Nathan Tinkler’s bid to take over Orca Energy falls through; Retailers welcome action on GST-free loophole: Midday Roundup

Former mining magnate Nathan Tinkler’s attempt to engineer a reverse takeover of Orca Energy appears to have fallen through, with Orca telling its shareholders last month the proposed transaction with Tinkler’s Bentley Resources and Trepang Services will not proceed.

Orca first told its shareholders of the deal in May, with Bentley Resources and Trepang Services, an entity controlled by Nick Paspaley and John Robinson Snr, expected to invest a total of $20 million in the firm. If approved, the deal would have seen Tinkler own a 75% joint share in Orca and serve as the company’s executive chairman.

But BRW reports Orca revealed the deal would not proceed after it had discussions with the Australian Securities Exchange.

Orca said in June it “intends to continue to engage with Bentley and Trepang to potentially identify, evaluate and if appropriate, acquire or invest in value-adding assets” but the company has not yet made any further announcements.

Tinkler made news headlines earlier this week when he failed to show up to the Supreme Court of South Australia for a hearing in relation to his collapsed thoroughbred racing empire Patinack Farm. The negative publicity has continued this morning with the Brisbane Times reporting Tinkler has lashed out at a photographer who was filming him in a carpark in Brisbane.

Retailers welcome the closing of the GST free loophole

Australian retailers have welcomed the in-principle agreement between state and territory leaders to close the $1000 GST loophole on online purchases from international retailers.

The GST-free threshold for online purchases from overseas retailers has long been an issue for local businesses. However, in the past the states have disagreed about how the additional government revenue should be distributed. 

Retail Council chief executive Anna McPhee said in a statement an agreement reached by the Council of Australian Governments is an important step forward in ensuring a fairer taxation system.

“The commitment by COAG Leaders today recognises the need for action to ensure similar types of goods and services consumed domestically are taxed in the same way, irrespective of if they are purchased from a local or international retailer,” she said.

“Our submission to the Tax Discussion Paper highlighted the importance of ensuring our tax system is fair and efficient. We are encouraged so see our Leaders maintain an open mind on tax reform and recognise the importance of maintaining principles of fairness and efficiency in discussions about the design of Australia’s tax system.”

Shares down on open

Aussie shares are trading slightly lower this morning off the back of another poor showing from overseas markets.

Tristan K’Nell, head of trading at Quay Equities, said in a statement despite shares being in the red there are still signs that the market is shrugging off the weakness in resource and energy stocks.

“The Australian sharemarket is in slight negative territory to begin the day, however probably trading better than anticipated shrugging off a weak lead from Wall Street which fell on the back of disappointing earnings from its major tech companies,” K’Nell said.

“[The] weakness seen in resource and energy stocks on the back of crude falling overnight was offset by strength in the gold miners and Macquarie. Given the big banks were also in the red, not a bad day at all.”

The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark was down 8.2 points to 5606.4 points at 11.37am AEST. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones closed 68.25 points lower, down 0.38% to 17,851.04 points.