Australia and NZ

Australian airline Qantas has confirmed it is in discussions with a number of other airlines about potential alliances.

Shares in the national carrier have soared after it confirmed the rumours, adding that one of the airlines it is engaged in talks with is Dubai-based Emirates.

Founded in 2005 in Canada by a group of experienced drilling rig experts, Saxon Energy Services is now majority owned by oilfield services specialist Schlumberger and the largest private equity provider in the business, First Reserve.

Canadian mining company Mandalay Resources applies the principles of continuous improvement to everything it does. Creating cost-effective and stable operating conditions has enabled the company to reinvest revenue into exploration and develop a long-term pipeline of projects.

Australia’s underground mining industry is a challenging arena to work in, yet for mining and tunnelling services provider Jennmar Australia, it is these challenges that have brought about its success.

Terra Nova Minerals Inc. has signed an agreement with Geokinetics (Australia) Pty. Ltd. of Brisbane, for a 127 square kilometre 3D seismic survey.

Geokinetics will undertake the survey on the northern boundary of Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 112 on the western flank of the Cooper Eromanga Basin in South Australia.

The survey is expected to commence in early August 2012 and will include the shooting and processing of the 3D data acquired. Crews are currently in the field completing line clearing and survey work.

Vodafone Group has announced its acquisition of the New Zealand business of Telstra Corporation for £430 million.

The acquisition of TelstraClear was made through Vodafone New Zealand, the country’s largest mobile operator with more than 2.4 million customers. TelstraClear is the second largest fixed operator in New Zealand with a customer base that includes government and large corporations, and small & medium enterprises, as well as consumers. 

What is the best business book you have ever read, and why?

The Wealth of Nationsby Adam Smith. It reveals the theories that have inspired powerful economic and social changes in the world.

Someone you would most like to have met, living or dead, and why?

Warren Buffet. I admire thisbillionaire investor’s unique approach to management and investment. The opportunity might arise in the near future to have lunch with him and potentially do business together.

Airline services company Gate Gourmet has agreed to acquire catering facilities owned by Qantas Catering Group in Australia.

The catering businesses, run by Q Catering, are a Riverside facility in Sydney and a Cairns-based operation in Queensland. Both offer a full suite of catering services, including menu development; meal production; aircraft provisioning; post-arrival unloading; and dishwashing and equipment warehousing. The Cairns facility also offers cabin cleaning.

Mining giant BHP Billiton has approved investment of US$845 million to establish a replacement mining area at its Appin Mine in New South Wales, Australia.

The replacement mining area will sustain operations at Illawarra Coal and will have a production capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per year of metallurgical coal, sustaining production capacity at nine million tonnes per year.