Sydney, July 25, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - Babcock & Brown Infrastructure has cancelled its planned takeover of Northwestern Energy Corp. after Montana regulators blocked the deal. The Montana Public Service Commission had said the merger price was too high and would likely force the company to either reduce the quality of service or raise consumers' rates. The Commission also ruled the proceedings could not be restarted to hear an altered proposal but would have to be re-filed. Babcock & Brown had made a revised takeover offer for the once-bankrupt NorthWestern in June after the MPSC blocked its initial $2.2 billion bid. B&B Infrastructure recovered from a loss in 2005 to post a record earnings result last year.

A consortium led by Australia's Lend Lease has won a four-year contest for one of London's largest regeneration schemes yesterday. The retail-led development - London's biggest single-borough project - has an estimated completion value of around 3 billion pounds or $6.17 billion Australian dollars. Lend Lease was chosen ahead of a joint venture between British property firm and regeneration specialist St. Modwen and Kuwait's Salhia Real Estate. Lend Lease has recovered from a net loss in 2003 to record profit results in the last three years.

The Reject Shop has responded to a query from the ASX regarding the recent increase in its share price saying the company is not aware of any information to explain this and no announcement is required. The Reject Shop's share price has jumped 15% since the beginning of July. In February, the company announced a likely increase in full year net profit of up to 23 per cent and will release FY results on August 15. The Reject Shop suggested recent favourable market commentary on the strength of the economy and several other retailers announcing robust trading conditions as having an impact of the attractiveness of its stock. The Reject Shop posted its best earnings result to date last financial year

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