Good evening,

Just when we’d given up on deals amid earnings calls, in walked two juicy ones!

In Street Talk tonight, we reveal a board-recommended bid for Slater & Gordon and the identity of the deep-pocketed investor helping casino operator Star with its balance sheet facelift.

Slater & Gordon has quietly stitched up a sale to Sydney PE firm Allegro Funds, in a deal that could be announced as soon as Wednesday morning. Its board and hedge fund investors were expected to bless the new union.

It would mark the end of a 16-year stint on the ASX, during which Slater & Gordon went from being a market darling (it was world’s first law firm to be listed) to a disaster. It would also be the start of a resuscitation at Allegro, which loves turnaround plays and has Christine Holgate-run Toll Global Express in its stables.

Over at casino operator Star Entertainment Group, Street Talk’s sleuthing led to US special sits addict Oaktree Capital Management.

Oaktree is keen to do a deal as Star fends off asset write-downs and covenant breaches after last week’s earnings downgrade. The duo were exploring a range of options across a standalone transaction or a big allocation in a wider equity raising.

Should they go ahead, Oaktree would get its Aussie casino exposure at long last. Readers would remember it stalked Packer’s stake in rival casino Crown Resorts before it was bought by Blackstone.

Elsewhere, Tribeca Global Natural Resources was readying a $50 million cash call, and Potentia had held talks with debt financiers for Tyro Payments.

Happy reading,
Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood
Street Talk editors