James Hardie quietly discloses debt blowout in $14b Azek deal
Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show the merger is expected to cost $US300.6 million ($467 million) to complete, almost entirely interest expenses related to a bridging loan. This is higher than the $US270.4 million investors were told earlier this year.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
16 minutes ago
- ABC News
Inspections begin on fire-stricken Grosvenor mine ahead of full re-entry
Inspectors have entered an underground coal mine in central Queensland for the first time since an explosion sent miners fleeing to the surface more than a year ago. A Queensland Mines Rescue Service team took the first steps into Anglo American's Grosvenor mine on Wednesday, wearing protective equipment and respirators to carry out "preliminary reconnaissance inspections". The mine was evacuated and sealed after methane gas ignited, creating an underground inferno on June 29 last year. Black plumes of smoke blanketed the nearby town of Moranbah, where residents were told to stay indoors and keep windows shut. A similar explosion at the same mine in 2020 seriously injured five workers. The brief reopening of the mine follows approval by the industry regulator. The Mining and Energy Union has also lifted its ban on entry. Anglo American said it finished safety preparations last week. That included the unsealing of mine shafts, which were first closed last year to starve the underground blaze of oxygen. Mine general manager Shane McDowall said the first re-entry was a "significant milestone." Mr McDowall said staff would re-enter the mine once safety inspections were finished, but mining would not restart for some time. "Our crews have stepped up in amazing ways — solving problems, adapting technology in innovative ways, and rethinking how we do things underground," he said in a statement. Mining and Energy Union industry safety and health representative Jason Hill said while some sites had recovered from similar levels of damage, no-one on the ground believed mining would restart at Grosvenor any time soon. "There's nothing to say it can't return into a full production. It's just a matter of identifying what happened," he said. Mr Hill said one of the hazards would be the lining around mine shaft, which had deteriorated in the fire, damaging the surrounding structure. "It's a matter of monitoring and ensuring that there were no issues that were going to pop up," he said. Mining is also on hold at a neighbouring Anglo American mine, which was also damaged by an underground fire last year. The Moranbah North mine was first evacuated in April 2024, after reports of a dangerous carbon monoxide leak that was later confirmed as an explosion and fire. Nobody was injured in the incident. Anglo American chief executive officer Duncan Wanblad told investors this month it was costing $55 million a month to pay staff and maintain operations at both Grosvenor and Moranbah North. He said the company planned to restart operations at Grosvenor "later this year", with Moranbah North to follow in 2026. In November 2024, Peabody Energy entered a $5.7 billion deal to buy Anglo American's four steel-making coal mines in Queensland, including the two that remained out of action. But the restarting of longwall mining at Grosvenor was a condition of the final sale price. Mr Wanblad told investors he believed both companies still wanted the deal to go ahead. However, Peabody described the explosion at Moranbah North as a "Material Adverse Change" to the deal, saying it would provide an update on its position later this month. Mr Wanblad said any decision to go ahead with the purchase would "ultimately be a Peabody decision".
AU Financial Review
2 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
Cowin-backed plant-based meat start-up buys US fake chicken rival
A plant-based meat manufacturer backed by billionaire businessman Jack Cowin is acquiring American plant-based chicken producer Daring Foods in the hope that the consolidation will make it easier to turn a profit. Tim York, chief executive of v2food, declined to detail the purchase price but said Daring Foods generated annual revenue of about $30 million from products sold in thousands of stores, including Walmart and Whole Foods.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The rogue's gallery behind Labor's flagship ‘top' deal for workers
It was touted as the deal that would stop 'the race to the bottom': Labor's ambitious proposal to bring workers under one banner to bargain with multiple employers under the same conditions. But a year after signing its new multi-employer bargaining agreement into law, the industry organisation behind the first deal with a union has become a rogue's gallery of business owners facing claims of trading while insolvent, multimillion-dollar debts to the tax office and offensive social media content targeting gender-diverse people and migrants. Championed by the Labor government for delivering 'best practice standards' for employees, the HVAC Manufacturing and Installation Association became the first industry body to sign a multi-employer bargaining agreement in 2024 after winning support from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union. However, more than a year after signing the agreement, the association has no office, no phone line and no functioning website as its members face growing scrutiny. The association, which represents businesses in the air-conditioning and ductwork industries, was founded by seven ventilation heavyweights in December 2022, months after Labor proposed introducing laws that would facilitate collective employee bargaining across multiple businesses. HVAC association director Darren Beecroft faces a debt of $530,000 to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) while calling for American-style immigration raids on Australian construction sites. Former HVAC association director Sergio Gonzalez owes creditors and the ATO more $2 million while amassing a personal fortune to fund a professional football field in his front yard. The liquidated air-conditioning business of HVAC founder Gavin Ohlback and his partner Scott Smith, which once sponsored a car racing team, owes $1.8 million to the tax office. The multi-employer bargaining laws were designed to bring companies with a single interest together to guarantee workers' conditions and prevent opportunistic rivals from undercutting pay and conditions. Former workplace minister Tony Burke said the laws would start a 'race to improve job security' the day after the manufacturers' union and HVAC association signed the agreement in March last year.
