Sale

QR National (ASX:QRN) stock has changed hands yesterday with a combination of a stock placement and a stock buyback from the Queensland Government's stake in the company.

• $1.5 billion in QRN stock was sold.
• $1 billion was bought back by QR National, $500 million was placed with a few large investors. 144 million shares were crossed on the stockmarket at $3.47 per share.

Australian airline carrier, Qantas (ASX:QAN) have sold its 50 percent shareholding of StarTrack Express to Australia Post.

• Qantas will receive $408 million from selling its 50 percent stake in road freight business, Star Track Express to Australia Post.
• Previously, Qantas and Australia Post owned 50 percent each of both Star Track Express and Australian Air Express.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has approved the Ten Network Holdings (ASX:TEN) sale of Eye Corp to Champ Private Equity.

• The ACCC noted that the outdoor advertising market was competitive with competitors such as APN Outdoor and JC Decaux in the marketplace.
• The deal is worth $120 million in cash from Champ, with a deferred consideration of $25 million payable three years after completion.

South East Asian gambling group, Genting has sold down its share of Echo Entertainment (ASX:EGP) in an announcement to the ASX stockmarket overnight.

• Genting had increased its stake in Echo Entertainment group earlier in the year and had sought approval from regulatory authorities to expand its shareholding.
• Genting was looking to sell 4.8 percent or 39.6 million shares in Echo Group through its broker Citigroup.

BHP Billiton (BHP) has decided to buy five tenements nearby its Olympic Dam mine from Archer Exploration (AXE) for $3 million. The deal between the companies will bring BHP to an 80 per cent interest in the five tenements at West Roxby.

A bit of good news comes from recently chastised Centro Property Group (ASX:CNP) as it confirmed the sale of its US assets to private equity company Blackstone Group yesterday. The proceeds of the sale would be used for debt repayment.

The sale was necessary to keep the bankers away from the shopping centre titan, which had $16 billion in debt before selling its US assets. Chief executive Robert Tsenin spoke about the slow restructuring.

News Corporation (ASX:NWS) has ended its relationship with Myspace by selling the once premier social networking site for $33.33 million (US$35 million), a tiny fraction of its original purchase price of $552.38 million ($US580 million) six years ago.

Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM) maybe selling more assets after its controversial deal with the merged Catalpa and Conquest, which it reportedly orchestrated. The bonikro operation is the Ivory Coast is believed to be sold off.

Analysts say that Newcrest is likely to sell Bonikro, which it acquired from Lihir Gold through a $10 billion stake. The mine produces 86 thousand gold per year, which represents 3 percent of Newcrest's production.

National Australia Bank's (ASX:NAB) New Zealand Division sold its very first covered bonds in Australia, which cut funding costs as the market grows for securities back by assets. The bank priced its $700 million five year debt for 88 basis points, which is more than the swap rate. The sale adds $2.3 billion to securities sold by the three leading banks in Australia this year.

Stockland (ASX:SGP) confirms plans of selling $200 million worth of its assets. The sale will be 20 percent of its portfolio, with negotiations already being made with interested buyers.

The sale is in line with Stockland’s “3-R Strategy”, which involves investments in retail, retirement and residential properties as the company sells smaller assets in its portfolio. Stockland owns 15 industrial properties in Australia.