Corporate digest

QAF

AUSTRALIA's competition regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has raised concerns over Brazilian animal protein giant JBS' proposed acquisition of pork processing plant Rivalea Holdings - which is a subsidiary of Mainboard-listed food company QAF.

QAF had in June agreed to sell the entire issued share capital of its Australian businesses Rivalea and Oxdale Dairy Enterprise to Industry Park, which is part of JBS. The estimated price was A$107.9 million (S$106 million), while the enterprise value of the entities that were to be sold stood at A$175 million.

In a statement released on Sept 16, ACCC identified certain issues that could arise if the transaction goes through successfully.

For instance, the regulator said JBS would control three of the seven export accredited abattoirs in Australia, and would have a significant proportion of pork processing capacity.

The regulator also noted that JBS will be the majority owner of Rivalea's Diamond Valley Pork (DVP) - which is the largest pig abattoir in Victoria, Australia.

ACCC expressed concerns that JBS could have the incentive to leverage its increased upstream presence to either directly or indirectly raise the costs of its downstream smallgoods or wholesaling rivals by frustrating or foreclosing their access to fresh pork.

ACCC said it is inviting submissions from market participants on the issues it has raised, and that it intends to publicly announce its final view by Dec 9.

UOB

UOB on Thursday launched an integrated green financing solution for electric vehicle (EV) businesses and end-users. This includes automotive brand owners and car dealers.

Named U-Drive, the solution provides green banking facilities including trade financing, dealer stock financing, as well as UOB's Green Hire Purchase Loan and Go Green Car Loan products.

UOB will pioneer the new solution with Hong Seh Evolution, the authorised distributor of commercial EVs from Dongfeng Sokon Automobile and dealer of BYD T3 electric vans in Singapore.

Tiong Seng Holdings

TIONG Seng Contractors, a wholly-owned subsidiary of mainboard-listed Tiong Seng Holdings, has clinched a building contract worth S$380 million, the company said in a bourse filing on Thursday.

The contract is not expected to have any material impact on the net tangible assets and earnings per share of the company for the current financial year ending Dec 31.