Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO)(ASX: XJO) and ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) indices finished higher on Monday.
Here's a quick recap of the Aussie market:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 0.5%
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 0.5%
- AUD/USD at US 77.62 cents
- Gold at US$1,274 an ounce, up 0.1%
- Oil at US$49.29 a barrel, down 3%
Leading the market higher on Monday were shares of Mantra Group Ltd (ASX: MTR) and Select Harvests Limited (ASX: SHV), each of which announced a takeover.
Shares of Mantra Group, the hotels and resorts operator, jumped 16% higher today following an announcement that Accor S.A. is conducting due diligence and has made an indicative non-binding proposal of $3.96 per share. Mantra said the discussions are "incomplete" and a deal would be subject to a number of conditions.
Select Harvests, the almond producer, also announced a takeover offer today. It said Mubadala Investment Company PJSC had offered to acquire the company for $5.85 per share via a scheme of arrangement that was "non-binding, indicative and highly conditional". Given the key terms of the proposed deal and a thorough review of its operations, the Select Harvest board concluded:
"These and other factors, taken together from a Select Harvests shareholder perspective, persuaded the Board not to engage in the Indicative Proposal at its headline value."
Also leading the market higher today were shares of Cimic Group Ltd (ASX: CIM), which rose 2.3%, and Nine Entertainment Co. Ltd (ASX: NEC), which finished over 5% higher.
At the other end of the ASX's performance tables, shares of Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) fell 2.9% while South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) dropped 1.8%.
Here are today's top stories:
