The Monthly Recap - September

The Monthly Recap - September

Q3 closed with plenty of cash on the sidelines but little action — like racers waiting for a starting pistol that never fired. Australia’s M&A flows are just $101b YTD, running below even Covid lows. Sentiment was hit by two high-profile walkaways: ADNOC’s $36b Santos takeover bid and CVC’s $2.8b La Trobe bid, both collapsed. Dealmaking remains stuck in neutral heading into Q4. This report outlines select M&A deals, general market activity and significant news amongst private equity, investment banking & debt markets. We also include a short section on recent notable market movers.

‍

M&A

• Soul Patts and Brickworks complete $12b merger, ending 63-year cross-shareholding (AFR).

• Molycop sold to Tega Industries for $2.3bn, scrapping IPO plans (The Australian).

• Macquarie-Backed Aula Energy poised to acquire Lightsource bp’s $800m renewable asset portfolio (AFR).

• Brookfield set to acquire NZ energy group Clarus in $2b sale (AFR).

‍

Other Activity

‍

• Macquarie restructures commodities trading business amid regulatory pressure (AFR).

• Santos-Led GLNG emerges as leading bidder in $400m Meridian Gas Project Auction (The Australian).

• Perpetual nears sale of $21b wealth management unit to Oaktree-backed buyer (AFR).

• HSBC Australia’s $52b retail sale attracts NAB, ING interest (AFR).

• ART backs Macquarie Green Energy Fund with $US650m impact investment (AFR).

‍

Investment Banking & Debt Markets

• Brookfield & PEP backed Intellihub seals $3b green debt refinancing (AFR) (Intellihub).

• ADIA gears up for $4b refinancing of Australian Infrastructure stakes (AFR).

• Superfunds shift billions amid currency risk (AFR).

• Big 4 banks cut jobs and double down on AI (AFR): ANZ to slash 3500 roles in major restructure (AFR); NAB cuts 410 jobs and shifts positions offshore (AFR); Westpac axes 200 teller roles as branches go digital (AFR).

Notable Market Movers

‍

There have been plenty of Notable Market Movers in September including:  

• Macquarie rehires former MD Mike Johnson to strengthen syndication desk (AFR).

• Top Morgan Stanley advisers Garth Hu and Cathy Ding resign to launch own firm (AFR).

• Ex-Hostplus PE head Neil Stanford joins Escala Partners in alternatives role (AFR).

• Johan Krynauw promoted to partner at Allegro Funds (AFR).

• David Low joins UBS from JPMorgan to lead healthcare research (AFR).

• Brad Miller to lead KPMG consulting as Paul Howes departs (AFR).

• Citi names Kate McCutcheon as head of metals & mining research (The Australian).

• David Di Pilla hires former AirTrunk deputy CEO Michael Juniper at DigiCo (AFR).

• Goodman’s Asia data centre head leaves to join AirTrunk (AFR).

• Westpac hires BofA’s Pete Nicholls to bolster internal M&A & strategy (AFR).

• Andrew Batmanian joins RBC as head of Equity Capital Markets (AFR).

• BofA promotes Dan Janes, Tom Barsha, Karl Rozman & Kate Stone to strengthen APAC investment Banking (AFR).

‍