ASIC challenges AMP and Clayton Utz over failure to produce documents

As part of its investigation into AMP for charging 'fees for no service' (FFNS), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has called on the financial services firm and Clayton Utz to provide certain documents it claims have been withheld. ASIC has applied to the Federal Court of Australia for an order that ...

Cardno finds Texan star with $77m acquisition

Infrastructure and environmental services group Cardno (ASX: CDD) has come out of a trading halt to announce an agreement to acquire Texan engineering services firm Raba Kistner Inc for US$55 million ($77 million). With 470 staff, Raba Kistner specialises in construction materials testing, geotechnical engineering consulting, project...

API offers $727 million for rival Sigma Healthcare

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (ASX: API) has offered its rival Sigma Healthcare (ASX: SIG) $727 million to buy the entire business. API is hoping to consolidate its position in the face of increased regulatory processes and a more competitive market. The $727 million takeover represents a premium of 69.4 per cent ot Sigma's...

Tomas Steenackers crowned Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2018

The nation's leading businesspeople aged under 40 gathered on the Gold Coast for a night of revelry and recognition, but there could be only one outright Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2018. After Business News Australia staff scoured the country for Australia's most enterprising young business minds across 19 different...

Smart vape breakthrough for cannabis tech LifeSpot Health

LifeSpot Health (ASX: LSH) has started distribution negotiations with "key players in recreational cannabis" following production of its first medical cannabis smart vaporiser. At the time of writing shares in the Melbourne-based company were up 13 per cent, with the group highlighting significant growth in the booming cannabis ...

CannPal to file with FDA after positive and "surprising" results for cannabis pet medicine

"Having the data now to actually move forward and file an INAD is definitely what we're excited about," says CannPal Animal Therapeutics (ASX: CP1) founder and managing director Layton Mills. An INAD (Investigational New Animal Drug) application in the US may not sound exciting to most, but in pharmaceutical development it s...

Australian Young Entrepreneur Awards 2018 to acclaim the risk-takers and game-changers

Not content to rest on their laurels as the world changes around them, entrepreneurs are a forward-thinking breed for whom determination is de rigueur and risk is a reality.  As the culmination of a decade hosting Young Entrepreneur Awards and following the journeys of its participants through reportage, Business News Australia will ...

Accenture acquires Adelaide's PrimeQ, strengthening its Oracle Cloud capabilities

The acquisition of PrimeQ is set to make Accenture the largest operator of Oracle Cloud systems in Australia and New Zealand. Accenture has acquired Adelaide based PrimeQ, one of the top Oracle Software service providers in the Australia and New Zealand region. As reported by the Australian Financial Review, the sale of PrimeQ is esti...

Coincast Media cuts out the jargon, rides the blockchain wave

While prices of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have dropped this year, fortunes have been much better for a Perth-based global news and media group specialising in the blockchain that underpins the technology. With a background in financial journalism at Bloomberg, Heidi Cuthbert (pictured) founded her digital PR agency Multip...

P2P Transport's latest acquisition secures its leading taxi advertising position

Taxi and ride-share vehicle management business P2P Transport (ASX: P2P) has completed its latest acquisition, establishing the company as Australia's largest taxi advertising network. The company has acquired Nonstop Media, a national provider of "static backs" which are attached to the read of taxis and act as a platform f...

SumoSalad back in the ring with plans for THR1VE merger

Within months of struggling through the toils of voluntary administration, food chain SumoSalad looks set to merge with another company that has fallen on hard times. Led by co-founder Luke Baylis as its company director, SumoSalad has signed a heads of agreement to explore the creation of a leading "house of wellness brands&quo...

Hey, sole sister! Synxsole springs to life with Chemist Warehouse, Amazon

Frustrated by orthotics that fit poorly into fashion shoes and sports boots, podiatrist Rachael Ferguson (pictured) and Marie Ishak-Lewis tackled the problem with a solution and the result was Synxsole. Ferguson says the insoles available before she co-founded the business in 2012 often weren't therapeutic, so when patients visit...

Lottery operator Jumbo Interactive cashes in on large jackpots

Shares in online lottery operator Jumbo Interactive (ASX: JIN) have surged nearly eight percent after it released a trading update which forecast a rise in first half profit of more than double the previous period. The trading update for the half year to December 31, 2018, forecasts net profit after tax (NPAT) of $11.8 million which is a ...

IOOF shares in freefall as APRA looks to ban five senior executives

The prudential regulator has begun legal action to disqualify five senior IOOF employees from running a superannuation fund for failing to act in their members' interest, as ANZ flagged it would now reconsider its sale of its OnePath Pensions business to the wealth manager. APRA on Friday also revealed it was seeking to impose additio...

From sheep's cheese to world's best vodka: Hartshorn Distillery hits the high-end

When there's a will there's a way, and when there's whey there's...vodka? From the family sheep's milk farm south of Hobart, Ryan Hartshorn (pictured) has built a spirit producer that's the envy of the world. Hartshorn Distillery won top honours in the World Vodka Awards 2018 in London, while its gins are held in h...

Former Murray Goulburn MD hit with $200k fine

A former Murray Goulburn executive has been fined $200,000 over his involvement in the dairy group's false or misleading claims about the fixed pricing system used to forecast expected farmer payments in 2015-16.  The Federal Court approved a settlement between Murray Goulburn and the Australian Competition and Consumer...

BOQ loses second senior executive in consecutive days

The Bank of Queensland (ASX: BOQ) has lost its second senior executive in as many days, with the resignation of group executive of BOQ business Brendan White. White's departure follows Wednesday's announcement that CEO Jon Sutton would stand down to focus on his long-term health after he underwent an emergency surgery for a triple...

Zelda reaches cannabis spray deal with SUDA

Perth-based Zelda Therapeutics (ASX: ZLD) is set to develop oral spray formulations for its cannabis medicines thanks to a deal reached with SUDA Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: SUD). SUDA will apply its proprietary OroMist oromucosal spray tech for Zelda's pharmaceutical-grade formulations under a 12-month plan, as part of t...

Snack Brands signs $400m pre-lease deal in Sydney's west

Iconic chip company Snack Brands has secured one of Australia's largest industrial developments of 2018 on a new state of the art 30,000 square-metre pre-lease facility in Erskine Park in Sydney. Snack Brands, whose products include CC's, Thins, Kettles and Cheezels among others, has committed to both a pre-lease facility and adja...

National Veterinary Care continues Australian domination with new acquisitions

Tomas Steenackers' (pictured) National Veterinary Care (ASX: NVL) has been picking up clinics at a rapid pace this year, and has just finalised its latest round of purchases. The veterinary clinic operator announced today that is has completed the settlement of its fourth clinic over the last month alone. This final acquisition br...