THE NEWS WRAP: Gina Rinehart makes move to become largest Fairfax Media shareholder

Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, has made a move to become the largest shareholder in Fairfax Media.

Rinehart, head of Hancock Prospecting, has taken her shareholding in the media company to 9%, with an attempt to increase this to 14%.

Last month, Rinehart’s wealth rose by an estimated $10 billion, to almost $20 billion.

Woolworths to axe Dick Smith stores

Woolworths is to close up to 100 underperforming Dick Smith stores across Australia as it looks to sell the electronics chain.

Woolworths said that a $300 million restructure of its business requires Dick Smith to be jettisoned, with a number of suitors already lining up to buy the flagging brand.

EC to probe Samsung patents

The European Commission is to investigate Samsung’s patent deals over whether they “distort competition in European mobile device markets”.

The investigation comes as Samsung is locked in a number of patent disputes with Apple.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 34.70 points, or 0.3%, to 12,619.02. The Australian dollar rose to 106.23 US cents.