☕ The $20bn deal in peril

Adobe's plans to take up the fight to Canva hit another snag.

June 21, 2023

Good morning. A subdued night on Wall Street, but there was some interesting news on the global deals front with implications for Australia.

Photoshop maker Adobe’s planned $US20bn purchase of design platform Figma hit another snag with reports EU regulators will investigate the deal (US and UK regulators are already examining it).

Adobe’s Figma buy has been viewed by some as an attempt by the company to shield itself against the rise of Australia’s very own Canva.

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MARKET MOVERS

*Stock data as of the market close. Commodities and crypto data in USD.

Market News: Star Entertainment Group just can’t catch a break. The stricken casino operator appeared to win a reprieve this week when the NSW government delayed the introduction of a controversial tax on gaming revenue from its Pyrmont casino.

But then a $248 million sale-leaseback deal involving its Brisbane properties with Charter Hall collapsed. That sent shares tumbling 3.2% yesterday to fresh record lows.

THE QUICK SYNC

  • Adobe’s $20bn deal to acquire US design platform Figma is in jeopardy as EU regulators prepare to launch a formal investigation into the transaction. (Financial Times | Reuters)

  • Bearish investors have burned through $US120bn betting against tech stocks in the current market rally. (WSJ)

  • Joe Biden’s $US369bn green stimulus bill will survive even if he loses the White House next year, according to billionaire Andrew Forrest. (AFR)

  • Forrest has donated $5bn in Fortescue shares to his philanthropic arm, Minderoo. (The Australian)

  • New Zealand’s government is launching an inquiry into the profitability of its banking sector, which is dominated by Australia’s ‘big four’ lenders. (SMH)

  • UBS is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in regulatory fines over Credit Suisse’s dealings with collapsed hedge fund Archegos Capital. (Financial Times | Bloomberg)

TRADING FLOOR

M&A:

  • Bankers from Rothschild Australia are gauging interest in Waterman Capital's majority stake in Fusion5. (AFR)

  • Charter Hall has abandoned plans to acquire the Treasury Casino building in Brisbane as part of a leaseback agreement with The Star Entertainment Group. (BNA)

  • ARN Media’s acquisition of 14.8% in Southern Cross Media Group gets mixed reactions. (The Australian)

  • Regal Funds has offloaded shares in former takeover target Tyro Payments. (The Australian)

  • Gascoyne Resources is seen as the next takeover target as deals heat up. (The Australian)

Capital Markets:

  • AirTrunk hires Crédit Agricole, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING, Morgan Stanley, and MUFG to put together a massive $4.76bn sustainability-linked loan. (AFR)

  • Frntline has raised $4.6m for an international roll-out of its 'TikTok style' educational videos. (BNA)

VC:

  • Midnight Health, an online healthcare solutions provider, raises $15m in Series B backed by nib. (BNA| AFR)

  • Ellume Health has been placed in liquidation after a takeover offer for the failed business fell through. (StartupDaily)

  • HydGene Renewables, a green hydrogen startup, has raised $6m ina round led by the Clean Energy Innovation Fund. (StartupDaily)

  • One Future Football (1FF), a Melbourne fantasy sports startup, has raised $3m in a pre-Seed round led by Blackbird Ventures. (StartupDaily)

  • Founders who have sold their businesses have cautioned their peers to always demand cash upfront. (AFR)

Others:

  • Twitter has now refused to pay the bills to renew its multi-year contract with Google Cloud. (StartupDaily)

  • Bubs Australia brings in Kidder Williams for strategic advice. (AFR)

  • Tony Davis and Mark Gray’s resignation from Shaw Partners stirs talks of plans to set up a rival shop. (AFR)

  • Perpetual has an extended outage on its hands impacting 45,000 clients. (AFR)

  • Woodside has pressed go on its $US7.2bn ($10.5bn) Trion oil project off the coast of Mexico. (SMH)

  • CSIRO CEO says start-up founders and university researchers should develop a “market vision”. (AFR)

  • Morgan Stanley’s Craig Smith is said to be departing to take on a new role outside the industry. (The Australian)

THE WATERCOOLER