SYDNEY — Shares in Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd. rose 3.70% to $2.665 on Monday, adding 9.5 cents, as investors continued to price in the prospect of a takeover after Swedish private equity firm EQT Infrastructure confirmed over the weekend that its multibillion-dollar offer for the company remains intact following the completion of exclusive due diligence.

Cleanaway told the market on Saturday that the hard exclusivity period under its Transaction Process Deed with EQT had ended as planned, and that EQT had confirmed nothing uncovered during its review would cause it to withdraw or reduce its indicative proposal. The two parties are now working toward negotiating a binding scheme implementation deed, though no such agreement has yet been reached, and the offer consideration remains at least at the previously indicated level.

The update extends a takeover saga that began in mid-August, when EQT Infrastructure lobbed a conditional, non-binding proposal to acquire 100% of Australia’s largest waste and recycling company for $3.13 cash per share, implying an enterprise value of roughly $9.4 billion. That offer represented a 32.1% premium to Cleanaway’s last closing price of $2.37 before the announcement, and a similar premium to the stock’s one-month and three-month volume-weighted average prices. If completed, the deal would rank among the largest take-private transactions in Australian corporate history.

Cleanaway’s board granted EQT up to nine weeks of exclusive due diligence to negotiate the terms of a binding transaction. In its original announcement to the market, the board stated: “After careful consideration and consultation with its advisers, the Cleanaway board has determined that it is in the best interests of Cleanaway shareholders to provide EQT Infrastructure with the opportunity to undertake up to nine weeks exclusive due diligence and to negotiate a scheme implementation deed (SID) to agree a binding transaction.” The board added at the time that, subject to a deed being executed at a price no less than $3.13 per share and on otherwise acceptable terms, directors intend to recommend shareholders vote in favor of any scheme of arrangement.

Even so, Cleanaway has been careful to temper expectations while talks continue. The company reiterated in its original filing that “there is no certainty the proposal will lead to a binding proposal for consideration by Cleanaway shareholders or that any transaction will eventuate,” and said shareholders do not need to take any action while the proposal remains under negotiation. That same cautious framing carried through to Saturday’s update, with the company again noting it will provide further updates as developments occur.

The proposal remains subject to a number of conditions beyond the completed due diligence, including the negotiation and execution of a formal scheme implementation deed, an independent expert concluding the transaction is in shareholders’ best interests, the absence of a superior competing proposal, and regulatory approvals including sign-off from the Foreign Investment Review Board. EQT has engaged Cleanaway with financial advisers Barrenjoey and Macquarie Capital and legal adviser Ashurst Perkins Coie working on the transaction for the target company.

The takeover interest comes as Cleanaway has been posting improved underlying financial performance. The company reported fiscal 2026 underlying EBIT of approximately $470 million, up 14% on the prior year, with the result supported by strong performances in its Solid Waste Services and Contract Resources divisions, along with better-than-expected management of cost impacts tied to the Middle East crisis. Cleanaway has guided to underlying EBIT of between $500 million and $530 million for fiscal 2027.

The offer price under EQT’s proposal is structured to be reduced by the cash amount of any dividends or distributions Cleanaway declares or pays after the date of the proposal, though the deal also contemplates the potential for a fully franked special dividend to deliver additional value to shareholders, subject to their individual tax positions. The indicative price would also be adjusted by a small daily “ticking fee” if implementation of any transaction occurs after March 31, 2027, a mechanism designed to compensate shareholders for extended delays in closing the deal.

Cleanaway has also flagged some unresolved legal matters that could attract scrutiny during the ongoing negotiations. A Victorian Supreme Court ruling found the company owed $6.9 million in underpaid landfill levies for fiscal 2018, with further alleged underpayments of $4.7 million for fiscal 2019 and $7.2 million for fiscal 2022 still to be resolved. While modest relative to the scale of the proposed transaction, the matter has been noted as a factor that may draw attention during the deal process.

The company has also been navigating a leadership transition in its finance function. Chief Financial Officer Paul Binfield is departing the role, with Nigel Simonsz appointed as his successor effective September 1. Binfield is expected to remain with the company through the first half of fiscal 2027 to support the FY26 reporting process and ensure an orderly handover.

Monday’s share price gain came as part of a broader rebound across the Australian market, with Cleanaway named among a handful of stocks catching a bid as the S&P/ASX 200 clawed back a portion of the prior week’s losses. Even with the latest gain, Cleanaway shares remain below EQT’s indicative offer price of $3.13, reflecting ongoing uncertainty in the market about whether a binding deal will ultimately be signed.

Cleanaway’s next scheduled shareholder event is its annual general meeting, set for October 22, at which investors are likely to press the board for further detail on the state of negotiations with EQT. Until a binding scheme implementation deed is reached, the company has said it will continue operating as usual, with shareholders urged to watch for further announcements as the process unfolds in the weeks ahead.

LONDON — Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, posted a short Instagram video on Sunday showing Prince Harry and their children in the English countryside, the first family footage she has shared since the Sussexes arrived from California in late August.

The clip, about 34 to 35 seconds long, is set to Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and carries a Union Jack and a heart emoji. It opens with Meghan, 45, and Harry, 41, walking hand in hand on a country path. She turns toward the camera and says, “Come on, you.” Later scenes show Princess Lilibet, 5, riding a bicycle with training wheels and a doll on the back as Prince Archie, 7, runs beside her. Archie can be heard shouting “Go! Go!” in what several British outlets described as a distinctly English accent. Harry appears in a small boat fishing with the children. A black Labrador, identified in coverage as Pula, is visible near the water. Other shots include wellington boots in a puddle and a child’s feet by a fireplace.

The family landed in Britain on Aug. 26 after six years based in Montecito, California. Archie and Lilibet have started the school year in the United Kingdom. The couple have kept their California house and a property in Portugal and have said they are not returning to paid working-royal roles. King Charles’s office last week restated that they remain non-working members of the family. A spokesperson for the Sussexes said they were given little notice before that message went to the media.

Where the Sunday footage was shot has not been confirmed. Reports have placed Meghan in the Cotswolds earlier this month and said the couple have looked at houses in that part of Oxfordshire. Faces of the children are often partly hidden or filmed from behind, consistent with how Meghan has posted them before.

The video landed in an argument that has followed the family since they left senior royal duties in 2020. Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield told Fox News Digital the arrangement looks like an attempt to hold both countries. “I suspect they want the best of both worlds — access to Britain, proximity to the monarchy and the credibility that comes with Harry’s royal identity, while maintaining the freedom and commercial opportunities they associate with life outside the U.K.,” she said.

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She compared that to the “half-in, half-out” model Queen Elizabeth II rejected. “Harry and Meghan never do what they say or say what they mean,” Schofield said. “One year ago, Harry told us the U.K. was not safe enough to bring his wife and children. Now someone is briefing the Daily Mail that Harry has a 15-year plan in the U.K. Alternatively, we’re briefed this could be temporary.” “I would describe it as a trial run rather than a definitive homecoming,” she added.

Broadcaster Helena Chard told Fox News Digital the couple are “keeping their options open.” “Things haven’t gone to plan for various reasons, but one thing’s for sure: They need to keep relevant,” she said. “Cue travel to the U.K., be seen with the British Royal Family and push for state-funded armed police protection.” On security, she added: “Like a dog with a bone, Harry will fight for everything he believes his family deserves.”

Those comments are opinion. A YouGov poll of 4,506 adults in Great Britain on Sept. 9 found 51% would rather the couple not return as working royals, 16% would prefer that they did and 33% did not know.

Harry is due at charity events in Britain this month, including work with WellChild and the Invictus community. Meghan continues As Ever, her lifestyle brand, from the United States. Neither has announced a sale of the Montecito house. People magazine, citing people close to the couple, has described the U.K. stay as an extended period with a private, non-royal address rather than a palace.

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The contrast is the point of the clip. For six years the Sussexes argued that Britain was unsafe for their children and that the institution boxed them in. The first grid post after the return is rain boots, a bike with tassels, a father in a rowboat and a seven-year-old shouting “Go!” at deer. It does not resolve whether the family will winter in California or enroll the children through GCSEs. It does show what they chose to publish: countryside, not a statement, and children whose faces are still mostly turned away from the lens.

E-commerce giant Amazon says it is suspending work with the firm that operated a cargo plane that was involved in a fatal crash in Miami this month.

“After the tragic incident last weekend, we’ve spent time supporting the investigation and reviewing some of the surrounding circumstances, and we’ve decided to pause our operations with 21 Air,” an Amazon spokesperson said on Sunday.

On 6 September, the 21 Air-operated Boeing jet overshot a runway at Miami International Airport and hit several vehicles, killing five people.

The BBC has contacted 21 Air for comment. The firm previously said it was “devastated by the accident” and that it is cooperating with authorities to investigate the incident.

The US National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the crash.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X, external to get the latest alerts.

SYDNEY — Shares in Lovisa Holdings Ltd. climbed 4.81% to $22.67 in Monday trading, adding $1.04 as the fashion jewelry retailer rebounded alongside a handful of recently sold-off growth names on a day the broader Australian market clawed back a fraction of last week’s steep losses.

The move came as the S&P/ASX 200 traded modestly higher after logging its worst weekly performance in six months, and Lovisa was among a group of previously beaten-down stocks, alongside technology group Xero and property researcher REA Group, that caught a bid as investors rotated back into names that had fallen hardest in the prior sessions. Market breadth remained relatively narrow even as the benchmark index edged up, suggesting Monday’s gains were concentrated in specific pockets of the market rather than reflecting a broad-based recovery.

Lovisa’s bounce follows a stretch of extreme volatility for the stock over the past year, one that has repeatedly seen shares swing sharply in either direction, sometimes with limited company-specific news to explain the moves. Shares in the Melbourne-based retailer have traded as low as roughly $20 and as high as an all-time peak near $44 over the past 12 months, and the stock remains down sharply from that high despite periodic rallies.

The rebound also comes just ahead of a scheduled ex-dividend date. Lovisa shares are due to trade ex-dividend on September 15, with the payment date set for October 15, giving income-focused investors a near-term reason to hold or add to positions heading into the week.

The company’s underlying operating performance has remained a bright spot even as its share price has whipsawed. Lovisa reported full-year results for fiscal 2026 in late August, posting total revenue of $938.8 million, up 17.6% on the prior year, with comparable-store sales rising 2.0%. Earnings before interest and tax increased 14.1% to $158.2 million, while net profit after tax climbed 10.7% to $95.6 million. Operating cash flow rose 21.0% to $294.5 million, and the company lifted its full-year dividend 11.7% to 86 cents per share.

Global Chief Executive Officer John Cheston struck an upbeat tone on the results at the time, saying: “Lovisa has once again been able to deliver strong global sales and profit growth, with the highlights being continued growth in the Americas and Europe and another exceptional Gross Margin performance.”

The company opened 160 new stores during fiscal 2026, expanding its global footprint to 1,136 locations across more than 50 markets. Europe was the strongest region for new openings, with 76 additional stores, including 34 in the United Kingdom and 20 in Germany. Lovisa also closed 43 underperforming locations and relocated a further 12, continuing a strategy of pruning weaker sites alongside its broader international rollout.

Early trading in the new fiscal year has offered further encouragement. In the first eight weeks of fiscal 2027, Lovisa reported total sales growth of 16.4% on a constant-currency basis, with comparable-store sales up 3.0%, suggesting the momentum from the FY26 result has carried into the current period.

Even so, the stock’s performance has diverged sharply from those underlying numbers at times over the past year. Shares have posted double-digit single-session moves on multiple occasions, including double-digit percentage jumps around results announcements as well as sudden slides tied to broker downgrades and shifting sentiment on the durability of the company’s store rollout strategy. Some analysts have flagged concerns about the quality of newer store locations and questioned whether the pace of global expansion has come at the expense of site selection and per-store economics, while others have pointed to Lovisa’s high gross margins and self-funded growth model as reasons for optimism.

Institutional positioning around the stock has also shifted over the year, with at least one major shareholder trimming its stake earlier in 2026 even as some company insiders added to their holdings during periods of share-price weakness, a split that has left investors divided on how to read the stock’s near-term trajectory.

Monday’s advance places Lovisa among the better performers on the ASX 200 for the session, though traders cautioned that a single day’s bounce, particularly one tied more to broad market positioning than fresh company news, does not necessarily signal a durable change in trend for a stock that has proven prone to sharp reversals. The shares will need to sustain buying interest in the sessions ahead if the current move is to develop into a more meaningful recovery rather than another short-lived swing in a volatile trading range.

For now, attention turns to how the stock performs heading into its ex-dividend date this week, and whether the operational momentum reported at the August results, particularly the strong start to fiscal 2027, continues to be reflected in comparable sales growth as the retailer heads deeper into its next reporting period. With reporting season now largely behind the broader market, Lovisa’s next scheduled update is expected to come with its half-year results, when investors will get a fuller picture of whether the early FY27 sales trends noted by management have held up across a longer stretch of trading.

This article was written by

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