iiNet gets connected

LISTED East Perth internet service provider iiNet was already number three in Australia when it bought local rival Westnet for $81 million, but the deal made it the dominant force in Western Australia and strengthened its national market share.

It was also one of the rare big private sales in 2008, after a hectic period of sell-offs in 2007.

For its part, Westnet had grown up out of Geraldton to become a successful operation run by Peter Brown. But the regional player may well have run its race as the market for broadband communications settled down after more than a decade of heady growth.

The acquisition grew iiNet's active services by 46 per cent to 680,000, including the addition of 138,000 broadband subscribers.

Another big private sale that just snuck into 2008 was listed group Pacific Energy's $77 million purchase of Kalgoorlie Power Systems.

Owned by Ken Hall since 1981, KPS has 150 megawatts of build, own, operate power generation installed in WA and Northern Territory mine sites, generating revenue for 2007-08 of $17 million to produce earnings before interest and tax of $10 million.

Possibly the biggest private purchase of the year was the Royal Automobile Club of WA's $104.6 million buy-out of joint venture insurance partner Suncorp-Metway Ltd.

Another notable sale with both buyer and seller on the private side of the ledger was the purchase of the Major family's WA educational supplies group Wooldridges by Sydney-based Fulcrum Capital Partners for an estimated $13 million-$16 million.