Mark Beyer

Perth-based City Farmers has been sold for $205 million, just nine months after managing director Clayton Hollingsworth struck a deal for Quadrant Private Equity to pay $93 million for a major stake in the pet care retailer.

Litigation funder Bentham IMF has recruited Ferrier Hodgson partner Andrew Saker as its new managing director, to replace company founder Hugh McLernon.

Mineral Resources announced today that it plans to use its 12 per cent stake in Aquila Resources to push for a role building and operating the proposed $7 billion West Pilbara iron ore project.

Tax compliance costs hit all businesses, from small operators to big miners, and need to be addressed.

One month after the state government named an Asciano-led consortium as preferred proponent for a major port expansion at Esperance, it has emerged that one of the key consortium members has withdrawn.

International engineering contractor Bechtel is seeking to diversify its local business by securing work on sustaining capital projects in the mining sector.

Does it make sense for a gas producer to retain title over a gas field for 27 years without proceeding with development?

The big growth in WA’s iron ore industry means it accounts for more than half of all jobs in the state’s mining sector.

Fortescue Metals Group has called for the phasing out of the state government’s contentious domestic gas reservation policy, which has traditionally been backed by big gas buyers, in favour of stricter application of the ‘use it or lose it’ rules.

Co-operatives, mutuals and other not-for-profit businesses in Western Australia achieved solid growth last year, outperforming many private and listed companies.

The potential strike action at Port Hedland has brought into sharp relief key workplace relations issues facing Australia.

Two-and-a-half years after entering the Australian market, Squire Sanders is set to expand its international reach through a merger with fellow US law firm Patton Boggs.

Eric Streitberg has taken charge of Buru Energy after chairman Graham Riley resigned, on the same day that shareholders delivered a massive protest vote at the company’s annual meeting.

The Perth Freight Link is the latest in a string of big projects to highlight the lack of cohesive, long-term infrastructure planning in WA.

AnaeCo director Ian Campbell has lost control of his 6.5 per cent stake in the waste treatment company after the shares were used as security for separate loans.

Trucking company CTI Logistics has paved the way for further expansion of its Hazelmere depot with the purchase of a 30,000 square metre property adjoining its existing premises.

Seventeen Western Australian business people have been nominated as finalists in the 2014 round of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year award.

The state and federal budgets have created new opportunities for the private sector, as governments seek to repair their strained finances.

SPECIAL REPORT: Law firms are having to adapt as more businesses build in-house legal teams and squeeze billing rates.

Brierty continued its recent run of good news today, with the awarding of a $27 million contract by Main Roads WA.

The Environmental Protection Authority has commenced a new assessment of the proposed LNG gas hub near Broome, as speculation over development of the offshore Browse Basin gas fields increases.

A toll on trucks appears to be a condition of federal funding for the $1.6 billion Perth Freight Link roads project, Premier Colin Barnett says.

The federal and state governments have confirmed plans for a $1.6 billion upgrade of Perth’s road freight network, including an extension of Roe Highway and the introduction of a toll for trucks as a lure for private sector co-investment.

Two major events last week highlighted the private sector’s desire to deliver new port infrastructure, and it’s a trend the Barnett government could take even further.

The Barnett government would raise nearly $6 billion by selling the state’s three major ports, if the Western Australian sales attracted the same surprisingly high bidding interest as recent port sales on the east coast.

Finbar Group has obtained planning approval for a 347-apartment project in Maylands and intends to launch the first stage next month, adding to the substantial growth in apartment supply in the local market.

Perth’s sister city Houston has some interesting insights on public transport, economic diversification and other challenges faced by both cities.

Mining executive Chris Tuckwell plans to return to MACA as its managing director, two years after leaving the company to join rival contractor Ausdrill in Africa.

Continued growth of the Pilbara as an export-focused iron ore province received a huge boost today when Chinese steel giant Baosteel and Australian railway operator Aurizon teamed up to bid for the Perth company behind a $6 billion port and rail project.

Recently-appointed transport minister Dean Nalder has flagged the possibility of delaying the amalgamation of regional port authorities, just two months before the merged authorities were due to start operating.

Chevron Australia managing director Roy Krzywosinski and Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Andrew Harding have joined some of Australia’s top business leaders in being honoured by the American Australian Association.

Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman has urged the company’s shareholders to be patient, as it works through multiple challenges affecting its growth projects and its operating costs in Australia.