Jarden tows Grok around town | PEP fund raising push paves path to potential IPO | Cr escent Capital’s heart beats for Cardiology Co

Good evening,

It was the Mike Cannon-Brookes show today, as the thorn in AGL Energy’s side ramped up his calls for fellow shareholders to block the company’s demerger at a vote next month.

Fresh from securing an 11.3 per cent stake via derivatives, Cannon-Brookes was jumping on calls with AGL Energy’s top 20 shareholders and media, explaining his pitch and answering questions.

Interestingly in banking circles, JPMorgan may have written the derivatives to get Cannon-Brookes his stake, but it was Jarden’s bankers teeing up the investor calls, revealing the billionaire’s investment banking allegiances.

In Street Talk tonight, we explore one of the biggest issues in Australian private equity - succession - and one of the biggest lunchtime talking points - the race to be Australia’s first PE billionaire.

Australian PE has come a long way in its 25 years, but there are still no billionaires and still no listed PE firms. The two are linked.

There are plenty of smoke signals coming out of Pacific Equity Partners - still mostly in the hands of its founders - that it is thinking about doing things differently. And we look at whether an IPO could be on the cards.

Elsewhere in PE, we have spotted Crescent Capital at GenesisCare’s CardiologyCo.

Happy reading,

Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood

Street Talk editors