☕️ Diplomatic greenwashing

Good morning.

It turns out that at COP28 – a forum for the world’s greatest minds to conquer climate change – there is one environmental phrase that has remained utterly taboo. Fossil fuels.

Critics of sweeping pledges made throughout the summit have been quick to point out the risk of greenwashing, with countries pledging support for initiatives like expanded use of renewables and slowing deforestation while simultaneously expanding fossil fuel based production. Just days before the summit, COP28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, said “there is no science […] that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C.”

Put it in the too hard and too expensive basket.

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Market movers

Paladin Energy closed up 6.15% Friday, making it the ASX 200’s top daily performer. In October Paladin took full control of Canadian uranium project, Michelin, and the company could be on track to break even by the end of 2023.

The producer is up 44% year-to-date, in keeping with strong results from Australian uranium producers across the board. Last week saw uranium producers hit 15-year highs, perhaps an unsurprising uptick given the almost rapturous support slathered upon nuclear power throughout the COP28 summit.

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The quick sync

• Rectifier Technologies suffers trading halt after board revolts against hostile takeover. (Capital Brief)

• Aussie lithium producers could miss out on US government subsidies thanks to new rules around Chinese ownership and processing ties. (AFR)

• Creditors of the embattled Chinese property developer Evergrande make last ditch effort to avoid a court ordered liquidation. (Financial Times)

• Could the government’s taskforce on merger laws be at risk of becoming a paper-pushing exercise? (Capital Brief)

• Cloud computing and AI infrastructure provider CoreWeave gains US$7 billion valuation on backing from Jane Street, Fidelity, IMCO and JP Morgan Asset Management. (Bloomberg)

• MinterEllison is using Microsoft’s Copilot to train graduates. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• Retail Food Group's acquisition of Beefy's suggests a new strategy of adding businesses and increasing scale for the franchise chain, which operates multiple brands. (The Australian)

• Quadrant Private Equity is reportedly exploring the sale of its food service business, Superior Food Group. (AFR)

• Potential buyers for Healius' vet pathology operations include TPG Capital, VetPartners, or Wesfarmers. (The Australian)

• Sinar Mas Group sells a $167m stake in Stanmore Resources. (AFR)

CAPITAL MARKETS

• Oncall, an NDIS provider, explores options to address high debt levels. (AFR)

• De Grey Mining shareholders urge value extraction from Pilbara lithium belt tenements. (The Australian)

VC

• Nexl raises $6.6m in Series A to modernise business law. (Startup Daily)

People moves

• None

The watercooler