Contents

1. December 1995 and 1996
2. 1997
3. 1998
4. 1999
5. 2000

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December 1995 and 1996

Dalziel Is New MD Of Mayne
Australian Financial Review 11/23/1995

THE chairman and acting managing director of Mayne Nickless , Mr Ian Webber, sprang a surprise last night when he announced the appointment of top retailing executive Mr Bob Dalziel as managing director of the transport and health group.

"Bob is a very positive, enthusiastic person, strongly customer-oriented and with a marvellous understanding of the role we need to adopt in servicing complex clients' needs," Mr Webber said.

Mr Dalziel is the latest in a string of senior executives who have left Coles Myer in recent years.

Dalziel's Leap Into The Unknown
Australian Financial Review 11/23/1995

As one shareholder said last night: "Bob's a larger-than-life character, and a very good people manager. But he doesn't know anything about transport, health care or communications. Why didn't they hire someone like (TNT Europe managing director) Alan Jones? That would have added 50c to the share price immediately."

Analysts covering the retailing and transport sectors were stunned and flabbergasted by the appointment.
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Inside Coles Myer it is acknowledged that Dalziel - a physically imposing, charming and entertaining man - could probably sell sand to the Arabs.

However, he will need far more than his polished discount retailer's style to convince bruised Mayne Nickless shareholders to stay on board.

Mayne Poaches Chief Of Coles Discount Stores
The Age 11/23/1995

The transport, logistics, health care and security group, which has a 25 per cent stake in Optus, said it chose Mr Dalziel after an extensive international hunt.

Mayne Nickless ready to sell UK armoured car operations
Australian Financial Review 19 Jan 1996

MAYNE Nickless chairman and acting chief executive, Mr Ian Webber, last night unveiled yet another potential asset sale when he said the UK armoured car operations had been put on the auction block.

Stock of the week.
BRW, 1/22/96, Vol. 18 Issue 2, p72, 1/3p

Abstract: Reports that brokerage firm, Prudential Bache, considers Mayne Nickless' stock undervalued on the basis of its shareholding in Optus.

MAYNE NICKLESS LIMITED: Extracts From Chairman's Address (Part A) FROM CHAIRMAN'S PRESENTATION TO THE EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING - 13 FEBRUARY 1996
Australian Stock Exchange Company Announcements 02/13/1996

When I spoke to you in November last year I outlined the Company's program of divesting non-core assets. At that stage we had announced our withdrawal from general security in North America and Europe, as well as the sale of the Spanish express freight business - all businesses that did not meet our strategic criteria.

Subsequently, we have divested our express courier activities in the United States, Mayne Nickless Courier Systems, and announced our intention to divest our UK armoured car operations, Security Express Armaguard.
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In November I referred to our intention to raise funds through a US 10-year bond issue. I am pleased to be able to report that the issue attracted extremely strong support. We had originally sought to raise US$250 million, but because of the strong investor demand the final issue was increased to US$350 million.
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The net proceeds raised from the issue will be used to repay existing debt, principally associated with the acquisition of AME.

Outlook
The net profit however will be lower than the same period last year primarily because of an increase in our interest expense.

Optus float
The Optus Communications float is expected later in 1996,

Dalziel Takes An Option On Better Times
The Australian 14 February 1996

Abstract -- Business Intelligence Australia Pty Ltd
Mayne Nickless' managing director, Bob Dalziel, has pledged to shareholders he will lift the company's performance to acceptable standards within three years; shareholders voted unanimously at yesterday's extraordinary meeting to approve an incentive-based directors' share option scheme; - - - -

Mayne Nickless Warns Of Profit Slip
Source: Sydney Morning Herald 14 February 1996

Abstract :: Business Intelligence Australia
Mayne Nickless chairman, Ian Webber, has forecast a lower half-year profit- - - - - Bob Dalziel has been appointed managing director of the company, and has had one million share options issued to him; Webber says the company expects a significant improvement in revenue and earnings from health care, - - - - - -

`The Mayne Link Between Incentive And Outcome
The Australian 17 February 1996

Mayne Nickless set new standards in corporate governance this week when its shareholders unanimously endorsed what could prove to be a landmark share option scheme for new chief executive Mr Bob Dalziel.
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One million options were granted to Mr Dalzeil and 400,000 options to executive director Barry Catchlove, - - - - - - - . But to get their shares, Mr Dalziel and Dr Catchlove must deliver prescribed " improvements" in the share price of the underperforming conglomerate. (20% during first 3 years, 30% by 4 years and 35% over 5 years)
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If the final profit is achieved Mr Dalziel would be sitting on a $2.1 million profit and Dr Catchlove $840,000.
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As well as achieving share growth the company must raise its earnings per share by 7 per cent compound annually, over a three year period from June 30 1995.

Moving targets. -The new managing director of Mayne Nickless is fighting wars on many fronts-
Bulletin (Sydney), 20 Feb 1996 : (46)-48

- - - -Bob Dalziel, describes - - - the company is focussing on its logistics and health care services, and wants to be the market leader in both; - - -

A Running Start For Mayne's New Chief
The Age 02/21/1996

Bob Dalziel says his modus operandi is to make change happen.
- - - -- - - - But the lasting impression left by Mr Dalziel, the new managing director of Mayne Nickless, is that he means just what he says.
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A series of abnormal losses over recent years has wiped away much of the core operational profit from Mayne's transport, logistics, health care and security businesses.
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To rectify market perception that it was too widespread, Mayne set about offloading about $300 million of what it termed non-core assets to refocus on its prime operations.
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And Mr Dalziel has set himself a tight deadline. He aims to have visited every Mayne Nickless facility by the end of March.
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By July, as Mayne rules off its books for the 1995-96 year, Mr Dalziel believes the company will have a clear blueprint for expansion.
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Institutional dissatisfaction with Mayne's performance was the catalyst behind the most recent wave of rationalisation within the group.
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``You have to assume our performance has been pretty flat for the past four years,'' Mr Dalziel told The Age. ``We've committed ourselves to a steep improvement
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We're in the business of growth, so the next three to four years will be very exciting.

Optimism For Optus Creates Mayne Chance
Australian Financial Review 03/01/1996

MARKET optimism about the outlook for Optus Communications buoyed shares in Mayne Nickless Ltd yesterday, despite Mayne announcing a 32 per cent drop in net earnings in the December half to $50.1 million.
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The chief financial officer of Mayne Nickless, Mr Shane Tanner, said yesterday that Mayne was committed to staying as a shareholder in Optus Communications until 12 months after Optus was floated, before reconsidering its position. "You are really talking the end of 1997 and obviously that's quite a long way out," he said.

Nickless shares soar despite earnings fall
Sydney Morning Herald - 01 Mar 1996 p.39

Mayne Nickless shares continued to spiral up yesterday on the rerating of its investment in Optus Communications, overshadowing the announcement of a 32 per cent slump in December half net earnings.
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Meanwhile, Mr Tanner said it was difficult to provide a profit outlook due to uncertain economic conditions, but he conceded the second half would be lower than the first.

Mayne Sells Out Of US Courier Group
Sydney Morning Herald, 01/03/1996,

Mayne Nickless Ltd's $120 million sell-off of non-core businesses is drawing to a close with the sale yesterday of the group's US courier operation.

MAYNE NICKLESS LIMITED: Allocation Of Options To Executive Directors (Part A)
Australian Stock Exchange Company Announcements 03/07/1996

- - - Directors have today allocated 1,000,000 and 400,000 executive share options respectively to Mr Robert Rae Dalziel as Managing Director and Dr Barry Rex Catchlove as Chief Executive Officer, Health Care of Australia,

Mayne Nickless out of security
Sydney Morning Herald 09 May 1996

Mayne Nickless will sell MSS Security Services to Chubb Security Holdings Australia Ltd for about $41 million, completing the divestment of its general security operations.

Mayne Nickless House finds a buyer at last
Australian Financial Review 14 May 1996    

The high-profile Mayne Nickless House office building on Melbourne's St Kilda Road is being bought - - - - - after a year on the market. The sale, however, is understood to be at a significant discount to the expected $40 million.

Mayne Nickless drives into downgrades lane
Sydney Morning Herald 15 May 1996   

The rash of profit downgrades by Australia's leading industrial companies spread into the transport sector yesterday with Mayne Nickless declaring it would fail to match last year's result amid reports that industry analysts have halved their estimates for TNT's net profit.

Mayne Nickless dubious about its profit chances
Australian Financial Review 15 May 1996

Mayne Nickless Ltd yesterday became the latest blue chip to warn shareholders that profits will not match earlier expectations, and Mayne will again have to dig deeply into reserves if it is to maintain the dividend payout.

Mayne Switches In Bid For Added Value
Australian Financial Review 05/30/1996

Only three months ago, Mayne Nickless Ltd was seriously considering dumping its established transport and health-care businesses and transforming itself into a telephone company.

Yesterday it did the opposite.

Newly appointed chief executive Mr Bob Dalziel revealed, after announcing Mayne's intention to offload its $1 billion-plus shareholding in Optus Communications Ltd, that the board gave serious consideration to making Optus the sole focus of its operations.
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While the review process has several months to run, yesterday's announcement makes it plain that Mr Dalziel sees Mayne's prime focus as being transport logistics, express freight and health care.
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There would be offshore acquisitions and joint ventures, as the health care arm expands into Asia and as logistics moves for growth in North America and Europe. There would also be opportunities for organic growth in both divisions in Australia.
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He (Mr Dalziel) described health care as a capital-intensive business which offered "exceptionally good" and stable returns over long periods.

Mayne Game: $1bn Strategy Shift
Australian Financial Review 05/30/1996

Mayne Nickless Ltd will sell its investment in Optus Communications in a surprise $1 billion-plus withdrawal from telecommunications and will reinvest the proceeds in its core transport and health-care operations.
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Analysts yesterday estimated the 25 per cent stake to be worth around $1 billion.

Mayne to quit its Optus stake
Sydney Morning Herald - 30 May 1996 p.29

Bob's bold step needs big plan.
Sydney Morning Herald - 30 May 1996 p.29,32

BOB DALZIEL yesterday made the bravest decision for a new chief executive for some time - deciding to sell an investment on the verge of excellent growth on the promise that he can generate a higher return on the $1 billion-plus in proceeds.
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- - - - won't win universal praise. There is a question mark over both the timing and just how Dalziel plans to spend the cash.

While Dalziel last night was adamant that Mayne has no need to own passive investments like Optus, it certainly proved a saviour in recent years as the transport and health care group lost its way.
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Apart from Mayne's nascent health care operations, there was not much apart from Optus offering any prospect of acceptable earnings growth.
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At every opportunity, the Mayne board made it quite clear that it wouldn't part with the Optus investment.
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Dalziel could go down in corporate history as the man who handed over $500 million to others and was unable to achieve a consummate improvement in Mayne's value from its operations.
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By September, Dalziel expects to be in a position to outline his grand vision. This will be awaited with a lot of interest. Mayne's hiring of Dalziel from a retail background at Coles was viewed as a surprise, given the strategic and operational problems the company is facing.
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His plan will need to be a real winner.

Optus fans give Mayne raspberry
Australian Financial Review 31 May 1996

Mayne Nickless managing director Bob Dalziel and chairman Ian Webber yesterday received a rude reminder of why many of their institutional shareholders hold Mayne Nick shares: phones, phones and more phones.
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As soon as the news sank in that Mayne Nickless was getting out of the telephone business for good - via the disposal of its shareholding in Optus Communications - the market gave the shares an awful drubbing.

Analysts Stick With Mayne Despite The Lack Of Detail
Australian Financial Review 05/31/1996

It is rare to get analysts to say they like a company that won't reveal where it's going, but that is exactly what seems to be happening with Mayne Nickless.
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In return for the market's faith, he offered little but vague promises of a refocusing on core businesses, a mention of a possible debt reduction and brief reference to a capital return.
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Mr Dalziel said on Wednesday he was re-taking the reins at Mayne. "We want to control our destiny, and we will not achieve that through passive investments," he said.
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"By capitalising Optus future growth today, Mayne Nickless has the potential to reinvest into its core businesses of health care and logistics, rather than rely on external management for future growth.
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"You don't need to be a genius to guess they are going to make acquisitions on the health-care side, and they do have a very good logistics business.
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Its health-care business - Australia's largest private, for-profit hospital group - is seen as providing the best returns and the highest growth over the next few years.
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After this? Industry watchers suggest that after debt reduction and a probable $1 a share capital return to shareholders, the health-care business is where the action will come.
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Observers regard Mayne's health-care business as easily the market leader in private hospitals, managing one out of every three beds.

Investors dump Mayne
Sydney Morning Herald - 31 May 1996

Mayne Nickless's share price dropped 37c to $7.28 yesterday as investors damned its decision to quit its 24.99 per cent stake in Optus Communications.
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Analysts said that without Optus the shares were worth only $6.50 and until Mayne's strategic review was completed, in three months, the stock would remain weak.

Mayne may return $350m to its holders. Business.
Sydney Morning Herald - 05 Jun 1996

Mayne Nickless is considering handing back up to $350 million to shareholders via a capital return or by offering shares in Optus Communications at a big discount to the issue price when the telecommunications group floats.

DALZIEL GIVES MAYNE NICKLESS NEW FOCUS
Business Review Weekly 09 Jun 1996

Selling its Optus stake gives the company cash for its health-care operations and allows it to go deeper into the world logistics industry. Less than six months after Bob Dalziel was made managing director of Mayne Nickless, the company is selling its 25% stake in Optus Communications and is on the verge of announcing a $200 million-plus acquisition in the United States or European logistics industry.
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However, the market expects it to spend $300 million in a capital return to shareholders (or about $1 a share), another $300 million on reducing debt and the rest on acquisitions and organic growth.
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However, strong focus on this area has been softened slightly by Dalziel's signal that Mayne Nickless will also be expanding its health-care business closer to home. He says a large proportion of the Optus sale proceeds will be dedicated to its health-care business. It has already wrapped up three big joint ventures in Indonesia, involving commitments of $100 million over the next four years, and is seeking similar partnerships elsewhere.
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Dalziel says the group wants to expand into radiology and pathology over the next few years. Pathology and radiology remain highly diversified industries, ripe for the same consolidation process that occurred in private hospitals 10-15 years ago.

Dalziel says the group will also increase its relationships with state governments through the management of public hospitals and the location of public and private hospitals on shared sites.
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Dalziel realistically has only a year to persuade investors of the merits of the strategy or face a tumbling stock price and inevitable pressures from the board.

Mayne weighs the options. Bond Street
Sydney Morning Herald - 10 Jun 1996 p.32

They (institutional shareholders ) have told the Mayne's boss, in no uncertain terms, how they would like the company to divest its shareholding. And with the company saying it wants to become an active manager again, Mr Dalziel is virtually forced to listen to what the fund managers are saying or risk losing their support postOptus.

Mayne Assessing Interest In Optus Stake
Sydney Morning Herald 06/21/1996

Mayne Nickless wants an expedited sales process because the board is leaning strongly towards selling the Optus shares as part of the second carrier's float later this year.

Security Exit May Cost Mayne $60m
The Age 06/27/1996

Lead Paragraph (LP) Mayne Nickless faces a $60 million loss from its foray into the British general security industry after agreeing to sell its operation for just E4 million ($A8 million).
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``This transaction completes Mayne Nickless' exit from the European security sector and follows the divestments in October 1995 of its 49.55 per cent shareholding in GMIC Security, a Belgian security company, and its earlier divestments of Security Express Alarms in the UK and Cinsesa, a Spanish security alarms business.''

Mayne Completes European Retreat
Australian Financial Review 06/27/1996

Lead Paragraph (LP) Mayne Nickless Ltd has completed its retreat from the European security sector by selling its Security Express Armaguard business in the UK for 4 million ($A8 million).

Mayne loses $64m on sale
Sydney Morning Herald 26 Jun 1996

Mayne Nickless has suffered a book loss of about $64 million after selling its loss-making UK armoured car division, Security Express Armaguard, for $8 million.

Big three transport giants paring back to the core
Australian Financial Review 27 Jun 1996

The kingpins of the transport sector have been staging their own sale of the century over the past 18 months. It is set to continue - - - - -

BRIEFS -- MAYNE'S CHIEF IN EUROPE RESIGNS
Australian Financial Review 07/09/1996

Mayne Revamp In Europe
The Age 07/09/1996

Mayne Nickless is set to bring forward a planned restructuring of its operations in Europe and North America following the sudden resignation of its European chief executive, Mr John Cole, on Friday.
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Mayne has been disappointed by its performance in Europe, where it has been plagued by operational problems and, in the case of Britain, intense market competition.

Mayne Nickless: D-day on Optus
Sydney Morning Herald 10 Jul 1996

Mayne Nickless will reveal this morning how it will sell its 25 per cent shareholding in Optus Communications - with a public float still considered the most likely outcome.

Mayne opts for Optus float
Sydney Morning Herald - 12 Jul 1996 p.21

Mayne Nickless in untested waters
Sydney Morning Herald 22 Jul 1996

MAYNE Nickless has looked at investing a significant portion of the proceeds of the sale of Optus in Purolator, a large Canadian-based express freight company.

End of the road
Australian Financial Review 25 Jul 1996

The Australian trucking industry has become so ruthlessly cost-effective that the corporate icons who built it can't compete any more. Bob Mills explains why.

The Market Demands To Hear The Mayne Objective
Australian Financial Review 08/09/1996

The managing director of Mayne Nickless Ltd, Bob Dalziel, has been working on a strategic review of the company since January. He unveils the strategy next week and Mark Skulley reports that the reaction will be crucial for both Dalziel and Mayne Nickless.
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Meanwhile, the market would be happy to hear that Mayne is expanding its investment in Australian health care, particularly given a Federal Coalition government supportive to encouraging private health insurance, an ageing population and higher life expectancy.

Private operators win wider role in public health system
Courier Mail 14 Aug 1996

The state government has opened the door for the private sector to increase its involvement in Queensland's public health system.

Queensland Health has appointed officers to work specifically with the private sector on projects.

- - - - has shelved plans to allow privately operated public hospitals to go ahead - - - - - - the government was happy for Queensland to remain the only state in Australia which did not have a privately run public hospital.

Mayne To Carve Up Optus Pie
The Age 08/15/1996

Mayne's managing director, Mr Bob Dalziel, told a briefing in Sydney that a larger part of the proceeds from its 25 per cent holding in Optus would also be used to fund business growth. He said that about two-thirds of the capital funds raised from the sale would be invested in the group's growing health-care operations. The rest would be used in other businesses and to retire debt.
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Over the past two years, more than 65 per cent of the group's total investment capital has gone into health care, including $50 million into pathology in the past year alone.

Mayne has eye on overseas targets
Sydney Morning Herald - 15 Aug 1996

Mayne Nickless is set to embark on a substantial international acquisition program as it prepares for a new strategic focus following the sale of its 25 per cent stake in Optus Communications.

Mayne's managing director, Mr Bob Dalziel, said yesterday the company had identified a substantial acquisition opportunity in France, two in Canada and two relatively small ones in Australia.
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Mr Dalziel also said Mayne Nickless would grow by "customer bridge building".

"We don't believe we always have to buy businesses to grow," he said. "We are going to grow our business by moving into different markets as often as possible with existing clients."
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Following a comprehensive review of the company's operations, Mr Dalziel said Mayne Nickless had developed a strategy based on four commitments:

* to focus on three business streams - health care, time critical express and contract logistics;

* to put priority on investing in the health care division over the next two to four years;

* to be more customer driven;

* to change from an Australian company operating internationally to an international company operating regionally, with its principal ownership in Australia.

Mayne revamps to target health care
Courier Mail 15 Aug 1996

Mayne Nickless is to slash its business units from 21 to 11, - - - - - and switching its growth focus to the burgeoning health care sector.

Mayne Takes Healthy Punt On Its Future Bottom Line
The Age 08/16/1996

MAYNE Nickless's briefings of analysts earlier this week was clearly aimed at getting the message across to the market that there is life after Optus. The sub-text to the message is that Mayne plans to aggressively pursue a high-growth replacement for its Optus investment.
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The briefing, however, appears to have caused something of a rethink, with the Mayne share price responding immediately yesterday to the disclosure of Mayne's plans for the billion-dollars-plus of cash and $400 million-plus of profit it will generate from selling its 25 per cent interest in Optus.
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It is health care on which Mayne has clearly set its target as its primary business. Mayne's Bob Dalziel told the briefing that, of the funds released by the Optus sale that were reinvested in operations (some of the funds are earmarked for debt reduction) two-thirds would be devoted to expanding the health care business.

Mayne To Cut 500 Jobs At At Express Freight Arm
Sydney Morning Herald 08/16/1996

Mayne Nickless will cut up to 500 jobs from its newly formed Australian express freight division, Mayne Nickless Express, as part of a major restructure.
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On Wednesday, Mr Dalziel said 150 jobs already had been shed following the merger of Wards/Skyroad, Security Express, Jetsroad, Ipec Road, Parceline and the Ipec Specialised Services businesses.

The Mayne Numbers Game
Australian Financial Review08/19/1996

Investors last week happily pushed Mayne Nickless shares to a two-year high, content about two key factors in the company's future

Dynamo In Mayne's Power Surge
The Australian 19 Aug 1996

Abstract (from Business Intelligence)
The article profiles Mayne Nickless under new md Bob Dalziel; the company's achievements under his management have included completion of its asset sales program, a restructure of its remaining operations into three core streams, a board revamp, and plans for an aggressive Asian expansion; Bob Dalziel's main priority in the short-term is to boost Mayne's profits; he discusses the strategy he adopted upon becoming md, which was to refocus the company's direction; Mayne's main growth priority will be its healthcare division; the company share price has risen considerably since he took the helm, and may reach $A10 by mid-1997; Sally Jackson.

Acquisitive Mayne eyes opportunities
Courier Mail 19 Aug. 1997

"We have acquisitions most certainly in healthcare that we are looking at all the time." He (Dalziel) said.

Budget Healthy For Mayne Nickless
The Australian 20 Aug 1996

Abstract (Business Intelligence Australia)
A two-year high is experienced for the value of shares in Mayne Nickless, the biggest private hospital group in Australia; the Australian Budget, to be announced today, is strongly expected to contain incentives for people to move into private health insurance;

Mayne Nickless on the mend
Australian Financial Review 02 Sep 1996

Mayne Nickless Ltd reckons to have cleared the decks after a big write-off in abnormals led to an 85.4 per cent slump in net profit to just $11.6 million for the year to June 30. Managing director Mr Bob Dalziel yesterday labelled the results as "unsatisfactory" - - - -

Mayne gears up for '97. Business.
Sydney Morning Herald - 03 Sep 1996 p.25

Mayne Nickless's net profit plunged 85.4 per cent to $11.6 million in the June year, but the directors believe they have cleared the decks for an improved performance in 1997 and beyond.

"Most of the hard stuff has been done", Mr Bob Dalziel, Mayne's managing director, said yesterday.

Mayne Nickless On The Mend
Australian Financial Review 09/03/1996

Mayne Nickless Ltd reckons to have cleared the decks after a big write-off in abnormals led to an 85.4 per cent slump in net profit to just $11.6 million for the year to June 30.
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The star performer was Mayne's health care division where revenue increased 70.4 per cent to $520 million, while earnings before interest and tax rose 46.6 per cent to $69.4 million.

Mayne Looks Ahead To Strong Year
The Age 09/03/1996

The Mayne Nickless managing director, Mr Bob Dalziel, yesterday predicted a big improvement in profit in calendar 1997 after announcing that net profit had dropped 32.8 per cent to $85.1 million in the June year.

There was strong growth in the health-care division, but core earnings were eroded by Armaguard Australia, the group's logistics operations in France, its British express freight arm Interlink Express, and a sharp rise in interest costs associated with the group's 25 per cent shareholding in Optus.

Text (TD)  Compounding this were abnormal losses of $109 million. This included a $69-million writedown on the British armored car business it sold earlier this year, and a writedown of almost $24 million on the goodwill value of its poorly performing logistics businesses in Holland and Belgium.
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But an upbeat Mr Dalziel foreshadowed a strong turnaround over the next year, and said the company was assessing possible acquisitions in North America, France and Australia.
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``We're looking at the 1997 year as being a very positive year for us.''
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* Outlook optimistic - expects significantly improved results from European logistics, health care and after the sale of 25 per cent Optus stake.

Health Care Lights Way For Battle-worn Mayne
The Advertiser 3 Sep 1996

Abstract (Business Intelligence Australia)
Bob Dalziel, says that the 1996-97 financial year will see a much brighter result; Mayne Nickless' main areas of business are health services, express freight and logistics; - - - -

MN Profit Slump 'unsatisfactory'
Daily Commercial News 4 Sep 1996 

Abstract (Business Intelligence Australia)
Transport and health services company Mayne Nickless reports a net profit fall of 85.4%, to $A11.6m, for 1995-96; the company describes the result as unsatisfactory, - - -

Institutions Eye Mayne's $1.2bn Optus Stake
Sydney Morning Herald 09/09/1996

Mayne Nickless is under pressure from its institutional shareholders to hand over the whole of its $1.2 billion stake in Optus Communications in the coming entitlement issue.
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However, Mayne Nickless's largest shareholders have been pushing the group's management to reserve all of the shares for an entitlement issue, ensuring their access to Optus.

Caring for Optus not Mayne's game
Sydney Morning Herald 09 Sep 1996

SHAREHOLDERS in Mayne Nickless are well within their rights to lobby hard that all the company's Optus Communications shares should be distributed to them rather than used to bolster the size of the impending float. Accommodating Optus Communications should not be a concern for Mayne Nickless.

A private bonanza
The Australian Financial Review September 11, 1996

While the Federal Government tries to get its health policy right, investment markets have more confidence in the shape of the future. In the third article of a special series on the health industry, National Business Correspondent Alan Deans reports - - -

ABSTRACT: Australasian Business Intelligence
the article is the third article in a series of articles on the health industry in Australia; this article discusses the private health sector and the need for an increase in investment in that sector and a greater number of players; - - - - - -

Mayne Nickless has Optus gift
Sydney Morning Herald 30 Sep 1996

MAYNE Nickless shareholders are expecting a very handsome gift. The word is that they will receive a large tax-free capital return with their entitlement to shares in Optus Communications - - -

MAYNE NICKLESS COMMITTED TO A 1996 FLOAT OF OPTUS COMMUNICATIONS
Australian Stock Exchange Company Announcements10/18/1996

Mayne Nickless today re-affirmed its commitment to achieving a float of Optus Communications in 1996.

Optus insists its float will go ahead
Sydney Morning Herald - 19 Oct 1996

Optus Communications and its major shareholder, Mayne Nickless, were adamant they had a solution to float the $4.5 billion telephone group this year, despite a potentially damaging legal dispute between its pay TV offshoot, Optus Vision, and Seven Network.
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The dispute has placed in doubt this year's public float of Optus Vision's 46.5 per cent owner, Optus Communications.

Windfall may be on way for Mayne
Sydney Morning Herald 23 Oct 1996

MAYNE NICKLESS shareholders could receive an even bigger windfall under one plan being considered to give them the entitlement to all of Mayne's stake in Optus Communications carrier comes to fruition.

Tug Of War Over Best Time For Optus Float
The Age 11/04/1996

IT now seems likely that even if the listing of Optus Communications goes ahead this year as expected, it will not be accompanied by a new capital-raising from the public. A series of unexpected hurdles has suddenly appeared and the midnight oil is being burnt by those trying to put together a float.

It looks as though anything that requires underwriting will be too risky and therefore too expensive: - - - -
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In fact, there is still a good chance that a listing of Optus won't go ahead this year at all, in which case it could drift years into the future.

The man pushing hardest for a fast float is Mayne Nickless's chief, Bob Dalziel, who is desperate to get his company expanding into his chosen fields, having decided that telecommunications is not one of them.

Webber to step down next year
Australian Financial Review 13 Nov 1996

Ian Webber is set to step down as chairman of Mayne Nickless Ltd early next year, after a decade and half as the company's fulcrum as executive and chairman.

Mayne confident Optus will float by end of year.
Sydney Morning Herald - 13 Nov 1996 p.31

Optus Float Dispute Impasse
Herald Sun 13 Nov 1996

 Abstract (Business Intelligence Australia)
Optus Communications chairman Russell Fynmore says a settlement of the legal dispute with the Seven Network is still a possibility;

Optus Will Be Floated This Year: Mayne
The Age11/13/1996

Mayne Nickless yesterday expressed confidence that the $4 billion float of Optus Communications would be concluded this calendar year despite a series of unresolved issues that threaten to postpone the telco's public listing.

Mayne chief formulates his prescription
Australia's Business Review Weekly 18 Nov. 1996

Now he has brought Mayne Nickless out of intensive care, Bob Dalziel is considering his next move, which will reshape the health and transport conglomerate. In doing so, he is relying on common sense, rather than consultants, to guide him.
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By the time Bob Dalziel eventually sat around a table with the seven senior executives of Mayne Nickless, he had been in charge of the company for two months.
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When Bob Dalziel started work at Mayne Nickless in mid-January, the first people he went to see were the institutions - "the owners", as he calls them. He visited 15 of them, one after another, with Mayne's chief financial officer, Shane Tanner. At the February board meeting he was able to give directors the news: the company's involvement in Optus probably had to go.
-----------------------
The big winner was Barry Catchlove, head of Health Care of Australia - Mayne's burgeoning health care division. This, it was decided, was where the company's future lay. Two-thirds of future expenditure would go into health.
-----------------------------------
Is Mayne Nickless likely to remain a two-business conglomerate: transport and health care? Hardly. It is more likely that Dalziel will persuade the Mayne Nickless board to spend $1 billion or more on a new acquisition in a different field, "a new health care", as he puts it.

From the company's only business a century ago, express freight now represents 17% of its assets, earns a margin on sales of just 3% and grew by only 3.5% last year. Now under the management of former Coca-Cola executive Phil Smith, the parcels division is clearly under pressure to justify its existence.
--------------------------
The company that bears their names is no longer the parcels company they began, but is now mostly a health care provider - and Australia's first fully integrated one at that. So what's it doing in the freight business?

Mayne chief formulates his prescription
Business Review Weekly 18 Nov 1996

Abstract: (Business Source Premier)
Profiles Bob Dalziel, head of Australian-based Mayne Nickless. His involvement with Mayne Nickless; His management style; The history of Mayne Nickless; The business of Mayne Nickless; How it has adjusted to changing market forces; Chances that the company will focus more and more on the health care business in the years to come; Future areas of expansion for Mayne Nickless, including Canada; Details.

EDITOR'S NOTE
Business Review Weekly 11/18/1996

There is hardly anything less popular in today's sharemarket than a diversified conglomerate, as Mayne Nickless chief executive Bob Dalziel has been continually reminded in his first year in the job. Special correspondent Alan Kohler explains how Dalziel has gone about the task of remaking Mayne Nickless. He has done so, for the most part, using the existing executives. He has shied away from consultants, arguing that the conclusions flow from "common sense": the decision to quit Optus was largely made for him by the company's institutional shareholders. The question of what kind of a business Mayne Nickless really thinks it is remains. Dalziel is thinking of applying the funds raised from Optus to a fresh acquisition, possibly in a new line of business. The biggest part of the business is now its health-care division, which is pursuing innovative strategies. The challenge is to display similar innovation elsewhere in the business.

Chairman's Address:-- MAYNE NICKLESS LIMITED:
Australian Stock Exchange Company Announcements 11/26/1996

- - - - - given the new shape and strategic direction of the Company that has emerged under the stewardship of a new-look Board and the Managing Director, Bob Dalziel.
------------------
Let me say at the outset that the Board and management believe that our profit performance for the last financial year was disappointing.
----------------------
Ideally, I would have liked to have been in a position to outline in detail what is being proposed, but that is not possible at this stage, as there remain outstanding matters, such as Channel 7's decision to seek a court ruling in relation to seek a court ruling in relation to its shareholders' agreement with Optus Vision. It is inappropriate for me to comment, to speculation on a matter that is now before the courts.

Mayne Nickless dives
The Age 28 Nov 1996

Investors wiped almost $80 million off the market capitalisation of Mayne Nickless yesterday as uncertainty about the group's 25 per cent stake in Optus Communications escalated.

Seven Action Delays $4.5bn Optus Float
Sydney Morning Herald 11/30/1996

The planned $4.5 billion sharemarket listing of phone group Optus Communications was delayed indefinitely yesterday because of a potentially damaging legal action by Seven Network.

1997

Mayne Nickless up on talk of Optus peace deal
Sydney Morning Herald 16 Jan 1997

Mayne Nickless shares jumped 15c to $8 yesterday on rumours of a settlement of the stoush that held up the $1 billion-plus float of Optus Communications. There was strong talk that pay TV group Optus Vision had reached a settlement with the Seven Network over a potentially explosive court battle

Mayne: Optus peace plan.
Sydney Morning Herald - 28 Jan 1997

The efforts to end the bitter pay TV dispute between Seven Network and Optus Vision will intensify this week with Mayne Nickless to unveil a proposal aimed at breaking the deadlock and paving the way for the float of Optus Communications.
--------------------------------
It is understood the Mayne Nickless proposal involves not only a cash payment to Seven but a complete restructuring of Optus Vision's ownership.

Mayne Nickless prays for a way.
Sydney Morning Herald - 30 Jan 1997

MAYNE Nickless desperately needs some form of resolution at today's Optus Communications shareholder meeting if it is to have any hope of selling its 25 per cent stake in the phone company this year.
----------------
The biggest problem is Kerry Stokes over at Channel 7. He has initiated legal action against his fellow shareholders in Optus Vision for various breaches of shareholder agreements.

Optus Vision $170m loss
Sydney Morning Herald - 28 Feb 1997 p.29

Optus Vision has suffered a staggering $170 million loss for the six months to December, sending the pay TV industry into a sea of red ink that now totals more than $1 billion.

The loss compares with a full-year deficit of $159 million in 1995-96 and $48 million for the previous corresponding period.

Mayne slides on fear of div cut. Business.
Sydney Morning Herald - 12 Feb 1997

The slide in Mayne Nickless shares continued yesterday, with the stock falling 4c to $7.68 in the belief that the group might be forced to cut its dividend this year.

Any reduction would be related to Mayne's inability to offload its 25 per cent stake in Optus Communications.
-------------------------
The delay has seen Mayne Nickless's gearing levels jump to more than 80 per cent
---------------------------
Institutional investors and analysts are concerned that Mayne Nickless's credit rating may be lowered if its debt levels are not attended to soon. This has led to speculation that Mayne Nickless may have to bring forward the sale of other assets, such as the group's transport assets in Britain and Canada.

Mayne Suffers 13.8pc Fall
Australian Financial Review 02/28/1997

Mayne Nickless Ltd is looking for improved second-half earnings after a 13.8 per cent fall in interim net profit to $43.14 million.
-------------------------
Mr Dalziel said that health acquisitions such as the private hospital interests of Australian Medical Enterprises and three pathology businesses bought last year had exceeded expectations.
-------------------------
Mr Dalziel said the company was continuing to investigate accelerated growth strategies in health care and express freight, but that growth would be hurt if the company had not sold its Optus stake by June-July.

Mayne Warns Of Intention To Exit Optus By July
Australian Financial Review 02/28/1997

"There is no doubt that if we do not exit Optus by June-July it will inhibit our ability to grow this business," he (Dalziel) said at the announcement of Mayne Nickless' interim earnings.

"That's what we've advised the ratings agencies and that's what we intend to do. We do not want, we cannot allow, our failure to get out of Optus to impair our growth opportunities."
------------------------
Mr Dalziel would not reveal the detail of the four Optus exit options.

Mayne Plan To Sell Optus Before $2b Europe Bid
The Age 02/28/1997

Mayne Nickless will finalise a strategy to sell its 25 per cent stake in Optus Communications by mid-March, allowing it to bid about $2 billion for Europe's largest private hospital operator, Generale de Sante. ------------- It is understood Mayne has made the short-list of companies to buy Generale de Sante from French utilities giant Generale des Eaux.

Generale de Sante is Europe's largest hospital operator and the fourth largest in the world, - - - -
--------------------------
The news that Mayne could get out of Optus by July was the main factor in its shares rising 11 cents to $7.67. Revenue from the expanded health-care services division soared 50 per cent

Mayne $2bn French plan
Sydney Morning Herald February 28, 1997

For Mayne to be able to lodge a serious bid it would need to be confident of getting the funds from selling its shareholding in Optus Communications. This sale is expected to raise between $700 million and $1 billion.

Optus float has been finally sunk
Sydney Morning Herald 28 Feb 1997

BOB DALZIEL at Mayne Nickless seems to have finally conceded what many people have believed for a while - Kerry Stokes has derailed the Optus Communications float. Now Dalziel can get on with the job of working out another way of getting rid of Mayne Nickless's 25 per cent stake in Optus Communications
-----------------------
The Mayne Nickless core business performance could be described only as mixed and in line with expectations.

The star performer was once again the health care division which boasted a 44 per cent improvement in earnings before interest and tax. The full contributions from some acquisitions helped this along but even without this boost it is clear that health care is the growth business within the Mayne Nickless stable of assets.
--------------------
The problem for European logistics operators is that they are beginning to witness the same problems the UK participants have been feeling for a while -increasing competition and dwindling margins.
-----------------
But the success of health care, relative to the other two divisions, demonstrates that the tail is increasingly wagging the dog.
-----------------------
And the market probably will react well to moves to increase the weighting towards health care.

Buy-out Sets Up Optus For Float
The Age 03/29/1997

The marathon legal battle over the loss-making pay television company Optus Vision has been settled, with the parent, Optus Communications, buying out its partners.

The complicated settlement removes the main obstacle to a multi-billion-dollar float of Optus Communications, - - -

Optus To Float As Dispute Settled
Sydney Morning Herald 03/29/1997

Mayne Waits For Word On $1b Health Bid In France
The Age 04/01/1997

Mayne Nickless is pressing ahead with a bid for Europe's largest hospital operator, Generale de Sante, and expects to know by this weekend whether it has snared the French company.

The bid - expected to be around the $1 billion mark - is the first leg of Mayne's plan to build an international health-care business centred on Europe.
-------------------------
Senior Mayne executives have been in Paris for the past month poring over Generale de Sante's books
----------------------
Mayne wants to take a majority stake in Generale de Sante, leaving the French parent with a small interest.
----------------------
Last month this was cut to a short-list of four, including Mayne.
----------------------
Mayne's managing director, Mr Bob Dalziel, has his sights on Europe as the desired area of growth in health care.

Mayne In $1bn French Bid
Sydney Morning Herald 04/01/1997

The bid - tipped to be about $1 billion - is the first leg of Mayne's ambitious plan to build an international health care business centred on Europe.
---------------------
THE BIG HOSPITAL RUSH
---------------------
* Targeting Europe because of large health privatisation
* Bidding for Generale de Sante, Europe's largest hospital operator
* Private health industry has huge growth potential worldwide with strong profit margins

Optus Winners And Losers
Australian Financial Review 04/02/1997

Last Friday's three-way settlement of the Optus Vision litigation drama - - - - The winners are Mayne Nickless managing director Bob Dalziel and Seven Network chairman Kerry Stokes.

`Mayne off short list for French group
Sydney Morning Herald - 05 Apr 1997

- - -- but Australia's Mayne Nickless has missed out.

Webber steps down at Mayne Nickless
The Age 08 Apr 1997

Mayne Nickless's long-standing chairman, former managing director and occasional artist-in-residence, Mr Ian Webber, yesterday retired from the board after 15 years of overseeing an expansion and restructuring of group operations.
--------------------------
When Mr Webber joined in 1982, Mayne Nickless was little more than a national trucking group. He headed the company through the 1980s, extending the core business overseas and adding several new arms, such as courier and express freight, logistics management, health care and later, telecommunications.

Nerves rule as Mayne Nickless dips
Australian Financial Review 07 May 1997

Shares in transport and services group Mayne Nickless fell yesterday as investors became wary of the prospects for its partly owned Optus Communications.

Mayne Restructuring Claims Another Victim
Australian Financial Review 05/16/1997

The chief executive officer of Mayne Nickless Express, Mr Phil Smith, has suddenly departed - - -
--------------
The surprise move follows the departure in recent months of other key executives from the express businesses, including Mr Bob Hudson and Mr Vince Johnson, the heads of two of the main five express operations.
--------------------
It is understood that more management changes are likely to occur in the coming months, followed by further staff redundancies as different business systems are integrated.

Axing Halts Optus Float
The Age 06/14/1997

Sweeping leadership change at Optus, including the dumping of the chief executive, Dr Ziggy Switkowski, appears to have dashed plans for the group's long-awaited $4 billion float this year.
----------------------
Mr Bob Dalziel, the chief executive of the 25 per cent Optus shareholder Mayne Nickless, has been appointed Optus's deputy chairman and will act as non-executive chairman for now.

New Man At Optus Has To Fix Pay TV
Sydney Morning Herald 06/14/1997

The new chief executive of Optus Communications, Mr Peter Howell-Davies, has been handed the difficult task of fixing the company's heavy losses in pay TV after the resignation of Dr Ziggy Switkowski from the position.
---------------------
Optus Vision is expected to post a loss of about $340 million in the year to June. Unless the losses can be stemmed, the sharemarket float will be indefinitely delayed.

Shareholders Pressure Optus To Quit Pay-TV
Australian Financial Review 06/16/1997

Optus Communications' new management wants to quickly restructure and eventually sell its loss-making pay-TV operation as part of a strategic shift designed to re-establish the company as a specialist telecommunications carrier

Canberra asked to ease rules on Optus (foreign ownership)
Sydney Morning Herald - 27 Jun 1997

The Federal Government has been approached to relax the foreign ownership conditions in Optus's licence in a move that could allow Cable and Wireless to take majority control and provide an exit strategy for other shareholders.
------------------------
Cable and Wireless is looking to buy BellSouth's 24.5 per cent stake in the telephone company.

Cable and Wireless also would require approval from the Federal Treasurer, Mr Costello, under the provisions of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act to go above 49 per cent.

New look for Optus on D-day
Sydney Morning Herald - 01 Jul 1997 p.27

Optus Communications is set to announce a major shake-up of its ownership structure possibly as early as today - the day Australia's telecommunications market enters a new era of deregulation.

Breakthrough On Optus
Australian Financial Review 07/02/1997

British telecommunications giant Cable & Wireless plc has secured the right to control Optus Communications after agreeing to a $1 billion cash and asset swap with US shareholder Bell South for its 24.5 per cent stake.

The deal brings to an end one of the most acrimonious and tortured sagas in the telecommunications industry.
--------------------
It also paves the way for Optus's long-delayed float and places Cable & Wireless in a position to run the company. The deal values Optus at $2.20 a share.

Mr Bob Dalziel, who is Mayne Nickless's managing director and Optus's acting chairman, said last night that the restructure would pave the way for Optus's float to proceed as soon as possible.
------------------------
The proposal still requires authorisation under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act as well as an overturning of the current foreign investment conditions relating to Optus which restrict any one foreign investor to 24.5 per cent of Optus.

Mayne Sees Daylight At The End Of Optus Tunnel
The Age 07/03/1997

This has been a horrible year for Optus and Mayne and one that has forced Dalziel to become a near full-time Optus dealmaker as crisis after crisis has forced difficult negotiation after difficult negotiation.
----------------------
The Government won't prevent Cable & Wireless from moving to 49 per cent of Optus and will probably allow it to exercise sufficient of the 299 million options it was issued this week to move to outright control and the ability to consolidate Optus in its own accounts.
---------------------
While the Optus float and Mayne's exit from the register have been delayed until next year at the earliest, most of the issues that derailed the planned float this year have either been resolved or are now more easily capable of being resolved. That light at the end of the tunnel is starting to look like daylight.

The Day Optus Shareholders Nearly Pulled The Plug
Australian Financial Review 07/04/1997

So it was, then, that when Bell threatened to call in the liquidators, Dalziel went toe-to-toe. Having moved to Mayne two years ago from the ruthless corporate environment of Coles Myer, and becoming increasingly frustrated because he wanted to float Optus and sell his shareholding, Dalziel had to play tough and so made his own threat of liquidation.
---------------------------
Now all that remains is the Government's approval. The noises out of Canberra are positive so far.

Mayne Nickless in key deal with CRI
Australian Financial Review 18 Aug 1997

Mayne Nickless Ltd is to outsource its property services under a strategic agreement with CRI, continuing the trend by major corporates to reassess the impact of property on their bottom lines.

CRI wins service deal
Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday, 19 Aug 1997

Mayne Nickless yesterday appointed the property development and project management company CRI as a preferred supplier of property services including advice, project management, development management and financial structuring.

Mayne close to deals on Europe sales
The Age, Tuesday, 19 Aug 1997

Mayne Nickless is in final negotiations with several bidders for a possible sale of its logistics businesses in western Europe, a move expected to raise about $250 million. While analysts expect Mayne Nickless to sell the businesses in the Netherlands, - - -

Mayne retreats from Europe
The Age, Thursday, 21 Aug 1997

Mayne Nickless has retreated from the European continent by selling its two European logistics businesses for 930 million French francs ($A202 million). Faced with a similar choice of "get big or get out" in Canada, Mayne Nickless is negotiating ...

M Nickless Gets Out Of European Ventures
Australian Financial Review 08/21/1997

Managing director Mr Bob Dalziel said yesterday the company had concluded that long-term and viable European logistics operators had to "get big" or get out..
---------------------
Mayne has sold the contract logistics businesses - Heijden Logistics in the Benelux region, and France Distribution System (FDS) in France

`Mayne sells logistics in Europe for $202m
Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday, 21 Aug 1997

Mayne Nickless has sold the bulk of its European contract logistics operations, once touted as a key driver of future growth, for $202 million to United Kingdom-based group Hays. The move again highlights Mayne's focus on its healthcare division, where it is directing 70 per cent of capital expenditure and development funds.
-----------------------------------
Meanwhile, Mayne finance director, Mr Shane Tanner, said last week's decision by the Foreign Investment Review Board to allow British telecommunications group Cable & Wireless to take a majority stake in Optus "paved the way" for Optus to float next year.

"We'd love to think it will be in the first half but, realistically, we have to resolve complicated pay TV issues," he said

Truck majors in 10pc pay deals
Australian Financial Review, Thursday, 28 Aug 1997

Major trucking companies are close to conceding the Transport Workers Union's latest wage claim, with Mayne Nickless, Brambles, Discount Freight Express and McPhee Transport all believed to be offering pay rises of 10 per cent in negotiations - - - -

Asia is the arena for refocused Mayne Nickless.
Corporate Finance, Sep97 Supplement Road Ahead Issue 154

Abstract: Focuses on the expansion of Mayne Nickless Ltd. in Asia. Metamorphosis of the company into a health care specialist; Coping with exotic exposures - - -

Mayne Nickless not happy with $100m profit
Sydney Morning Herald 02 Sep 1997

Mayne Nickless's annual net profit has jumped to $100.29 million, enabling the health care and transport group to launch a $175 million capital raising to help pay for expansion plans.

The annual profit for the year to June was a vast improvement on 1996's $11.6 million profit when Mayne booked one-off losses of $108.77 million.
------------------
Still, Mayne's managing director, Mr Bob Dalziel, said: "We're not happy with the result. We've got a lot more to do."
--------------------
Health Care of Australia's revenue jumped 38.3 per cent to $720.3 million, with EBIT soaring 41.5 per cent to $95.8 million. The company will "fast-track" growth in health care.

Mayne's reforms bring dividends
The Age, Wednesday, 03 Sep 1997 (387 words)

Mayne Nickless's extensive efforts to restructure operations and sell loss-making businesses are finally showing signs of success, with the group's full-year pre-tax operational profits breaking above $200 million for the first time.
--------------------------
Mayne Nickless is now firmly fixed on an Optus float for the third quarter of 1998, and it will reconsider its involvement if those plans are again put on the backburner.

Freight business may be sold after $12m loss
The Age, Wednesday, 03 Sep 1997

Mayne Nickless is considering selling its Australian express freight businesses, Ipec and Jetsroad, after the units lost $12 million in the year to June.
------------------------
Mr Dalziel said directors were not satisfied with the group's results. He said express freight businesses could generate significant improvements, and health care was still a young business.

IPEC and Jetsroad face dead end if they stall
Australian Financial Review, Wednesday, 03 Sep 1997

Mayne Nickless yesterday warned it will dump its loss-making IPEC and Jetsroad road freight operations within a year if they fail to turn a profit.
------------------------
The sale threat comes after Mayne and its two big transport groups, Brambles and TNT, have already exited general freight markets because of tight margins.

`Optus stake jams Mayne profit
Australian Financial Review 03 Sep 1997

Stronger profits and a blossoming health-care division were yesterday insufficient to mask continuing disappointment in Mayne Nickless Ltd's inability to quickly offload its $1 billion
Optus stake.
-----------------------
However, Mayne Nickless was unable to offer shareholders any prospect that it could sell its 24.9 per cent stake in Optus ahead of the third quarter next year and instead said it would commit to its share of another $400 million capital injection into the group.
-------------------------------
"We are not happy with this result and there is a lot more to do," he said. "We are only now, after two years of pretty solid reconstruction . . . starting to produce not just volume growth, but profitable growth."
-----------------------------
The key driver of the group's earnings was once again health care, which returned a 41.5 per cent increase in pre-tax earnings to $95.8 million with revenue up 38.3 per cent to $720.3 million.

"We are unhappy with the returns but this is a young and immature business," Mr Dalziel said. Mayne Nickless is the world's sixth-largest health-care operator.
------------------------
In April, it withdrew from the $1 billion race to buy Europe's largest private hospital operator, Generale de Sante. But yesterday Mr Dalziel ruled out any major acquisitions in the current year.

(Fulcrum)
The Age, Wednesday, 03 Sep 1997

Returns now the Mayne concern MAYNE Nickless is a radically different company now from the big, lumbering heavy haulage conglomerate of the 1980s. Thank heavens. Its management have ceased whingeing about the intractable problems on the waterfront or the lobbying to get big trucks on little highways.
-----------------
Big Bob Dalziel has made a big difference. As he bellowed down a bleak video-conference line into Mayne Nickless's boardroom yesterday, he made no bones about what he thought of failed businesses.
------------------
Health care is long-term and there seems little doubt about that.

Cashed-up Mayne sets date for Optus float.
The Australian September 3: 1997

Mayne Nickless has set a deadline of September 30 next year for the float of Optus Communications otherwise it will revert to exiting its 25 per cent stake through a trade sale.

`Mayne deals bolster cash reserves
Courier Mail 3 Sept. 1997

- - - Mayne's annual results which showed a solid recovery in profit after tax - - - -
------------------------
Mayne's managing director, Bob Dalziel, said that the company was "not happy with the result" overall because it still included poor performance from some areas.
------------------------
The group has been undergoing an internal revolution in the nearly 2 years - - - - -
---------------------
That more ruthless approach has seen Mayne quit 11 businesses in that time - - - -
------------------------
The best-performed sector of Mayne's business - - - - was Health Care of Australia - - -
--------------------------
HCoA has been diversifying into Diagnostic services - - -

`Deadline set for Optus float
Courier Mail 3 Sept. 1997

Partners in Optus Communications have set a deadline of September 30, 1998, to float the company

`Health care growing pool for big fish, says giant
Courier Mail 8 Sept. 1997

Mayne Player Plans Hospital Spree
Australian Financial Review 10/18/1997

Mayne Nickless Ltd's Health Care of Australia plans to spend up to $300 million this financial year on domestic hospital privatisations and to boost the division's revenue by 40 per cent to more than $1 billion.
---------------------
Dr Catchlove said Mayne Nickless was committed to spending 80 per cent of its 1997-98 capital expenditure budget on health-care acquisitions, which managing director Mr Bob Dalziel has described as the engine room of the diversified industrialist's profit growth

No More Money For Optus'
Australian Financial Review 11/07/1997

But he said more "rationalisation of the pay-TV market and the achievement of a competitive local telephony market" were required before any sale could proceed.
----------------------
Two thirds of Mayne Nickless's capital budget is earmarked to expand healthcare operations, which it is hoped will generate revenue of $1 billion next financial year.

Mayne To Fix Express Units
The Age 11/07/1997

The underperforming road express operations have been singled out for attention. In addition, the company will focus on its expanding healthcare business as a growth priority in both Australia and Asia.

Mayne will earmark two-thirds of its "medium term" new development capital for investment in this business. Healthcare assets are now valued at $958 million and account for 32 per cent of Mayne's asset base of $3 billion.
-----------------
- - - - - the same could not be said for its Australian and Canadian time-critical express -priority parcel and document delivery service - businesses. A poorer performance by these two units led to an EBIT decline of 12.1 per cent

Business kicks in on health
Courier Mail 15 Nov. 1997

MAYNE NICKLESS LIMITED: Chairman's Address To Shareholders
Australian Stock Exchange Company Announcements 11/24/1997

I would like now to turn briefly to last year's performance by the Company. It certainly showed significant improvement over the previous year, even though it also reflected the continuing restructuring of the Group.
------------------------
Despite that outcome, we recognise that we must achieve better returns on shareholders' funds. Our future strategy is clearly committed to that objective.
-------------------------
Briefly, the health care group reported a good result. The time critical express businesses in the United Kingdom performed well, but in Canada and Australia were somewhat disappointing.
-----------------------
In health care, we have strong joint venture partners in the Kalbe group in Jakarta and PT Ready Indah in Surabaya. Our investment to date is about $40 million and HCoA has assessed the market carefully. The new facilities are in areas of high demand from the growing middle class population, our target niche for quality health care services.
--------------------
Mayne Nickless will continue to work towards the opportunity for an early float of Optus but, of course, we would consider carefully any alternative divestment path which might prove more advantageous to our shareholders, should it arise.

Mayne Nickless seeks rise for non-executive directors
Australian Financial Review 24 Nov 1997

Mayne Nickless Ltd shareholders will be asked to approve a $150,000 rise in the maximum total remuneration payable to non-executive directors at the health care and transport group's annual meeting in Melbourne this morning.

Mayne to cut Optus exposure
Australian Financial Review, 25 Nov 1997

Diversified industrialist Mayne Nickless Ltd may sell its quarter interest in Optus Communications in a trade sale, denying shareholders the opportunity to gain exposure to a potential public float of the telecommunications group next year.
-----------------------
Mr Dalziel, who is also acting chairman of Optus, said he was focusing on divestment of the Optus stake with the board's blessing.
-------------------
MAYNE LOOKS TO BUILD GLOBAL HEALTH-CARE CHAIN

Mayne Nickless Ltd has formed a high-level executive team to examine avenues for expansion of its Health Care of Australia arm and create a major international health-care group.

Mayne likely to quit Optus before float
Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday, 25 Nov 1997

Mayne Nickless has indicated for the first time that it is seriously considering offloading its $1 billion stake in Optus Communications before the proposed float of the telecommunications and pay television company next year.

Mayne to consider options on Optus sale
The Age, Tuesday, 25 Nov 1997 (471 words)

Mayne's $1.1b Optus Stake "tying Up Funds"
The Courier-Mail 25 Nov 1997

 Abstract:- Business Intelligence Australia
The Mayne Nickless involvement in Optus is tying up funds and even making it difficult for Mayne to raise money.

Mayne Admits Optus Burden
Herald Sun 25 Nov 1997

 Abstract::- Business Intelligence Australia
Rayner and Mayne md Bob Dalziel believe uncertainty surrounding Optus is having an adverse impact on Mayne's credit rating.

Limited options left for Mayne
The Age, Wednesday, 26 Nov 1997

Mayne Nickless' frustration at its inability to extricate itself from its investment in Optus Communications appears to be mounting. Its impatience resurfaced at this week's annual meeting when it flagged its interest in reviving the trade sale option - - - -

HCoA preferred choice for Noosa Hospital
AMAQ Dec 1997

Getting serious on a trade sale
Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday, 04 Dec 1997

After two years of trying to arrange a float of Optus Communications, its 25 per cent shareholder, Mayne Nickless, seems to have almost thrown in the towel and is moving more aggressively to sell its holding via a trade sale.

$48m loss for Mayne Nickless
Australian Financial Review 31 Dec 1997

Healthcare and transport group Mayne Nickless Ltd made a $48.7 million loss on the $202 million sale of its underperforming European contract logistics operations in August this year.

1998

The Mayne Chance In Asia
The Daily Telegraph 5 Jan 1998

Abstract Business Intelligence Australia
HealthCare of Australia, a division of Mayne Nickless, intends to quadruple its investment in the Asian region. This move will see the private health care operator become the biggest operator in the Indonesian market within two years. The pressures on the financial markets in Asia had created opportunities in India and the Philippines which the company intends to take advantage of. The company has already invested $A50m into the Asian region.

Health Care to lift Asian investment
Courier Mail 5 Jan.1998

Mayne Nickless subsidiary, Health Care of Australia is moving to sieze the opportunity offered by the Asian slump, announcing plans to quadruple its investment in the region.
----------------
We aim to become the biggest private health care operators in Indonesia within 2 years and we are also examining opportunities in India and the Philippines.

Under Doctors Orders
The Australian 9 Jan 1998

Mayne Nickless is snapping up health care assets all over the place. But its best acquisition was probably one of its first.

A case could be made that the single most important public health asset Mayne Nickless has privatised so far is Dr Barry Catchlove, - - -
--------------------
So important is the operation (HCoA) to Mayne Nickless that the 112 year old conglomerate, formerly a straight transport group, has already come close to converting into an almost pure health care stock.
--------------------
HCoA's present agenda is to keep on expanding, and Catchlove is trawing through every buying opportunity at home and overseas. - - - - There are opportunities flying around in Asia where some large conglomerates are looking at going back to their core activities.
--------------------
At home the spate of public hospital privatisations and colocation projects is continuing.
--------------------
Catchlove is unenthusiastic about the prospect of empire building HCoA into a multinational concern. The group looked at and rejected some opportunities in Canada and is not too keen on Europe any more,- - - - - "I think it’s a regional business".
-------------------------
"There is a view in the public sector that that's where quality begins and ends and the private sector is just some greedy money-grubbers or misguided nuns or something.

But the reality is that if we don't provide a quality product were out of business. If we do an excellent job at what we do we will make money . . . because if you run your business efficiently and provide high quality you cannot help but make money.
------------------------
Its my experience that that the good private sector is more committed to quality, to training staff, than the public sector. It’s a much better employer.
-------------------------
One of its (HCoA) key performance measures is the number of hours devoted to every patient per day. Across the HCoA group the average is 11 hours a day, compared to 15 hours at many public hospitals.

"If you increase that 11 hours by point-one of an hour, to 11.1 hours, it takes $2 million off our bottom line, that’s how sensitive it is," He (Catchlove) says. "And when we've taken over (public hospitals) and reduced the average hours per patient to 11, there was no complaint about the quality or the service. So there are huge inefficiencies."
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HCoA is riding the crest of the wave. Posting a more than 40 per cent rise in pretax profits to almost $80 million in 1996-97 and an almost 40 per cent rise in revenue to $720 million.
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(A Far Side cartoon used by Catchlove). It showed two spiders spinning their web across the bottom of a slippery dip. One says to the other. "If we pull it off, we'll eat like kings."

Delay On Optus Hits Mayne
Sunday Age 02/22/1998

THIS time last year Mayne Nickless' managing director, Bob Dalziel, told analysts and journalists the company's growth opportunities would be impaired if Mayne Nickless had not quit its Optus Communications investment by July.
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It has been a costly delay. Aside from $52 million annual interest bill, management attention has been diverted, Mayne Nickless' share price has been suppressed and there has been the unquantifiable opportunity cost of big-ticket acquisitions in the health sector.
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"We have accelerated growth opportunities (in health care) to find and we need to get on with that job this calendar year," Dalziel said a year ago.

"We can't allow our failure to get out of Optus to impair our growth opportunities. And it will if it goes past July (1997)."

Optus float delayed to '99
Sydney Morning Herald - 23 Feb 1998

Mayne Need To Free Up Capital
Australian Financial Review 02/25/1998

Mayne Nickless's apparent inability to offload its 24.9 per cent stake in Optus Communications before next year may force the company to hasten the clean-up of its transport and logistics operations to fund the expansion of its core health-care operations.
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One analyst said Mayne "must sell something" to fund the capital expansion of its booming health-care operations, which are the engine room of the group.
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"They are carrying a lot of historical baggage and they have a lot to do that they are getting on with, but the market wants results."

Mayne share price slashed after posting $60m interim
Courier Mail 25 Feb. 1998

Haemorraging in parts of the health division, reduced profitability in the time- critical express business and lower margins in the armoured car unit hurt the groups earnings.
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"However at the same time in our core business of healthcare, in particular, specifically in our high acuity, free standing private hospitals, we've incurred during calender year 1998 a less than satisfactory performance.

`Mayne posts $59m earnings, sets its sights high
The Australian 26 Feb. 1998

Mayne Nickless has set itself an ambitious target of improving earnings by 10 to 15 percent every six months after unveiling a 37 per cent rise in December half profit.
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But directors vehemently rejected the reports insisting the company had adequate sources of funding expansion plans without the Optus proceeds.

Abstract:- (Business Intelligence Australia)
The figures, released on Wednesday, February 25, 1998, show an interim profit of $A59.2m, compared with $A43.1 in 1996.

Mayne commits to Optus float
Sydney Morning Herald - 26 Feb 1998

Mayne Nickless stressed yesterday that it was pushing ahead with plans to sell its $1 billion-plus investment in Optus Communications into a float - - -
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In addition, Mr Dalziel said the company had sufficient cash flows to fund its expansion plans in health care without the $1 billion from a sale of Optus.

Optus $400m falls short
Sydney Morning Herald - 07 Mar 1998

Optus Capital Raiser Ends
The Age 03/07/1998

Optus Communications yesterday completed a $400 million capital raising from existing shareholders as part of its efforts to refinance and cut its estimated $3 billion debt burden.

But the UK-controlled telecommunications group is believed to have fallen short of its target: some small shareholders are understood to have declined the offer while expressing concern about repeated delays to Optus's plans to float on the Australian Stock Exchange.
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Optus recently posted half-year losses of $83.6 million, after its interest bill more than doubled to $112.9 million.

Mayne jumps on Optus float hopes
The Australian 27may98

MAYNE Nickless shares rallied 3 per cent in late trade yesterday amid renewed hopes the company could float its 25 per cent stake in Optus Communications within 12 months.

Mayne's Integration Move
Australian Financial Review 05/28/1998

Mayne Nickless Ltd yesterday unveiled a new executive structure that will drive the evolution of the company into an integrated provider of healthcare, transport and logistics services around the world.

Managing director Mr Bob Dalziel has created an "inner cabinet" of key executives that will spearhead the group's development once it has offloaded its 24.9 per cent stake in Optus Communications this year.

The chief executive of Mayne's Health Care of Australia, Dr Barry Catchlove, will become executive director responsible for acquisitions, while the head of the group's European interests, Mr Bill Kirk, will oversee Mayne's existing business portfolio.
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Dr Catchlove, who is credited with the rapid development of the group's healthcare operations, will earmark acquisitive opportunities in light of the warchest of funds likely to be created by the Optus sale.

HCoA's Mr Keith Cadell, director of group operations, will step into Dr Catchlove's shoes at the helm of what is the group's main profit centre.

Mayne Nickless unveils new management roles
The Age 28 May 1998

The healthcare and logistics group Mayne Nickless yesterday unveiled a massive restructuring of its senior ranks. The aim is to extract maximum synergies within the group and place it in the box seat before the critical expansion of its healthcare operations - - -
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Dr Catchlove will become executive director with responsibility for new growth and acquisitions and Mr Kirk will become chief operating officer.
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"I guess the fact that Barry Catchlove is the driver on the growth side of things is a pretty big hint that they are going to spend on healthcare."
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Mayne Nickless has focused on offshore healthcare in Indonesia but, given the political instability there and the amount Mayne Nickless has to spend, analysts speculated that further offshore healthcare investments were more likely to occur in the United States or Europe.

Mayne, GIO in rejig of top staff
The Australian 28may98

In other developments, Mayne Nickless has announced a reshuffle of its top executives to position the company for growth after the divestment of its $1 billion, 25 per cent stake in Optus Communications later this year.

Barry Catchlove, chief executive of Mayne subsidiary Health Care of Australia, takes on a new role as executive director of the Mayne Nickless group, reporting directly to the group chief executive, Bob Dalziel.
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Mr Catchlove and Mr Kirk, together with Mayne chief financial officer Shane Tanner and Mr Dalziel, will comprise the newly formed executive committee, whose main purpose is to devise and set strategic direction and policy for the company.

Everything's In Place For The Mayne Man
Australian Financial Review 06/13/1998

Mayne Nickless managing director Mr Bob Dalziel says the four corners of his strategy for the group's emergence as an integrated healthcare and logistics service provider are in place.
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As the market speculates wildly on the timing and nature of the sell-down, and as Mayne shares continue to strengthen on the prospect of entitlement to the offering, Mr Dalziel is reluctant to talk specifics.
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The group has reduced its portfolio of businesses from 23 to nine
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Mr Dalziel says a series of opportunities for growth as an integrated healthcare and logistics service provider "have been through the board in April and May" and are ready to roll once the proceeds of the Optus sale are banked.
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"They are significant savings and that frees you up to grow again . . . and we are now all about growth."

The Mayne thing's the right timing
Australian Financial Review 17 Jul 1998

That Bob Dalziel has yet to act on his 1995 promise to divest Mayne Nickless' stake in Optus now seems to prove rather beneficial.
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And now that the sale of the Federal Government's remaining two-thirds of Telstra is off the agenda following the Senate's rejection last Saturday of the full privatisation bill, the climate for an Optus offering has been further enhanced. Australia's second-ranked cellular phone company will, for a while, have potential investors in the sector all to itself.

The positive noises that an Optus float may be just around the corner -Mr Dalziel has targeted September - have not fallen on deaf ears since investment upgrades are starting to flow from sharemarket analysts.
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"Unfortunately, this is a group that has promised and not delivered, and a float has been tried and not delivered.

"Things look good now, but you should never value a stock on a best-case situation."

Rerating lifts Mayne
The Australian 17jul98

MAYNE Nickless shares closed on record highs yesterday on the back of a global rerating of cable TV operators

Mayne gets even bigger in pathology
Courier Mail 5 Aug. 1998

Mayne adds to health care unit
Courier Mail 5 Aug 1998

Mayne's HCA gets booster
The Australian 05aug98

MAYNE Nickless yesterday boosted its presence in the fast-growing pathology services market by purchasing the NSW-based Macquarie Pathology for an estimated $45 million.

The acquisition, conducted through Mayne Nickless' Health Care of Australia group, consolidates HCA as the nation's biggest pathology provider.
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The purchase of Macquarie adds 45 pathology centres to HCA's existing NSW network of Hampson Sugarman Pathology, which was bought in 1995 and has a strong regional presence in the Hunter, North and Central coasts as well as southern Sydney.

`Conflict of interest concern over new health body chief
Sydney Morning Herald, 7 Aug 1998

`BRIEFS - - - Mayne director joins HIC
Australian Financial Review 08/07/1998

Mayne Nickless executive Dr Barry Catchlove relinquished his position on the company's board yesterday to take up the chairmanship of the Federal Health Insurance Commission. But Dr Catchlove, who is a former chief executive of Mayne's health division and has been a company director since October 1994, will remain part of managing director Mr Bob Dalziel's new four-man executive committee, and retain his new role as executive director of acquisitions.

Mayne's strength raises eyebrows
Sydney Morning Herald - 08 Aug 1998

The company employing the new chairman of the Health Insurance Commission (HIC), which polices pathology payments, has just captured 20 per cent of the $1 billion-a-year pathology market.

Mayne says 'yes' to $8b Optus float
Courier Mail 16 Aug. 1998

`Mayne results delay gives clue to Optus float details
Sydney Morning Herald - 24 Aug 1998

Optus readies to float this year
The Australian 28aug98

OPTUS is close to finalising a draft prospectus which will allow the company to list on the share market by the end of the calendar year. It is understood Optus has recruited global investment as its float adviser - - -

PORTFOLIO
The Age, Sep 1998

MAYNE Nickless shareholders who have been banking on the float of Optus Communications risk being disappointed again today when Mayne unveils its 1997-98 result.

Mayne nearing point where Optus stake will have to go
The Age, Sep 1998

Poor Bob Dalziel has called the imminent float of Cable & Wireless Optus so often over the past 18 months that his restatement of Mayne Nickless's timetable for selling its stake yesterday added little to the sum of knowledge about Optus's plans.

Big shareholder is raring to go
Business Review Weekly, Sep 1998

Betting on the timing of the Cable & Wireless Optus float has become a popular sport among finance punters. For Mayne Nickless, the bet is more than a bottle or two of champagne.

Turmoil Adds To Timing Problem
Australian Financial Review 09/01/1998

Just how badly does Mayne Nickless chief Bob Dalziel want to collect his $780 million to $1.2 billion profit on the sale of his 25 per cent stake in Optus? And by rushing the sale, will he threaten a bigger profit down the track?
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- - - - - but if the US market continues to unravel, local investor fears that he will give the company away to get the float off the ground will increase.
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Market risk is the risk facing the float and it all comes down to a question of timing and how much profit Dalziel wants to take.

Investors waiting for Optus to call
The Australian 1sep98

SOME investors might be disappointed Optus did not use yesterday's profit announcement to unveil the timing of a $6 billion float. But the shakeout of global financial markets in the past week has challenged the conventional wisdom - - -

Talk of Optus delay hits Mayne Nickless
Sydney Morning Herald 01 Sep 1998

Mayne Nickless shares fell by more than 5 per cent at one stage yesterday on rumours that the Optus float might be delayed further because pricing of the phone company's $US1 billion bond issue had stalled due to the recent volatility in the US bond market. Analysts said US bond market condition

Optus: the most confusing company
Australian Financial Review 05 Sep 1998

What's the difference between $2 billion and $10 billion? It's the range of analysts' opinions about the true worth of Optus. But the uncertainty masks one sure fact: the float can't be put off indefinitely.

Mayne Nickless set to unload freight operations
Australian Financial Review 09 Sep 1998

Transport and healthcare group Mayne Nickless Ltd is in final negotiat