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 | Tuesday August 22, 2023 |
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Is it already the annual office party season? If it is, Monday night was a serious kick-off to proceedings. The guest list, as far as we could tell, for Arnold Bloch Leibler’s 70th birthday bash in Melbourne was seriously bulging. Among the guests was retail billionaire Solomon Lew. Coincidentally, he has ABL (and UBS) on hand advising his ASX-listed Premier Investments vehicle on whether to spin-off three separate companies. Also, on the list: Square Peg Capital co-founder Paul Bassat, wealthy investor Alex Waislitz and 101 Collins Street fixture and Flagstaff Partners emeritus chairman emeritus Charles Goode. |
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Also spotted: former federal treasurer turned Goldman Sachs man Josh Frydenberg, Ellerston Capital exec chair and former Kerry Packer confidant Ashok Jacob and ex-PwC chief Luke Sayers. |
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Even Barrenjoey executive chairman Matthew Grounds was scheduled to attend the event. But he’ll have to get back pretty quickly in time for Gilbert + Tobin’s Spring Soiree at the Ivy on Thursday night, expected to bulge with Sydney deal makers. |
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Should all make for interesting mingling. |
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One other thought. It seems like Pacific Current Group, itself having attracted takeover attention from Regal Partners and GQG Partners, is in the midst of acquiring some or all of Fortlake Asset Management for $70 million. That would no doubt leave a few red faces at the ASX-listed Income Asset Management Group, which earlier this year offloaded a 25 per cent in the same company... for only $3.5 million. |
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 | Emma Rapaport Co-editor, Street Talk |
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- Singapore buyout group Southern Capital is seriously considering selling its Qualitas Health business, appointing Bank of America to assist with a transaction that would value the company at $400 million.
- A split at Premier Investments could unlock more than $1 billion in value and Solomon Lew a personal windfall of $500 million.
- Azure Minerals, a lithium explorer, is seeking to capitalise on recent drilling results, launching a $120 million raise and tapping two brokers, Barrenjoey and Canaccord Genuity, to oversee the deal.
- Balmaine Gold, the collapsed local subsidiary of Singapore-listed Shen Yao, has received a $42 million bid for its gold mine in Ballarat. The bid came from London’s Acheron Capital, a lender to the group.
- Matthew Nicholls, the former co-head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, has reappeared at Wilsons as head of private wealth advice. He will report to head of private wealth Casimir Skillecorn.
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Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments owns some of Australia’s most popular retail brands including sleepwear outfit Peter Alexander, children’s stationery powerhouse Smiggle, and clothing outlets Just Jeans. |
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- ASX futures up 17 points or 0.2% to 7079 near 6am AEST
- AUD +0.2% at US64.18¢
- Bitcoin -0.1% at $US26,123
- Dow flat S&P +0.7% Nasdaq +1.6%
- FTSE -0.1% DAX +0.2% CAC +0.5%
- Gold +0.3% at $US1894.57 an ounce
- Brent oil -0.4% to $US84.43 a barrel
- Iron ore +0.6% to $US107.45 a tonne
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Australian shares are set to open slightly up as the Nasdaq lifted Wall Street. US Treasury bonds hit a 15-year high. Seven London banks slashed their growth forecasts for China as the world’s second-largest economy continued to slump. ASX futures were up 17 points or 0.2% to 7079 near 6am AEST. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq was up more than 1 per cent on Monday, and S&P 500 was also higher in afternoon trading. Shares of Nvidia jumped more than 6 per cent as investors were hopeful before its earnings due late on Wednesday. (Read more online.) |
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- US hedge fund Sculptor Capital Management has rebuffed an unsolicited bid from a group of hedge fund giants including Boaz Weinstein and Bill Ackman, Bloomberg reports.
- Disney’s ESPN could just be the asset Apple decides to shell out for, writes media startup Puck.
- US insurance broker giant Marsh & McLennan makes $700 million swoop on Australian insurance broker Honan Insurance, according to Bloomberg.
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