☕️ Matchmaking Activists

Good morning.

News that Elliott Investment Management has swiped right on investing $1.5b in Tinder’s parent company, Match Group Inc, lit a fire under stock which jumped over 6% in Tuesday morning trading. The company has been flailing, with its US$10b market cap three quarters below its peak, and hitting a record low in October after disappointing guidance. There is nothing like a new (activist) partner to ruthlessly strip out weak spots in a business spark that honeymoon phase for the new year.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Alumina stock rallied 8% in afternoon trading on Tuesday after it jointly announced plans with its partner Alcoa to curtail production at the Kwinana alumina refinery in WA. Alumina holds a 40% stake in the ageing refinery through its AWAC joint venture with Alcoa. Kwinana has only been operating at 80% capacity, and the additional output cuts which will slash hundreds of jobs are likely due to cost-cutting measures following extended delays for the AWAC’s mining approvals in WA.

Together with Stake | Invest on Wall St and the ASX

The quick sync

• 2024 could see an end to the big four’s mortgage war, putting a stop to ‘damaging competition’ on banks’ earnings. (Capital Brief)

• BlackRock warns investors of a UK bond selloff prompted by unease around the outcome of the country’s election later this year. (Bloomberg)

• Aussie tech firms offering AI want a carveout to continue mining content without constraint, signalling a brewing copyright battle between media firms and tech players on home turf. (Capital Brief)

• Eurozone jobless rate hit a record low of 6.4%, fuelling concern around timing of a potential rate cut by the ECB. (Financial Times)

• ACCC weighs up the benefits of boosting competition law exemptions to foster positive environmental initiatives. (Capital Brief)

• VCs are ignoring the $40billion assistive technology sector, ARIA Research wants that to change. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• KKR has enlisted Jefferies Australia to advise on a bid for Melbourne's EastLink toll road. (AFR)

• Conde Nast has sold Vogue House in London's Mayfair to Monaco-based Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer for £75m. (SMH)

• Ord Minnett acquired approximately 19m shares in Star Entertainment at 53¢ per share. (AFR)

• Hewlett Packard Enterprises is reportedly in talks to acquire Juniper Networks in a deal estimated to be worth around $13bn. (Capital Brief)

• Woodside Energy and Santos are exploring discussions for a potential mega-merger, with asset due diligence underway. (AFR)

VC

• One03 Ventures, a new venture capital and growth advisory firm, has been launched by Claxon's chairman and CEO, Daniel Willis. (Startup Daily)

People moves

• Macquarie veteran Dan Ritchie, equities chief for 14 years, has left the firm and is exploring new opportunities. (AFR)

Together with Power Writing

This isn’t your typical course. We’re not your typical instructors. That’s why you should read on.

Power Writing was created by Kal & Christopher...

• Kal is a former Macquarie banker who started and sold Letter of Intent (yes, this very newsletter).

• Christopher is a former McKinsey partner and COO who took a startup from 0 to a $3bn IPO in 5 years.

In other words, we aren’t professors. We’ve seen firsthand the huge impact your writing can have on your professional performance. It sounds obvious, yet no one ever teaches you to write for work. We want to change that.

Don’t let those writing habits from your uni days — big words, long sentences, dense paragraphs with no formatting, conclusions at the end — hold you back at work. Learn the techniques to be concise and precise so your work gets recognised and you get promoted.

And the best part? You can probably expense it to that L&D allowance you never touch.

Start 2024 by levelling up. Learn more here.

The watercooler