☕️ Fire sale

Good morning.

A peculiar pattern has been observed in the proximity of former UK PM Liz Truss and the death of state figures.

Two days after Truss visited Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral, Her Majesty found eternal peace. Mere hours after Truss touched down in the US, Henry Kissinger was to pay the ferryman. It has also been said that Truss’ arrival at Downing Street caused her Prime Ministerial career to face a speedy demise (faster than it took the lettuce to wilt, in fact).

Of course, we could simply accept the rules of nature and coincidence. But advisers surely must be asking themselves if a sit-down with the former UK PM is really such a wise idea.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

SkyCity Entertainment stock jumped on Thursday following a win against Macquarie in the High Court of Zealand. The court ruled on the valuation process to be followed for the bank to buy back a carpark that had been damaged by fire in 2019. An ASX announcement from the company reads that the compensation sum will be calculated in line with SkyCity’s methodology, ending a protracted legal battle.

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The quick sync

• Restructuring firms are circling WeWork Australia amid US bankruptcy proceedings. (Capital Brief)

• Activist investor Nelson Peltz squares up for second proxy battle with Disney as Trian fights to get a seat at the table. (Financial Times)

• UK’s Chancellor during the GFC, Alistair Darling, dies at 70. (Bloomberg)

• Staff brace for further layoffs at CPA Australia. (Capital Brief)

• OPEC+ agree on cuts to oil production to keep prices steady. (Wall Street Journal)

• BHP directors have signed off on the relationship between boss Mike Henry and Tracy Robinson, CEO of the Canadian logistics company building a railway to BHP’s heart Jansen potash mine. (AFR)

• Warren Buffett followers contemplate Berkshire Hathaway without Charlie Munger. (Financial Times)

Trading floor

M&A

• Analysts project Stockland's debt to rise by almost 2% with a potential $1bn acquisition of Lendlease Communities, requiring approximately $420m in cash. (The Australian)

• Seven & I Holdings acquires 7-Eleven's Australian division for $1.71bn, gaining full ownership of approximately 750 stores. (AFR)

• Federation Mining sells a 49.6m-share line in listed gold developer OreCorp. (AFR)

• General Motors is returning $10bn to shareholders through a buyback program. (Capital Brief)

• Verve Super, a women-focused fintech, was acquired by Future Super's parent company. (Startup Daily)

• KKR is set to acquire the remaining 37% stake in Global Atlantic for $2.7bn. (Capital Brief)

• Origin Energy directors criticise the revised takeover proposal, and advocate for the earlier offer from the Brookfield-led consortium. (Capital Brief)

  • Brookfield and EIG are likely to face defeat at the Origin Energy shareholder meeting. (AFR)

• Gentari is reportedly progressing in the auction for Melbourne-based Tetris Energy. (AFR)

• Quadrant's Partnered Health acquires New View Psychology for strategic expansion. (AFR)

• Beefy's owners sign a deal to sell to Retail Food Group. (BNA)

• Santos and Woodside Energy attract buyout interest amid industry consolidation. (The Australian)

CAPITAL MARKETS

• Antler appoints Graeme Mather as Global Partner to strengthen ties with institutional investors. (AFR)

• Icehouse Ventures raises NZ$10m in equity capital from global investors. (Startup Daily)

VC

• Rich Data Co raises $28m in Series B round led by Westpac and nCino. (BNA)

• Happenco closes its first fund, raising $12m for early-stage startups. (Capital Brief)

• Virtual reality start-up EnvisionVR secures $2.6m in funding round. (AFR)

• NZ startup Caruso raises A$3m for its Australian expansion. (Startup Daily)

People moves

• None

Insight of the week by Stake

Nickel

With nickel being one of the key materials needed for battery manufacturing, you’d expect the metal’s price to be soaring as economies try to go green and increase their electric vehicle fleets. But that’s not the case — nickel is plummeting.

The key reasons are a slump in demand for steel, likely caused by the stagnation of real estate development in China, as well as a growth in supply, as Indonesia, the world’s biggest nickel supplier, aims to ramp up its production. While that could be good news for EV manufacturers as it leads to lower costs, should this trend continue, nickel mining stocks could become just like the metal’s untapped reserves: left in the dirt.

_{This is not financial advice.}

The watercooler