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1. Philip Weinman

Philip Weinman could be Australia’s ultimate serial entrepreneur. After starting and selling seven fast-growing businesses including CTS Travel (sold for $30 million), Hisoft (sold for more than $10 million) and Vitamin Me, he has now formed the Deasil Group, which has investments in 14 separate businesses.  

2. Top export options

Ian Murray, executive director of the Australian Institute of Export, says there is no way to sugar coat it - this is not an easy time to be an exporter. The dollar is high, many of our biggest trading partners are shaky and expansion is the last thing on the minds of many entrepreneurs. But smart exporters have not given up and they are being rew...

3. 2011: The sector-by-sector outlook

Patchy. That was the word that defined the Australian economy in 2010, and could well be the best description again in 2011. While most economists are predicting Australia's economy will grow at a rate of about 3.75% in 2011 – that's just above the longer-term trend – much of this growth will be driven by the sec...

4. Media Monitors sold among swarm of private equity deals

Media Monitors has been sold to Quadrant Private Equity in a deal reportedly worth up to $200 million, as the Australian private equity scene caught fire with a number of deals taking place yesterday. The deals included US private equity group Providence Equity Partners buying Study Group for $660 million from fellow private equity firm CHAMP. CHAMP in turn bought fence hiring group ATF Services from Quadrant for a reported price of about $250 million. Meanwhile, private e...

5. Australian video game developer collapses, industry in crisi

The Australian video game industry is in crisis, with one development company falling into liquidation and another reportedly laying off approximately 30 staff. According to documents lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Melbourne-based development studio Transmission Games fell into liquidation earlier this week. An update to ASIC indicates the company today lodged a "Notification of Resolution Winding Up The Company", with Ken Sellers and Mat...

6. Five hot technology trends from the E3 conference

Tablet computing, the continued improvement and penetration of 3D technology and the widespread integration of social networking are just some of the trends revealed at the annual E3 gaming conference. The conference, which is the biggest of its kind, dedicates three days to the video game industry with hundreds of publishers, developers and software engineers coming to show off the biggest new titles in the industry, which is now set to turnover $US70 billion by 2015. It is also...

7. iSoft founder Gary Cohen quits after company posts $382 mill

iSoft founder and chief executive Gary Cohen has stepped down from the top job following a series of downgrades and research notes blaming Cohen for failing to manage the company appropriately. The resignation also comes alongside a disappointing $382.9 million loss, with the company still blaming a volatile political environment in Britain and weak economic conditions. The company's shares fell by 15% yesterday to $0.14 – a 52-week low point. Over the past year, iSoft shares h...

8. IT braces for the crunch

The SmartCompany Dun & Bradstreet Industry Growth List for the information technology sector reveals a sector that is growing strongly through specialisation and international expansion. But there are tough times ahead. By JAMES THOMSON and PATRICK STAFFO By James Thomson and Patrick Stafford  

9. Former Nokia executive blasts CEO Stephen Elop in 29,000 wor

Former Nokia executive Tomi Ahonen has comprehensively blasted his former boss, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, in a 29,000 word angry letter. In the explosive open letter, Ahonen accuses Elop of being "the worst CEO ever seen in corporate governance and he truly must be fired immediately". Among many other things,...

10. EXIT STRATEGIES: Identifying strategic value

Entrepreneurs with experience of multiple exits will acknowledge that strategic deals are not only possible but desirable, however, very few can set out a formal methodology for identifying which firms lend themselves to strategic sales. Nor do they have the methodologies to help them identify which assets ...

11. iSoft co-founder Gary Cohen to start new investment firm for

iSoft founder and former chief executive Gary Cohen will launch a new investment firm to focus on software and IT businesses carrying strong intellectual property rights, he has announced. The move comes as iSoft has suffered a shocking year, encountering a wave of financial problems, which eventually led to it being acquired by Computer Sciences Corporation. Cohen quit last year after the business experienced a $382 million loss. It also comes as private equity in Australian tec...

12. The tricks and traps of earn-out clauses

How do you value a business when you are selling up? How do you find a buyer when the banks aren't lending? The earn-out clause – which ties the seller to their business by holding back part of the sale proceeds until certain performance hurdles are met – is one answer, and is likely to become the norm over the next few years...

13. IT firms hope to dodge human errors

The thriving Australian economy is a double-edged sword for the IT sector – companies are growing, gaining new customers and enjoying new hardware, but the skills shortage is looming on the horizon. The latest Dun & Bradstreet SmartCompany Industry Growth List for the IT sector shows smart companies are now gearing up ...

14. Software maker iSoft up for sale after shares drop 90% in a

Troubled software maker iSoft is now considering a sale, according to chairman Robert Moran, as the company looks to restructure its entire business and repay its debt after recording a $383 million loss this year. The announcement comes after the company's shares have plummeted over 90% during the past year, with Moran saying the company was too slow to move with market trends and was carrying too much debt at $240 million. The company's troubles haven't stopped, either, with th...

15. Time to make a deal

In the last few weeks, all sorts have people have declared that the economy has passed the bottom and is now in recovery mode, including veteran investors George Soros and Warren Buffett, famed economist Nouriel Roubini and even RBA Governor Glenn Stevens. Judging from the events of the last few weeks, Australia's wealthiest entrepreneurs have ...

16. The $80 billion Indian opportunity that's too good to ignore

While most of the focus for our exporters has been on China, India presents the big opportunity – possibly larger than what Australia can get out of China. Leading companies are already doing business in India, and it is among the top 20 export destinations. Now, with forecasts of Australian investors pouring in $80 billion in the next year, further opportunities abound. Consider the numbers India has a population of 1.2 billion people. That makes it secon...

17. Five hot tech trends from the E3 technology conference

New motion-controls, platform integration and the introduction of 3D entertainment are just three of the industry-changing trends revealed at the annual E3 gaming conference that will influence the development of the tech industry. The conference is the biggest event of the year dedicated to video games, with dozens of developers showing off their latest technology and titles set to define the industry for another year. A new, slimmer Microsoft Xbox 360 console, along with motion-...

18. EXIT STRATEGIES: Finding strategic buyers

The ultimate strategic buyer is the one which can best utilise the underlying assets and capabilities of the firm. Once the assets and competencies are identified, the search starts for those corporations which can best leverage them. An investigation of historical strategic sales will show that these busi...

19. iSoft makes yet another profit downgrade, fuels speculation

Troubled software maker iSoft has announced yet another profit downgrade, the second since June, with the company reportedly letting go about 600 staff. The announcement comes after reports were published suggesting a number of private equity firms are eyeing the company, as its market value has plummeted to just $170 million from a peak of about $1.5 billion. In an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday, chief executive Gary Cohen said the current estimate...

20. EXIT STRATEGIES: Threats and opportunities

Fundamental to the strategic value exit is the identification of those assets or processes that the seller has which can solve an urgent problem or open up a significant new revenue opportunity for a select group of potential acquirers. To fully appreciate how a strategic exit is created, we need to have a good underst...

21. iSoft shares plummet 30% after revenue downgrade, blames Bri

Shares in healthcare software group iSoft have plummeted 30% after the company downgraded its earnings forecast for the second time since reporting its half-year results. But while the company says the downgrade has been caused by significant delays in major projects, some analysts have attacked chief executive Gary Cohen saying his management style is leading the company astray. Shares in the company dropped to a year low of 39c yesterday, but have continued to fall this morning ...

22. Former iSoft chief could still spoil takeover deal with riva

The founder and former chief executive of health technology company iSoft, Gary Cohen, has signalled that he could make a bid to take back control of the company, despite iSoft receiving a takeover bid from US computer giant Computer Sciences Corporation. Cohen left iSoft in September after the company reported a disastrous $382 million loss. In the six months leading up to his departure, iSoft's shares had plunged 73%, as the company battled high debt and deteriorating condition...

23. Job ads higher, inflation weakens in March quarter: Midday

Australian job ads in newspapers and online rose by 1.3% last month, taking the annual lift to 19.2%, according to the ANZ Job Advertisements series. ANZ says the rise suggests the Australian economy "continues to create jobs in spite of the somewhat diverse rates of economic growth by region and industry sector." The bank highlights growth in Victoria, Queensland and Northern Territory in March, but was surprised by weakness in advertising in the state of Western Australia....

24. Why is the market so happy with profit reporting season? A S

It was supposed to be the worst profit reporting season in almost two decades, when a year of falling sales, job cuts and asset writedowns caused a flood of red ink on the financial reports of big Australian companies. Yet investors appear to have been pleasantly surprised by the results delivered thus far from companies including Brambles, insurance giant QBE, the resilient JB Hi-Fi and Retail Food Group. So why has the market responded so positively to profit reporting s...

25. Australian arm of US digital video group Kit Digital placed

The Australian arm of global tech services firm Kit Digital has been placed in administration, with dozens of workers now out of a job as the business continues to suffer problems around the world. The collapse also affects the company's Australian subsidiaries, including a group of companies sold to the business by tech services firm Hyro in June 2012. Hyro, which changed its name to Invigor Group after the sale, counts former iSoft chief executive Gary Cohen as a chairman....

26. Australian video game developer collapses, industry in crisi

The Australian video game industry is in crisis, with one development company falling into liquidation and another reportedly laying off approximately 30 staff. According to documents lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Melbourne-based development studio Transmission Games fell into liquidation earlier this week. An update to ASIC indicates the company today lodged a "Notification of Resolution Winding Up The Company", with Ken Sellers and Mat Muldoon ...