Anchorage Capital offloads Dick Smith; Western Union eyes off SME forex market: Midday Roundup

Private equity outfit Anchorage Capital has moved to sell its 20% stake in Dick Smith Electronics, which it bought from Woolworths two years ago.

Fairfax reports Anchorage stands to take close to $370 million in profit from the sale, which will involve broker Macquarie Capital offering 47.3 million Dick Smith shares at $2.22 a piece.

Anchorage purchased Dick Smith for $20 million in 2012 and implemented a rapid turnaround program for the electronics retailer before floating it with a market value of $520 million in November 2013.

According to Fairfax, a broad range of investors from the funds management sector are thought to be interested in taking a stake in Dick Smith, which reported a maiden full-year profit of $42.1 million last month.

Dick Smith’s share price has jumped from $1.90 in August to $2.21 this morning.

Western Union eyes off SME forex market

Western Union Business Solutions is looking to take a bigger slice of the Australian SME foreign exchange market, reports The Australian.

Kerry Agiasotis, Australian global managing director for Western Union, said the company is close to signing deals with major Australian banks and other financial institutions, which will allow it to offer foreign transfers to more local SMEs.

“We can move money around the world more effectively and efficiently than they can,” Agiasotis said.

“When you have Australian banks looking at foreign markets and continuing to grow, they may be more open to conversations.”

Shares down on open

Aussie shares have open lower this morning, with subdued activity on overseas markets affecting local investors.

However, CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael McCarthy says local stocks could rally today.

“Rallies in key commodity prices, technical buying and the release of the RBA meeting minutes may combine to produce a rise at odds with today’s regional performance,” he said.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was down 5.9 points to 5467.6 points at 11.47am AEST. On Monday, the Dow Jones closed 43.63 points higher, up 0.26% to 17031.1 points.