Three Australian buyouts worth $2.35 billion emerge in end-of-year deal rush

By Scott Murdoch

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian building products group Adbri Ltd and pension firm Link Group were among three takeover targets facing bids worth A$3.5 billion ($2.34 billion) made on Monday in a year-end rush of deals involving listed companies.

The spree comes as Australia's stock market experiences a late surge, with the main S&P/ASX200 Index having gained 5.6% so far this quarter as investors predict interest rates have peaked.

Total corporate buyout activity in Australia fell 23% in 2023 to be worth $99.48 billion, according to LSEG data.

However, inbound mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity from overseas buyers jumped 58% to $40.9 billion, thanks largely to Newmont Corp buying gold miner Newcrest for $19.7 billion.

Adbri shares jumped 31% after it said it was in exclusive talks with international building materials group CRH and major shareholder Barro Group for a A$2.1 billion takeover offer.

The two firms have offered A$3.20 per share for Adbri which is a 41% premium to the company's closing price on Friday.

Barro, a family-owned private Australian group, owns 43% of Adbri, and CRH, which is London and U.S. listed, has a 4.6% interest in the takeover target through a cash-settled derivative, they said in a statement.

Adbri's independent board committee has recommended the takeover and the two buyers will now undertake exclusive due diligence ahead of lodging a binding bid.

Link shares jumped 27.65% Monday after it said it had received a A$1.2 billion bid from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's largest banking group.

Mitsubishi said it held a 6.4% stake in Link and the takeover target's board recommended the bid in the absence of a superior offer emerging for the company.

Meanwhile, dental group Pacific Smiles said a A$223 million unsolicited bid from private equity firm Genesis Capital was "opportunistically timed". It said its board would consider the offer before making a recommendation to shareholders.

Pacific Smiles shares rose nearly 16% on the takeover offer.

($1 = 1.4928 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Scott Murdoch; Editing by Sonali Paul)