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| Thursday September 21, 2023 |
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Soul Patts chairman Rob Millner has acquisitions on the brain. |
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In an interview with Centennial Asset Management’s Matthew Kidman, the billionaire investor, branded Australia’s answer to Warren Buffett, said he’d be bargain hunting early in the new year. |
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Millner wouldn’t be drawn on specifics, but said his team “always have their ears and eyes open”. |
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“If I said in the next 18 months you think you’ll do a major deal?” Kidman asked. |
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“I would have thought so,” Milner responded. |
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WHSP isn’t starved for options. Growth in the investment houses’ private equity and structured debt businesses means they’re among the first to be shown new deals, Millner said, whether that be capital raisings or acquisition opportunities. |
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Asked where he’s looking, Millner declared, “nothing scares us”, recounting the firm’s history in sectors as diverse as television stations, telecom, coal mining and agriculture. But he said the business must have good cash-producing assets. |
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The company made a big splash when it combined forces with Milton to create a $10.8 billion investment company in 2021. Coal miner New Hope is one of its longest-held assets, which Milner said they called “No Hope” in the beginning. |
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With a whopping $500 million or so in the bank, WHSP has plenty of dry power to deploy as opportunities arise. |
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As for Millner’s Rugby World Cup picks – a toss-up between France, South Africa and Ireland. |
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| Emma Rapaport Co-editor, Street Talk |
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Marketing and data automation provider Klaviyo rose as much as 32 per cent in its trading debut, Bloomberg reports.Goldman Sachs is in talks to sell its speciality lender GreenSky to a group of investment firms, WSJ reports.Luye Medical Group is considering selling its oncology business in Singapore in a deal that could be worth $400 million, Bloomberg reports. |
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Bostock owns 560 hectares of orchards and leases another 1750 hectares of cropping land in New Zealand’s premium growing region. It exports into more than 30 markets, with North America and Asia (including Japan) making up more than 75 per cent of the revenue. |
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