Accor awaits buy- up pass
FRENCH hotel giant Accor is on track to complete its $ 1.18 billion acquisition of Gold Coastbased accommodation group Mantra early next year.
Mantra chief executive Bob East said yesterday the deal that was announced in October should be finalised by April, provided regulatory approvals were granted.
Mantra, which owns the Peppers, Mantra and Breakfree brands, manages more than 22,000 rooms across Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will conduct a public review into the deal that will create the biggest hotel operator in the country.
The acquisition also will need to obtain the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board. CONSTRUCTION work has spiked for a second straight quarter, far outpacing market expectations, but economists suggest the numbers could flatter to deceive.
The value of construction work done jumped 15.7 per cent in the September quarter to $ 61.9 billion, mainly bolstered by a 33 per cent surge in engineering work to $ 34.2 billion.
Total building work on homes and non- residential buildings such as offices and shops fell 0.4 per cent to $ 27.6 billion in the quarter.
The market had expected a decline in overall construction work of 2.3 per cent.
The outperformance was based on technical factors rather than a surge in capital expenditure, JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy said. AMAZON could go live in Australia as early as today with the US retail giant poised to take advantage of Black Friday shopping sales.
News Corp understands most of the goods going online today through the Amazon. com. au site will be tech and electrical goods, as well as some major clothing brands.
From next Tuesday, more local manufacturers and clothing brands are expected to be available on the Australian site.
Some sellers who have signed up to Amazon’s Australian platform received an email this week telling them that the retail giant will kick off an “internal testing phase” at 1pm ( AEST) today and they should be prepared to receive orders.
They were told they could also temporarily disable their account if they preferred. The email was signed off “Let’s Make History”.
Queensland clothing brand Adrift expects to start selling through Amazon’s Australian site next week.
Owner Bec Pullar said the opportunity to sell via the Amazon marketplace would be an important addition to her rapidly growing business, which began wholesaling in February and also launched in the US recently.
“While it will be an entirely new channel for Australian shoppers, we think the broad appeal of Adrift in catering to women of all ages, shapes and sizes with accessible price points will make for an interesting proposition to customers on that platform who might not have been aware of us previously,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s about giving customers options and supporting our existing channels through the process.”
The timing of Amazon’s expected Australian launch to coincide with the Black Friday shopping sales tomorrow was predicted by many retail analysts. The Friday after the Thanksgiving Day holiday is the busiest shopping day of the year in the US and it has gained momentum in Australia in recent years, with many retailers offering discounts ahead of the peak Christmas shopping period.
IBISWorld senior industry analyst Kim Do said the arrival of Amazon would undoubtedly shake up the Australian retail sector.
She said it was predicted the retail giant would challenge domestic retailers, particularly electrical goods retailers, by offering prices up to 30 per cent lower.
Australia’s e- commerce retailing is growing at an annual pace of 13.5 per cent and on track to top $ 20 billion by the end of this financial year, according to IBISWorld.