games, however, fresh talk of the airline's plans to establish a new premium Asia-focused airline will no doubt lead to more union anger. Talk of another carrier emerged earlier this week and the AFR has now put some more meat on the bones, reporting that the new airline will be based in Singapore and will operate under a new airline licence. The new airline will not be allowed to use the Qantas name and the paper adds that Qantas will own a maximum 49 per cent of a new holding company with a Singapore-owned entity holding the rest. The plans are part of the airline's review of its international operations which is due to be completed by the end of the year. Meanwhile, The Sydney Morning Herald has a different destination in mind with reports that Qantas is planning to set up the premium airline in Malaysia. The paper added that basing the new airline in Malaysia could connect to a hub in China's business capital, Shanghai, and provide onwards flights to Europe.
Graeme Samuel, DFO Pankaj Oswal, Burrup Ferilisers
There is more dirty laundry on outgoing ACCC boss Graeme Samuel's involvement with the discount retail outfit DFO. According to The Australian, the latest Victorian Supreme Court filing by DFO founders David Wieland and David Goldberger contradicts earlier evidence given by Samuels with regards to when he separated himself from his interest in the DFO holding company Austexx. Samuels told a Senate estimates hearing last October that he knew nothing about the goings on at Austexx and was removed from the process. Not so allege Goldberger and Weiland who say that Samuel received regular briefings on DFO matters. Samuels has categorically rejected the latest allegations. Meanwhile, Burrup Fertilisers' co-founder Pankaj Oswal is now suing the company for $462 million. Oswal is claiming that he personally funded the entire construction of a liquid ammonia plant in Western Australia. Oswal also railed against ANZ Banking Group, saying in a statement that the bank was trying to force him to sell to Norway's Yara at a low price and the whole sales process announced recently was designed to help Yara.
Wrapping up
BHP Billiton has started gas production at its Angostura project in Trinidad and Tobago. The new gas export platform has a design capacity of 280 million cubic feet of gas per day and should help offset the fall in output in the Gulf of Mexico. The project, located alongside BHP's existing facilities within the Greater Angostura Field, was delivered on schedule and budget. In other resources news, iron ore junior Brockman Resources continues to wave the red flag about Hong Kong-based limousine company Wah Nam Holdings' takeover ambitions. Brockman chairman Barry Cusack has told shareholders that the miner was investigating the questionable trading in its stock and seeking evidence to incite further regulatory action. Wah Nam, which is offering 30 of its shares for each Brockman share, now has a 45.39 per cent stake in its target. Elsewhere, China's Yanzhou Coal has reportedly told Reuters that it is still undecided about a possible offer for Whitehaven Coal. In other news, Archer Capital is reportedly set to take a controlling stake in V8 supercars Australia beating out rival World Sport Group. According to the AFR, the stake could be worth as much as $300 million. Canadian energy distribution company ATCO is in exclusive negotiations to buy some of the Australian energy infrastructure assets of WestNet Infrastructure Group. According to ATCO, talks are underway with current owner AET&D Holdings No. 1 Ltd, and further details will be made public if an agreement is secured. WestNet is owned by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Reuters reports that the deal could be worth around $500 million. Asciano has reportedly hired consulting firm Bain & Co to help speed up its strategic overview. In appointments news, Gresham Partners has snared former Macquarie Bank deputy chairman Mark Johnson as a senior adviser. Johnson, who has also served as chair of Guinness Peat Group and AGL Energy, is set to join the firm in June. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank's Australia and New Zealand resource analyst Brendan Fitzpatrick has reportedly left to take up a similar position at Morgan Stanley. US fund manager EPN has sweetened its bid for the EDT Retail Trust to $218.5 million. EPN, which already holds a 48 per cent stake in EDT, has raised its bid from 7.8 cents to 9 cents per share. EDT owns $1.26 billion portfolio of US shopping centres and so far its shareholders have proved reticent to accept the offer. EPN has said that this will be their final offer. TV wagering outfit Two Way Limited has appointed Bell Potter Securities to advise on future growth opportunities that include but not limited to capital raising, joint venture proposals, or finding a strategic partner or investor. Bell Potter will report back to the Two Way's board on or before June 30. Perth-based car dealer Automotive Holdings Group, which last week formed a joint venture with News Limited, is set to buy Coventry's automotive parts distribution business in West Australia for $29 million. It has also flagged the purchase of Harris Refrigerated Transport for an enterprise value of $32 million. The buys will be funded through a fully underwritten equity placement of $82.9 million.
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