Nine extends tennis rights, Rio Tinto’s Turquoise Hill purchase stalled and Sandfire gains new CEO

Nine Entertainment (ASX: NEC) has extended its partnership with Tennis Australia, which will see the television giant hold the rights until 2029, under a new deal worth more than $425 million.

The new five-year deal sees Nine continue as Australia’s home of tennis, after it took over the rights from competitor Seven West Media (ASX: SWM) back in 2018, ending a 40-year partnership.

Nine Entertainment chief executive officer Mike Sneesby said extending the rights was an easy choice given the mass attraction tennis has across the nation.

“Tennis attracts both a broad and very passionate following, and is a perfect fit with Nine’s schedule, audiences and advertisers,” he said.

“The Australian Open has delivered some of Australia’s most iconic sporting moments and largest television audiences and together, we are committed to bringing these great moments to all Australians live and free.”

The latest deal struck between both parties is a significant financial increase on any of the past deals, including the previous deal between Nine and Tennis Australia, as well as Seven’s deal back in 2014.

Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) has announced its plans to buy Canada’s Turquoise Hill Resources (NYSE: TRQ) has suffered a significant setback, being postponed indefinitely, after a Canadian regulator raised public interest concerns over the deal.

After twice raising its offer for the remaining stake of Turquoise Hill, it was alleged Rio offered to pay some Turquoise Hill investors more than others for their shares in the Canadian miner.

Turquoise Hill said the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) was investigating if a side deal between Rio Tinto and dissident shareholders was legal, which has since seen the $3.3 billion takeover put on hold.

Rio Tinto aimed to finalise the deal to obtain direct ownership of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, which is 66% owned by Turquoise Hill.

Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the takeover would make things easier, while also improving efficiency and providing greater certainty of funding for the long-term success of the project.

In other news, the mining giant also announced an agreement with the Yindjibarndi people, as it aims to rebuild trust with Traditional Owners in Western Australia moving forward.

The Yindjibarndi people, located in the Pilbara, will be granted a minimum of $20 million a year over the next 10 years as payment for the miner to haul millions of tonnes of iron ore which spans over 350km of the Traditional Owners’ land.

Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive Simon Trott the deal marks the company’s ambitions to resurrect ties with its Traditional Owners.

“It is a demonstration of our commitment to working differently and truly partnering with Traditional Owners to support the achievement of their goals and aspirations,” he said.

Qantas

Australia’s leading international and domestic airline Qantas (ASX: QAN) will sell its remaining 12.4% share in travel agency Helloworld (ASX: HLO) for around $33 million.

As Qantas continues to focus on its post-COVID recovery, chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson said the time was right to finally part ways with Helloworld.

“We’ve announced some major investments this year as we focus on what is core to the group going forward, including fleet renewal, growing our network and a successful expansion into the ecommerce holiday booking space with TripADeal,” she said.

“We’ll continue to have a very strong relationship with Helloworld as a trade partner, and travel agencies in general remain an important pillar of how millions of trips are booked every year.”

In its own statement, Helloworld chief executive officer Andrew Burnes praised Qantas for its long-term investment in the company.

Mr Burnes made special mention of Qantas general counsel Andrew Finch “for his outstanding service” as a director of Helloworld over the course of the last six years.

Sandfire Resources

Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR) has announced the appointment of former BHP Group (ASX: BHP) and South32 (ASX: S32) senior executive Brendan Harris as its new managing director and chief executive officer.

The diversified miner said the appointment would help its next growth phase and capitalise on its emerging position as a multi-mine producer of copper.

Sandfire Resources non-executive chair John Richards said Mr Harris was the perfect fit for the company.

“Brendan impressed us with his broad range of skills and his vision for Sandfire to be a safe and sustainability-focused, global copper mining company that is well-positioned to meet the needs of a rapidly growing market,” he said.

“Importantly, Brendan shares the board’s views on Sandfire’s strategy for continued, profitable growth and has well-developed ideas on the implementation of that strategy.”

Mr Harris will assume the role on 3 April 2023. In the meantime, Jason Grace will continue as acting chief executive officer.

Origin Energy

Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) has received a new takeover offer from a consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM), worth $18.4 billion, which will see the company divided into two – an energy markets business and an integrated gas entity.

The latest takeover offer of $9 cash per share trumps the consortium’s previous offers, $7.95 cash per share in August, and an offer of $8.70 to $8.90 per share in September.

Origin chief executive officer Frank Calabria said the company’s recent efforts have positioned it in a strong position going forward.

“Over the past year, Origin has executed a number of important strategic initiatives that have strengthened the balance sheet, sharpened our strategic focus and positioned the company to prosper from the energy transition,” he said.

“We believe Origin is in a strong position to lead the energy transition, capture opportunities and create value for shareholders.”

If the deal goes forth, Brookfield will acquire Origin’s energy markets business and the other consortium member MidOcean would take control of the integrated gas business.

Origin marks Brookfield’s second attempt at the Australian energy market, after it unsuccessfully teamed up with billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes earlier this year to gain control of AGL Energy (ASX: AGL).