Could Woodside be on the market again
John Robertson
PortfolioDirect
Could Woodside be on the market again? In 2001, Treasurer Peter Costello used the national interest provisions of the foreign investment act to block the takeover of Woodside Petroleum by global oil major Royal Dutch Shell as did Joe Hockey recently when he blocked the GrainCorp takeover after another split on the FIRB. Since GrainCorp, the government has been confronted with commercial decisions about Holden, Qantas, Yancoal and possibly Toyota. It is still finding its way but the emphasis is on unsubsided investment. Costello said he did not object to foreign ownership in Australia's LNG projects but did not want an entity with competing interests taking decisions about Australia's resources. Hockey effectively watered down that view when he released Yancoal from its undertaking to cut back its ownership of coal assets in Australia. Hockey's rationale was that investment was needed and conditions had changed.
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John Robertson is Chief Investment Strategist for PortfolioDirect a provider of resource sector investment stock ratings and portfolio strategies for mining and oil and gas investors. He has worked as a policy economist, corporate business strategist and investment market professional for over 30 years after starting his career as a Commonwealth Treasury economist in Canberra. Since being Australia's top-rated commodities analyst and chief economist at one of Australia' leading stockbroking firms, he has advised companies across the mining, consumer products, IT and biotech sectors on their equity market relations. He leads the firm's investment evaluation and security structuring activities on behalf of the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board (ASSOB), the world's first equity 'crowdfunding' investment platform. John Robertson discusses the interaction of mining and investment markets in his weekly 'From the Capital' column in Mining Journal.
John Robertson
PortfolioDirect
John Robertson is Chief Investment Strategist for PortfolioDirect a provider of resource sector investment stock ratings and portfolio strategies for mining and oil and gas investors. He has worked as a policy economist, corporate business...
Expertise
No areas of expertise
John Robertson
PortfolioDirect
John Robertson is Chief Investment Strategist for PortfolioDirect a provider of resource sector investment stock ratings and portfolio strategies for mining and oil and gas investors. He has worked as a policy economist, corporate business...
Expertise
No areas of expertise
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