☕️ BHP bets

Good morning.

BHP Ventures is doing what most Aussie corporates haven’t been able to: making VC actually work. Five years in, the $200 billion miner has already notched successful exits by backing high-conviction bets in hard tech, AI and critical minerals, all tightly aligned to its balance sheet and long-term priorities.

Speaking with Capital Brief’s Bronwen Clune, BHP Ventures VP Laurel Buckner suggests that, unlike the spray-and-pray approach of typical CVCs, their strategy is to back what actually moves the dial for BHP.

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Market movers

Shares in West Africa-focused gold explorer Predictive Discovery rose almost 17% after it agreed to be acquired by Perseus Mining in an all-scrip deal that its board deemed superior to a proposed merger with Robex Resources. The offer implies a price of 77.8 cents per share, reflecting a 24.5% premium to Predictive’s last closing price.

The quick sync

• BHP Ventures is making money from AI and hard tech bets while most corporate VC efforts fall short. (Capital Brief)

• Tech firms eye Australia’s sovereign AI push, despite no clear definition from government. (Capital Brief)

• Softer GDP won’t stop the RBA holding now and hiking later, economists warn.(Capital Brief)

• Labor’s FOI bill is headed for Senate defeat amid widespread opposition. (Capital Brief)

• Morgan Stanley is weighing credit-risk options to reduce its AI data-centre loan exposure. (Bloomberg)

• Nvidia’s Jensen Huang tells Joe Rogan: Nobody "really knows" AI's national security implications. (Axios)

Trading floor

M&A

• Perseus Mining to buy Predictive Discovery in a premium all-scrip takeover. (Capital Brief)

• T-Ports and AGE pursue joint grain sale processes in South Australia. (AFR)

• Calvary Healthcare plans $180–220m purchase of 12 Healthscope hospitals. (The Australian)

• News Corp sells its 13% stake in ARN Media amid declining ad revenue. (Capital Brief)

• Qantas merges domestic airline and QantasLink under one executive. (AFR)

Capital Markets

• Transurban keeps FY26 guidance and lifts interim dividend to 34c. (Capital Brief)

• 6K Additive upsizes IPO to $48m for $267m ASX debut. (AFR)

• ANZ settlement on dead-customer fees held up by Federal Court. (AFR)

• Streamers hit a record $414m in Australian content spend, led by strong growth in adult drama. (Capital Brief)

• Saluda Medical to debut on ASX with $775m valuation. (AFR)

• Dexus to raise $500m via 30-year bonds for capital management. (The Australian)

• Future Fund executive assistant’s $20k business trips spark parliamentary scrutiny. (AFR)

• Vulcan Energy locks in $3.9b financing to launch the Lionheart lithium project. (Capital Brief)

• OpenAI faces tough competition as Aussie start-ups pick from global AI providers. (AFR)

• First Guardian investors unlikely to recover full $446m, say liquidators. (AFR)

• Popular EVs drive shorter distances than advertised, says AAA, reinforcing consumer concerns about range and recharging. (Capital Brief)

• Mosaic Brands must appoint second liquidator over conflict concerns. (AFR)

• WiseTech CEO Zubin Appoo defends new pricing model amid customer concerns. (AFR)

• TikTok to invest $57b in Brazil’s first data centre. (Capital Brief)

• BHP Ventures profits from investments in future-focused mining technologies. (Capital Brief)

• Anthropic taps IPO lawyers as it races OpenAI to go public. (FT)

• At DealBook Summit, Anthropic CEO says some AI firms are overspending on infrastructure despite unclear economic returns. (NYT)(Bloomberg)

• Nvidia scores lobbying win as congress rejects Chip Export Bill. (Bloomberg)

VC 

• 3D body scanning startup Bodd raises $15m to expand globally into the US, UK, and Middle East. (Startup Daily)

• Melbourne startup Cor raised $2m to develop its AI onboarding assistant Obi, which uses generative video to guide users through software. (Capital Brief)

• Hachiko raises $2.5m to expand BESS optimisation software. (Startup Daily)

• A US VC’s public claims about Airwallex’s China links have stirred tension in Australia’s startup scene, despite strong local VC backing for the fintech. (Capital Brief)

• Australian startup Unyoked inks 10-year UK deal for off-grid forest cabins. (Smart Company)

• Paperbacked venture studio backs Australian edtech founders. (Startup Daily)

People moves

• Tesla chair Robyn Denholm will leave the Tech Council amid a major board shake-up. (Capital Brief)

• Laura Golis named Jefferies Australia co-head of investment banking. (AFR)

• ANZ CEO Nuno Matos is the new ABA chair. (Capital Brief)

• Adamantem Capital director David Brennecke resigns. (AFR)

• Brian Wong becomes independent board chair of Quantum Brilliance. (Capital Brief)

• Brendan Nelson named HSBC chair after year-long search. (Capital Brief)

• Meta Platforms poaches Apple’s Alan Dye, its most prominent design executive in a major coup. (Bloomberg)

The watercooler