Farmed out

16 March 2018 By Clara Ferreira Marques

The sprawling A$50 bln Australian conglomerate plans to list Coles separately and under a new boss. Pushing out the slow-growth, capital-draining company should make Wesfarmers more appealing to investors. A broader carve-up including Britain’s Homebase would also make sense.

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Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers said on March 16 it plans to spin off its supermarket chain Coles and list it separately on the Australian stock exchange.

Wesfarmers said it plans to keep up to a 20 percent stake in Coles.

Shareholders would receive shares in Coles proportional to their existing Wesfarmers holdings, after taking into account shares retained by Wesfarmers.

The separation is expected to be completed in the 2019 financial year.

Wesfarmers struck a deal to buy Coles in July 2007 for about A$22 billion in cash and shares.

Wesfarmers shares were trading up 6 percent at around noon local time, at A$43.70.

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