Good evening,

Incitec Pivot kicked off the day by confirming Street Talk’s report of suitors starting to line up for its fertilisers unit.

It did not go as far as confirming the Asian SOEs hanging around the hoop, but it’s clear the divestment attempts are in full swing. Outside of that, it was slow going in deals on the ASX.

We checked in on Johannesburg-listed Murray & Roberts’ attempts to buy back its Perth-based mining contractor RUC out of administration.

Turns out Macquarie Group weighed making a $50 million asset-backed loan to help Murray & Roberts come good on the deal. However, it is understood to have walked away. So, RUC is still stuck in dealmaking limbo, while its Aussie sister unit Clough has gone off to Italy’s WeBuild.

Elsewhere, family-owned commercial greenhouse builder Apex has sold a minority stake to a Dutch player; State Street’s David Hunter is out the door, as is long-serving Magellan portfolio manager and former deputy CIO Dom Giuliano.

Finally, we hear fundies are having a hard time assessing IPO hopefuls when they rock up to investor meetings with just three years’ worth of pandemic-driven profits. The situation’s not bad enough to choke up the IPO pipeline, but fundies look ready to throw their weight around on pricing.

Happy reading,
Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Street Talk editors