Aerospace composites manufacturer Quickstep has rejected as inadequate a takeover offer tabled on Thursday by a group of Australian defence contractors represented by ASDAM Operations, a company majority owned by CPE Capital. CPE Capital specialises in growing mid-sized businesses by providing development capital, and has investments in a wide range of businesses, including manufacturers. ASDAM…
Plant based food manufacturer Forbidden Foods has reported early cost savings and sales momentum following the strategic acquisition of Oat Milk Goodness (OMG) brand of oat drinks. The company told investors that the first full month of operations as a combined entity saw an initial round of cost savings complemented by strong monthly sales growth.…
Long duration energy storage (LDES) developer and operator Hydrostor and the New South Wales (NSW) government have signed a Crown Lands agreement to enable the construction of the Silver City Energy Storage Centre designed to provide backup power to Broken Hill. With the region recently suffering prolonged energy supply blackouts, the project will support the…
Crop protection and seed developer Nufarm has established a strategic R&D partnership to expand its bioenergy and sustainable oils platform technology originally sourced from CSIRO. The company’s Biomass Oil trait technology comprises a significant estate of patents and know-how that when deployed into crops boost accumulation of oil in plant tissue, increasing oil yields from…
Mac Uni launches semiconductor initiative Macquarie University launched a new on-campus Silicon Platforms Lab (SiP Lab) in collaboration with Atto Devices this week, which will be co-located on campus “to serve as the primary commercialisation pathway for the lab’s research” and “deliver an important boost to the industry in Australia.” Atto Devices is a designer…
Approximately a billion beverage containers have been kept out of landfill in the first 12 months as a result of the Victorian Container Deposit Scheme (CDS Vic), according to its coordinator. CDS Vic was announced in April last year and the program officially launched the following November 1. VicReturn – which includes Lion, Coca-Cola Europacific…
Welding industry professional body Weld Australia announced the winners of its Victoria and Tasmania Welding Excellence Awards for 2024 on Wednesday night. The event at Crowne Plaza in Melbourne showcased “the exceptional talent of welders and fabricators across Victoria and Tasmania” Weld Australia CEO Geoff Crittenden said in a statement on Thursday. “The winners this…
Timber products and chemical maker Koppers Wood Products has launched its upgraded Longford pine processing plant, backed by the Tasmanian government’s On-Island Processing Program. According to a statement from industry minister Eric Abetz, the state’s timber is being “pushed to the fore in public infrastructure and construction” and represents an industry supporting over 5,000 Tasmanian…
Australian Vanadium subsidiary VSUN Energy has completed Phase 1 of Project Lumina designed to assess the viability of constructing a vanadium flow battery energy storage system in Australia. Phase 1 was an internal analysis which has undergone an independent external review to assess whether a VFB battery electric storage (BESS) solution is likely to be…
Thirty-six grants totalling $38 million have been awarded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) under the 2025 ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) scheme. LEIF supports eligible organisations with research infrastructure, equipment and facilities, with the goal of having this shared between higher education organisations and industry. “The LIEF Scheme supports outstanding basic, strategic…
