Australia & New Zealand

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• Final Harry Potter Book Breaks Record With Initial Sales Monday, 23 Jul 2007 | 12:48 PM ET

  

  Harry Potter has cast a spell on readers throughout the world, who purchased millions copies of the boy wizard's final adventure, an industry data service said Monday.

• Australian Banks Count Exposure to Ailing Hedge Fund Monday, 23 Jul 2007 | 1:27 AM ET

  The fund management arms of some of Australia's biggest banks are scrambling to assess more than $264 million in exposures to troubled local hedge fund Basis Capital, which has lost heavily in bets gone wrong in the U.S. subprime crisis.

• Multiplex Formally Recommends Brookfield Bid Sunday, 22 Jul 2007 | 11:15 PM ET

  Australian construction group Multiplex on Monday formally recommended  $6.4 billion takeover bid by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management, telling shareholders it offered a substantial premium.

• NZ's Auckland Airport Backs $2.08 Billion Dubai Offer Sunday, 22 Jul 2007 | 6:32 PM ET

  New Zealand's Auckland International Airport said on Monday it backed an offer of up to $2.08 billion from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise to buy a controlling stake of between 51% and 60%.

• Borders Sells 1.2 Million Harry Potter Books on First Day Sunday, 22 Jul 2007 | 11:47 AM ET

  

  Borders Group said that its more than 1,200 Borders and Waldenbooks stores around the globe sold approximately 1.2 million copies of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" on its first day of sales, Saturday.

• Thousands Line Up for Harry Potter's Final Turn Friday, 20 Jul 2007 | 5:43 PM ET

  

  The witching hour is almost here. Thousands of would-be warlocks, sorcerers and ordinary, non-magical Muggles lined up outside bookstores from Sydney to Seattle on Friday, eager to get their hands on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final volume in the boy wizard's saga.

• Australia's Consolidated Backs New Pallinghurst Bid Friday, 20 Jul 2007 | 1:15 AM ET

  Australia's Consolidated Minerals backed a new A$752 million (US$660 million) bid from Pallinghurst Resources over a higher offer from Territory Resources, the latest salvo in a battle for control of one of the world's richest manganese deposits.

• Australia's Wesfarmers May Sweeten Coles Bid Thursday, 19 Jul 2007 | 10:44 PM ET

  Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers may sweeten the terms of its A$20 billion (US$17.5 billion) bid for retailer Coles Group as it seeks to shore up shareholder support, the Australian Financial Review said on Friday.

• Australia Hedge Fund Warns of Investor Losses Thursday, 19 Jul 2007 | 10:00 PM ET

  Troubled Australian hedge fund Basis Capital has warned investors they may only get half their money back and has appointed an accounting firm to help manage a sale of assets, according to media reports.

• Macquarie Bank Says First-Quarter Profit Is Substantially Higher Wednesday, 18 Jul 2007 | 8:29 PM ET

  Macquarie Bank, Australia's largest investment bank, said on Thursday first-quarter profits were substantially higher than a year ago, and forecast continued strong growth.

• New Zealand Inflation Robust in Quarter, Rates Seen Rising Monday, 16 Jul 2007 | 1:11 AM ET

  Consumer prices in New Zealand rose more than expected in the second quarter, heightening expectations the central bank will raise interest rates later in the month and sending the currency to a 22-year post float high.

• Australia's Rapid Jobs Growth Cools in June Wednesday, 11 Jul 2007 | 11:14 PM ET

  Australian employment growth slowed in June from the furious pace of previous months while the jobless rate ticked up from 33-year lows, easing pressure for a restraining rise in interest rates.

• Alcan Nearing Deal With Rival Suitor To Alcoa Wednesday, 11 Jul 2007 | 2:54 PM ET

  Alcan, which is fending off a hostile $28.8 billion bid from U.S. rival Alcoa, is closer to arranging a rival friendly deal and is expected to make an announcement this week, according to sources familiar with the situation.

• Qantas Board May Consider Fleet Restructure Plan Tuesday, 10 Jul 2007 | 10:36 PM ET

  The board of Qantas Airways is expected to consider a plan next week to create a separate company to own its fleet of more than 200 planes, including orders for at least 65 Boeing 787s, analysts and media reports said Wednesday.

• Australia's Woolworths Fourth-Quarter Sales Rise 9.6% Monday, 9 Jul 2007 | 9:16 PM ET

  Australia's largest supermarket chain, Woolworths, reported a 9.6% jump in fourth-quarter sales, and upgraded its full-year profit outlook, as it continues to take market share from struggling rival Coles Group.

• Australia's MBF Gets Bid from U.K.'s BUPA Thursday, 5 Jul 2007 | 10:28 PM ET

  British-owned health insurer BUPA has made a bid for Australia's second-largest private health fund MBF, possibly worth as much as $1.7 billion, newspapers said on Friday.

• San Miguel Is in Talks to Sell Australia Unit Stake Wednesday, 4 Jul 2007 | 10:55 PM ET

  Japanese food and beverages giant Kirin Holdingsis considering a $1.7 billion-plus acquisition of San Miguel's Australian dairy and fruit juice assets, the Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday.

• Australia's Oxiana Sees Zinifex Bid Benefits Wednesday, 4 Jul 2007 | 9:04 PM ET

  Australian miner Oxiana Resources considers that a merger with zinc producer Zinifex would produce benefits, the Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday.

• Southern Cross Agrees to Macquarie Media Offer Monday, 2 Jul 2007 | 11:46 PM ET

  Macquarie Media Group agreed to pay $937 million to buy the remaining stake in Southern Cross Broadcasting and sell part of SCB's assets to Fairfax Media.

• Wesfarmers, Coles Shares Fall After $17 Billion Deal Is Confirmed Monday, 2 Jul 2007 | 10:04 PM ET

  Shares in Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers and in Coles Group fell on Tuesday as trading resumed following Wesfarmers' $17 billion takeover of Coles to create the country's biggest retailer.