Australia’s only naval shipbuilder reaches a fork in the road

News Snapshot:

But Austal is also facing challenges – its US boss just left after a steep fall in profit and investors like Plato Investment Management are betting the company’s share price will fall. It has missed out on a multi-billion US Navy frigate contract, it’s been investigated by the Justice Department with some employees indicted, and it’s being dragged through the mud by members of Congress for its links to a Chinese shipbuilder. Any new private equity owner – the three frontrunners are Cerberus Capital Management, JF Lehman & Company and South Korea’s Hanwha – would likely cut costs, redrawing contracts...