The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up by 1.2% today to 6,757 points.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:
Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) asset sale and traffic update
The toll road operator revealed that it has agreed to sell a 50% interest in its Chesapeake assets to AustralianSuper, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and UniSuper for gross sale proceeds of AU$2.8 billion, plus a potential earn-out between FY24 and FY26 of up to AU$93 million.
Chesapeake comprises Transurban's Greater Washington Area operational assets.
Transurban said the sale introduces strategically aligned partners with a track-record of working alongside Transurban in Australia on assets in Queensland and Sydney. The roll road business said that AustralianSuper, CPP Investments and UniSuper each bring significant infrastructure investment experience and relationships to the partnership.
The Transurban Chesapeake partners have exclusive development rights to invest alongside Transurban on future brownfield and greenfield opportunities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, State of Maryland and Washington DC as well as enhancements to existing concessions.
Transurban CEO Scott Charlton said: "This transaction realises significant value for security holders while enabling accelerated growth in North American and Australia, where we see a number of opportunities starting to materialise.
"The Transurban Chesapeake partners are committed to growing alongside Transurban in North America and we look forward to pursuing new opportunities with their financial and strategic support."
The Transurban share price went up 1.2% today.
Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME)
Pro Medicus announced today it had signed a 5-year, $18 million deal with MedStar Health. The company's Visage technology will replace MedStar's legacy PACS across 10 hospitals, representing the largest health system in the Maryland and District of Columbia (DC) region.
The contract is for the full suite of Visage 7 modules, including Visage 7 Viewer, Visage 7 Open Archive and Visage 7 Workflow. The Visage 7 platform will be fully deployed in the public cloud using the Google Cloud Platform.
Pro Medicus said this contract is a transaction-based model with potential upside, and it extends Pro Medicus' rapidly growing footprint North America.
The Pro Medicus share price went up by 3.3% today.
Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)
Auto parts business Bapcor released another trading update today.
The company was pleased to tell investors that its strong growth has continued since the October trading update.
For the five months to the end of November, group revenue was up around 26%. Management said the company was achieving operating leverage from lower expenses in areas such as travel and other areas of discretionary expenditure, as well as lower interest rates and the contribution from Truckline which was not included in the prior corresponding period.
For the first half of FY21 Bapcor is expecting to achieve revenue growth of at least 25% over the prior corresponding period in FY20, with net profit after tax (NPAT) increasing by at least 50% compared to the prior corresponding period.
Darryl Abotomey, Bapcor CEO and managing director, said: "We are very pleased with the strong performance of Bapcor's businesses. Trade and wholesale represent over 80% of Bapcor's business, with retail at approximately 20%. Historically, trade focussed businesses perform solidly in difficult economic conditions – which is again borne out of Bapcor's current performance."
Bapcor also said that the construction of the new Victorian distribution centre is progressing well. The company said this is an exciting development that will deliver significant operational benefits.
The Bapcor share price went up around 3% today.
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)
The Zip share price went up 1% today after the buy now, pay later business announced a capital raising and the successful completion of the placement.
Zip said that it has raised $120 million before costs through its fully underwritten placement at a raising price of $5.34, which was a 4.1% discount to the last traded price on 16 December 2020.
Larry Diamond, the managing director and CEO of Zip said: "The additional growth capital will enable Zip to capitalise on the successful acquisition of QuadPay in the US, scale Zip's operations in the UK, lead the active pursuit of global growth opportunities and support the launch of Zip Business."
Zip said that some of the raised money will be used to acquire Spotii, a BNPL operator headquarterd in the UAE as well as Twisto which is a payments platform operating in Czechia and Poland, with the ability to passport licensing across the EU.
