Australian Markets

Franchise brand manager, Allied Brands (ASX:ABQ) have placed franchise, Cookie Man for sale following a NSW Supreme Court liquidation order handed down last week. Cookie Man has around 50 outlets, 46 of which are franchised and four company-owned. The company had recently revealed that the US owners of the Baskin Robbins brand, Dunkin Brands, had threatened to terminate the company's master franchise agreement for Australia, an agreement which is still in dispute.

Copper miner, CuDeco (ASX:CDU) has announced that it has raised $20 million in capital, from placing 10 million shares at $2 per share, to fund development of its Rocklands copper project. The investor is now holding 6.84 percent of Cudeco, and its identity is still a secret, but will be revealed in the coming days.

CFS Retail Property Trust (ASX:CFX), the retail property business of global investment manager Colonial First State, is expected to raise $600 million for the purchase of the troubled four DFO centres at South Wharf, Essendon and Moorabbin, and Sydney's Homebush DFO centre from parent company Austexx.

The CFS Retail Property Trust was yesterday placed in a trading halt on the Australian stock exchange, ''pending the announcement of a significant transaction''.

Private health care provider, Healthscope (ASX:HSP) have had competing healthcare companies attempting to headhunt staff from the company. HSP is a takeover target, with shareholders voting in favour of the $2.7 billion deal with Asia Pacific Healthcare Group, a joint-venture between US private equity firms Carlyle Group and TPG Capital – which will assume control of the company on October 12.

Australian telecommunications company, TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG) have announced their profit results. The company has been successful in luring broadband customers from its competitors and the company is now looking at the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Rail freight business, QR National, will be Australia's biggest Initial Public Offering (IPO) since the final Telstra (T3) sell off in 2006. The prospectus for the QR National float is scheduled to be released on October 10, with expectations of the company reaching the ASX top 50 by late November.

Australia's largest department store chain, Myer (ASX:MYR) has released a statement stating that annual profit for the company may rise as much as 10 percent from store refurbishments and new outlets. The company estimates that earnings before items will rise between 5 percent and 10 percent in the 12 months ending June 2011 from the fiscal 2010 profit of A$169 million ($158 million).

Australian Diversified Financial company, Challenger Financial Services Group (ASX:CGF) has proposed to make $850 million, or 40 percent, of funds from the Howard Mortgage Fund, which was frozen in October 2008. The proposal, if approved by fund members on 28 October 2010, will see the capital made available to investors by December 2010.

Hospital operator, Healthscope (ASX:HSP) has had their takeover bid by private equity firms The Carlyle Group and TPG Capital approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). The takeover is valued at $2.7 billion, with 100 percent acquisition including Healthscope's private hospitals and pathology operators.

The world's third largest mining conglomerate, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) has raised it's shareholding of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd, a Canadian mineral exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Ivanhoe Mines is focused is on the Pacific rim where it is in the process of developing several large mines, the principal one being the Oyu Tolgoi Project in Mongolia.