From supplying dresses to its department stores as a teenager to becoming the largest shareholder of the company almost 60 years later, Solomon Lew’s relationship with Australian retailing icon Myer has swing back and forth over the decades. In between, the veteran of Australia’s retailing industry has gone from chairing board meetings to being ejected as a director and sniping from the sidelines as a disaffected shareholder calling for better performance from the 124-year-old chain. On 23 January Lew, 77, is set to return to the seat of power if shareholders approve a $1.1 billion deal under which his 40%-owned investment company Premier Investments sells apparel brands to Myer Holdings in return for 51.5% shareholding. These new shares, and Premier’s existing 26% Myer stake, will be distributed to Premier shareholders including Lew’s Century Plaza Group, making him the largest direct shareholder with a 26.8% stake and also a seat on the Myer Board. “The combination of the Apparel Brands business with Myer is an opportunity for us all to play an important role in the future of the Australian and New Zealand retail landscape,” Lew told the Premier Investments annual meeting in December. “The combination of Myer
In addition to being Australian’s single biggest asset, the family home - the cornerstone to establishing financial independence – also offers retirees equity they can potentially tap into without having to sell. But with the interest rates now getting close to double, reverse mortgages facilities – which lets homeowners borrow against the equity in their house – have largely fallen out of favour. However, the Federal Government’s often overlooked Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) currently presents some mouthwatering opportunities for retirees and prominent West Australian financial adviser Wayne Leggett, principal of Paramount Financial Solutions explained to Azzet what they are. Asset: How can Australians quality for the Home Equity Access Scheme? Wayne Leggett (WL): To quality, you must be of age pension age and hold equity in Australian equity in your own name. Importantly, you don’t need to be an age pension recipient, don’t need to own a property outright and can even use property that is not your primary place of residence. Azzet: How are applications made and what sort of payments does the scheme offer? WL: Applications are made via Services Australia and are calculated on the equity offered as security,
The Australian sharemarket finished slightly lower on Friday as major banking stocks retraced yesterday's gains. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed down 16.6 points or 0.2% to 8,310.4, finishing the week with marginal gains of 0.2%. Eight of 11 sectors finished higher, despite losses in the financials and communication services sectors, following the market’s 1.4% gain on Thursday. ANZ Group dipped 1.8%, National Australia Bank lost 1.7%, and Commonwealth Bank declined 1.2%. Meanwhile, the materials sector added 0.4% overall, with BHP up 0.2%, Fortescue Metals adding 1.8% and Champion Iron up 2.2%. Mining giant Rio Tinto bucked the trend, finishing 0.7% lower after Bloomberg reported that it is in merger discussions with Glencore. If completed, the deal would surpass BHP as the largest mining group globally. Among data releases, annual economic growth in China reached 5.4% in Q4 2024, beating market expectations of 5% growth. Among individual companies, Insignia Financial rose 6.5% after CC Capital increased its takeover bid to $4.60 per share, valuing the offer at A$3.1 billion. The revised bid follows Bain Capital’s move earlier in the week to match CC Capital’s prior $2.9 billion offer. Lynas Rare Earths d
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has urged the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to ban surcharges on credit and debit cards as the central bank considers the future of Australia’s A$1 trillion-plus payments system. CBA said it had noted in recent years a shift to contactless payments and e-commerce and an increase in payments solutions that sit outside the RBA’s bank’s mandate and regulation, including buy now, pay later, digital wallets and three party schemes. In a response to an RBA issues paper, Australia’s largest bank said it supported the spirit of the review because payments affected all consumers and businesses and the safety, reliability, efficiency and convenience of the system was paramount. CBA asked the central bank not to formulate policy responses to some of the matters raised in its issues paper, which would be possible only when the Payment System Regulation Act (PSRA) was amended. The remaining issues for consultation could be addressed without changes to the PSRA, including surcharging, which is the imposition of an additional fee by a merchant or institutions for card payments. “We believe the most impactful initiative would be to address surcharging on debit and credit,” the CBA said in its
Investment firm CC Capital Partners LLC has thrown down the gauntlet to its larger rival bidder Bain Capital by raising its takeover offer for Insignia Financial. Insignia said it had received a revised non-binding and indicative offer from CC Capital of A$4.60 cash per share, which values the company at $3.1 billion, up from the $4.30 cash per share offered by both bidders previously. The company said in an ASX announcement the offer was subject to the same terms and conditions as the initial proposal, advising shareholders to take no action as the Board and its advisers decided whether to engage with CC Capital. The company repeated its previous statement that there was no certainty the proposal would result in a binding offer or a transaction. In the space of about one month, the 178-year-old financial services group has received two non-binding and conditional bids each from Bain and CC Capital amid speculation that asset management giant Brookfield might enter the fray as a third bidder. Bain included in its proposal the potential for shareholders who accepted the offer to receive shares in the ultimate holding company if the buyout proceeds. The top seven shareholders owned more than 58% of the target in Au
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Mining heavyweights Rio Tinto (ASX : RIO) and Glencore are in early-stage discussions about a potential merger, Bloomberg has reported, citing anonymous sources close to the matter. A merger between Rio, the world’s second-largest miner and the Swiss miner would create an entity worth about US$155 billion (A$250 billion), making it the world’s number one miner – overtaking BHP (ASX: BHP), which is worth around US$126 billion. If a merger goes ahead, it may raise a few eyebrows, as Glencore is the largest seller of thermal and the top producer of coking coal in the world. Yet Rio had divested all of its coal assets - exiting in 2018 with the US$2.25 billion sale of Kestrel and marketing its pivot with a US$1bn spend towards a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. The combined entity would give it exposure to copper that would rival BHP's own vast red metals assets. The Big Aussie had just yesterday finalised a US$2.1 billion acquisition of South American copper projects. BHP also wants to invest up to US$14 billion in Chile - the number 1 copper-producing country in the world - which could increase BHP's total global copper output to 540,000tpa. Recent history suggests the two majors are willing to do big d
One of Australia’s largest telecommunications companies Aussie Broadband has announced that co-founder and Group Managing Director Phillip Britt will step down. Aussie Broadband said Britt would retire as Group Managing Director on 28 February 2025 to become Non-executive Director and Special Technical Adviser to pursue a personal community-focused venture in the Gippsland region where he still lives. Chief Executive Officer Brian Maher, who joined Aussie Broadband in 2019 as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, will be appointed as Group Chief Executive Officer from 1 March 2025. Chair Adrian Fitzpatrick said Britt had been responsible for the rapid growth of Aussie Broadband over the last 20 years from a regional internet service provider to a national telecommunications company with a diversified product and customer base. This included the formation of Wideband Networks in 2003, the merger in 2008 with Westvic Broadband to form Aussie Broadband, the public listing on the ASX in 2020 and the acquisitions of Over the Wire and Symbio in 2022 and 2024. “He has a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions in the telecommunications industry,” Fitzpatrick said in an ASX announcement.
Actor Justin Baldoni is suing fellow actor Blake Lively and her publicist for US$400 million (A$643.99 million), claiming that Lively and her husband actor Ryan Reynolds hijacked the production of It Ends With Us and sought to “destroy him” with false sexual harassment allegations. The 179-page complaint filed in the United States southern district of New York is the latest swing in a bitter legal battle between the two co-stars. Baldoni directed and starred alongside Lively in the Colleen Hoover adaptation with the California Civil Rights commissions detailing sexual harassment by Baldoni during production and a smear campaign to ruin Livley’s reputation through artificial social media activity and planned stories. In a statement, Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman said Lively attempted to “destroy” Baldoni. "It is clear based on our own all out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret,” he said. “Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth." Freedman also said he and Ba
The World Bank has warned the global economy is set to grow at its slowest pace in almost six years. According to a recent report from the World Bank, this has been the slowest half-decade of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 30 years. A growth rate of 2.7% is predicted which would be the lowest in the years directly before and after the height of COVID-19. The BBC reported that the bank's deputy chief economist Ayhan Kose has warned the impending trade tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump intends to place on imports into the U.S. could have significant impacts on the global economy. As the U.S. is the world's largest importer of goods, the potential for higher taxes puts immense financial pressure on global trade. Trump has plans to impose 10-15% duties on all U.S. imports, targeting neighbouring countries Canada and Mexico, along with 60% on all goods from China, all countries which account for 40% of the US$3.2 trillion (A$5.1 trillion) of goods it imports each year. Other fears include the potential for interest rates to remain higher for longer along with policy uncertainty which could leave businesses lacking confidence and reduce investment. “Investment booms have the pote
