Austal adds Forrest to register

Andrew Forrest has made a move into Western Australia’s shipbuilding sector, acquiring an 8.1 per cent interest in Austal via his investment entity Tattarang. 

A notice posted to the ASX this morning revealed Tattarang Ventures had picked up 17.7 million shares between October 2021 and February 2022 and 11.4 million between February and March 2022 in Henderson-based shipbuilding and defence contracting company Austal.

It brings Tattarang's total interest in Austal to 8.1 per cent which was acquired through two different sets of transactions, an equity swap arrangement as well as on-market purchases. 

Mr Forrest paid an average price of $1.90 for the shares.

Consideration for the transactions works out at about $54.4 million and gives Tattarang 3.2 per cent voting power in Austal. 

Paddy Gregg-led Austal has seven shipyards and six service centres in five countries, with more than 6,800 employees internationally. It is widely considered one of the largest shipbuilding companies in Australia. 

It most recently made headlines for losing out on a defence contract worth roughly $A785 million to build offshore patrol vessels for the Philippines navy.

The Fortescue Metals Group chair has previously laid plans to decarbonise the shipping industry, and is at present working on developing a dual fuel ship in collaboration with Perth-based marine business MMA Offshore with the objective of operating almost entirely on green ammonia.

Shares in Austal have risen 2.54 per cent to trade at $1.90 at 12:14 pm AEDT.