Stories about AS- listed companies have taken a back seat this week as the seemingly never-ending Greece crisis continues to dominate headlines. Consequently, perhaps you missed some of the following news.
Things get worse for Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH)
On Monday, Slater & Gordon released a market update that stated it had uncovered a mistake in its reported UK cashflows dating back to 2012. The same mistake was made to both cash inflows and outflows and so the net impact is zero. Shares in the embattled legal firm finished the day 25% lower at $3.78.
The news comes on the back of an investigation into the accounts of Qunidell Plc by the Financial Conduct Authority, a UK regulatory body. Slater & Gordon recently bought part of the Quindell business.
Tassal Group Limited (ASX: TGR) announces new supply agreements and acquires De Costi Seafoods
On Tuesday, Tassal Group announced that it has extended its supply agreement with Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) and won a new deal with Aldi. Then on Wednesday, it announced an agreement to acquire distributor De Costi Seafoods for an up-front payment of $50 million plus earn-outs.
Both of the new agreements will see Tassal supply its fresh salmon through De Costi on the east coast. The De Costi acquisition gives Tassal greater control of its supply chain, which should enable it to capture a greater portion of total profit generated in the industry.
Takeover news
There was a large number of announcements about acquisitions released on market this week. Here are some of the main stories.
On Wednesday, New Zealand retailer Briscoe Group Limited made a formal takeover offer for Kathmandu Holdings Ltd (ASX: KMD), one day after announcing an initial interest. Kathmandu's shares have been poor performers of late, trading at 52-week lows in June, but unsurprisingly jumped on the news.
G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) announced a takeover offer for smaller rival Affinity Education Group Ltd (ASX: AFJ), offering 1 G8 Education share for each 4.61 Affinity shares. Both child care providers have seen their share price fall in the last six months. Does the offer mark the start of a bidding war for Affinity?
M2 Group Ltd (ASX: MTU) completed its acquisition of CallPlus Group on Tuesday. The purchase price was $246.7 million and the deal makes M2 the third-largest internet service provider in New Zealand. M2 has been one of the best-performing stocks on the ASX over the last ten years.
Stories from the smaller end of the market
iCar Asia Ltd (ASX: ICQ) completed a capital raising on Friday at an issue price of 65 cents per share. The company raised $11.5 million in total from select institutional investors. In addition, it intends to undertake a smaller rights issue to raise up to $3.5 million.
On Wednesday, Money3 Corporation Limited (ASX: MNY) announced that it has resolved a query from ASIC regarding a former loan product. ASIC has recently conducted a review of the consumer credit industry. Money3 elected to pay a cash refund of $100,000 to some customers and reduce some of its fees.
Junior private hospital company, Pulse Health Limited (ASX: PHG), released a market update on Tuesday that included details of encouraging performance of recent acquisitions and divestment of non-core assets. The company provided figures indicating its current earnings before interest tax and depreciation run-rate is about $10.7 million.
