☕️Clipped Wings

Good morning.

It’s a tough time to be in aviation; Qantas is a fallen hero in the eyes of Australians, Blinken’s Boeing failures saw him stranded in Davos (not to mention the hundreds of 737s still stuck on the tarmac), and US competition regulators are simply not playing the merger game.

Stock in Spirit Airlines lost over half its value since Tuesday, when a US judge blocked its planned $5.8b merger with JetBlue Airways. The only people hurting more than airlines would be hedge funds who learned about merger arbitrage the hard way.

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Market movers

Shares in a2 Milk increased 5.5% during trading on Wednesday, on the back of better-than-expected figures around the 2023 Chinese birth-rate. While the birth-rate declined for a consecutive year, the figures were higher than previously anticipated, giving a boost to a2 Milk which produces infant formula that is often sold in Australia and shipped to China.

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The quick sync

• Getting to grips with Guzman’s billion-dollar valuation ahead of a potential IPO. (Capital Brief)

• Saudi Aramco has boosted funding of its venture capital unit by over $6b as focuses on diversifying its core oil business. (Reuters)

• There is just one female among the top ten paid executives across Australia’s eight most powerful industry super funds. (AFR)

• Who is Finder’s elusive CEO Frank Restuccia and why does he lead the fintech from the shadows? (Capital Brief)

• Verizon incurred a $8.9b impairment charge in Q4 hit after writing down the value of its business services divisions, leaving the balance of its business unit at $2.6b at the end of 2023. (Bloomberg)

• Atlassian co-founder and CEO says companies that don’t back flexible working won’t reach their full business potential. (The Australian)

• How Cortical Labs is using human brain cells to help create artificial intelligence models. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• Livingbridge has enlisted UBS to explore options for its Australian waste advisory and collections business, Waste Services Group (WSG). (AFR)

• Albemarle sells a 4% stake in Liontown Resources after a failed takeover bid. (AFR)

• GoPro Inc has acquired Sydney-based Forcite Helmet Systems. (BNA)

• A Singapore buyer is eyeing a 20% stake in the NSW Land Titles Registry. (AFR)

Capital Markets

• WA1 Resources launches $30m placement at $10 per share as stock soars. (AFR)

• Northvolt secures $5b in debt financing to expand its gigafactory in Sweden. (Capital Brief)

• Kinetic Group seeks capital partner for expansion into trains and trams; OPTrust and Foresight Group engage Macquarie Capital for a strategic review. (AFR)

VC

• Prota Therapeutics has raised US$21m (A$32m) of equity and debt financing in Series A1 round, led by Singapore-based SPRIM Global Investments. (Startup Daily)

• Blackbird Ventures-backed start-up Kiki plans to establish a "girl's only club" in New York aimed at helping women "thrive" rather than just "live." (AFR)

• NRN secures $10m funding from Catalytic Impact Capital for green energy projects. (Startup Daily)

People moves

• Allan Zion, the co-CEO of Shaw and Partners, is set to retire at the end of the current financial year leaving co-CEO, Earl Evans, assuming the sole chief executive role. (AFR)

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