ChemChina Bids for Nufarm, NIB IPO Soars

123jump.com Staff
05 Nov, 2007
New York City

Australian stocks fell reflecting weakness in Asian tradig. ASX 200 closed 1.7% lower to 6,582.30 after banks fell sharply. Citigroup asked its chief executive to retire and lowered its subprime mortgage portfolio between $8 billion and $11 billion. The sharp write-down prompted worries that the other banks and brokerages may report higher losses in the coming quarters. Nufarm agreed to an exclusivity for an offer form Chem China which valued the company at 30% higher than market price.

[R]4:00AM New York, 12:00PM New York - The Australia index fell 1.7% as major stocks led by banks traded weaker[/R]

ASX 200 index lost 1.7% or 114.3 to close at 6,582.30. Banks led the index lower reflecting worries in the region on further fallout from new losses declared at Citigroup.

Commonwealth Bank led the decline in the sector with a loss of 1.8%, National Australia Bank lost 1.4%, the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd lost 0.6%, and Westpac Banking slid 1.1%.

China National Chemical Corp, known as ChemChina, made a A$3 billion cash offer for Nufarm Ltd in partnership with two private equity groups. The agro-chemical company plans to expand its operations around the world with this acquisition. The offer values Nufarm, the Melbourne, Australia based company at A$17.99 per share. ChemChina also plans to pay 30 cents a care dividend as a part of the deal. On the news, Nufarm rose 11% to close at A$17.34.

Nufarm has manufacturing operations in 14 nations and sells its products in 100 countries. It sells 36 percent of its products, herbicides used to protect crops, in North and South America and 32 percent in Australia, according to information on its website.

Commenting on the proposal Nufarm’s Chairman Mr. Kerry Hoggard said “we acknowledge the Consortium’s proposal which may lead to a transaction which realises fair value for Nufarm shareholders.”

Nufarm will remain headquartered in Melbourne under Managing Director Doug Rathbone, who is the company''s largest shareholder with a 17 percent stake.

The board of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meets tomorrow and is widely tipped to lift the interest rate to 6.75% from 6.5% on Wednesday. If the rate is increased, it will be the tenth increase in the last five years.

NIB Health Funds today became the first private health insurer to lists on the Australian stock exchange, marking its debut at a premium of almost 30% at $1.14 a share. The offering priced 100 million shares at 85 Australian cents. The company after the offering will be held 85% by the policy holders and the rest will be controlled by institutional investors.

Normal trading is expected to commence on November 8. NIB Health Funds is Australia''s sixth largest health fund with a market share of 6.6%, with 328,784 policyholders.

Revenue from premiums grew 8.8% to A$666 million for the year and investment income rose 74 per cent to A$32 million. Consolidated profit declined 18% to A$52 million.

The Australian dollar traded in the range between $0.9204 and $0.9208, up from Friday''s close of $0.9160. During the session, it traded between a low of $0.9186 and a high of $0.9218.

Of the ASX 200 Index shares, Nufarm led the gainers with a rise of 11.1% followed by increases in Macmahon Holdings by 3.6%, in Santos by 2.7%, in Straits Resource Limited by 2.5%, and in Newcrest Mining by 2.1%.

Of the ASX 200 index stocks Bradken led the decliners with a fall of 4.9% followed by losses in Henderson-CDI of 5%, Macquarie Group by 5.2%, in Spotless Group by 5.7%, and 6.5% in Mt Gibson Iron.

In other stocks, BHP Billiton was down 2.9% and Rio Tinto eased 2%. In the energy sector stocks gained after U.S. crude oil prices soared by $2 a barrel on Friday to end above $95 for the first time.

In the oil and gas sector, Woodside Petroleum edged 0.3% higher, Santos added 2.7%, and Australian Renewable Fuels Ltd dropped 71% after it stopped producing bio-diesel at its two plants on higher agricultural feedstock cots.

The retailers were mixed as Harvey Norman added 1.2%, Woolworths slid 1.3%, Coles Meyer lost 2.3%, and David Jones lost 2.5%.

Media stocks were down, with Fairfax losing 1.6%, News Corp down 3.3%, and PBL slid 0.9%.