☕️ Boomer spoils

Funds striking gold with boomer businesses

Good morning.

Australia’s baby boomer business owners are facing a retirement dilemma: they’ve built top-notch, profitable enterprises, but can’t find buyers.

Their profitable small businesses are too niche for private equity and too boring for their kids. But Capital Brief’s Jack Derwin points out these are also proving a goldmine for savvy investors.

Successful permanent capital funds, like Andrew Chou’s Pinecone in Tokyo, are holding and growing these niche businesses for their value creation potential without the typical private equity headaches.

ASX as at market close. Commodities and crypto in USD.

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Market movers

Telix Pharmaceuticals skyrocketed 10.5% on Thursday, thanks to a game-changing announcement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, promising better and clearer payments.

The move means more accurate payments for diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals, including its prostate cancer imaging product Illuccix, which will continue to be paid separately by CMS for Medicare Fee-for-Service patients, ensuring Telix’s products aren’t lumped into payment bundles..

The quick sync

  • Vision Pro release tests Apple’s strategy to drive growth beyond the iPhone. (Capital Brief)

  • Jarden pitches a new service for big emitters: carbon trading. (AFR)

  • UK slaps down Macquarie-owned water company Southern Water. (AFR)

  • ANZ engages Allens and Herbert Smith Freehills to probe allegations of bond market deception and cultural issues. (Capital Brief)

  • BHP to suspend WA nickel mining after massive losses. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

  • ACCC flags concerns that Aurizon's acquisition of Flinders Logistics may reduce competition in South Australia's rail haulage services for containerized bulk minerals. (Capital Brief)

  • AustralianSuper and the Gold Coast Council are bidding for a 74.25% stake in Queensland Airports, with interest from overseas bidders seeking a local partner. (AFR)

  • Woodside Energy's shares rose after securing a long-term LNG supply deal with Taiwan's CPC Corp, sourced from its global portfolio. (Capital Brief)

  • PMFresh has acquired HS Fresh Food, including brands like Sunfresh and Gourmet Selections, after the latter entered administration under FTI Consulting. (BNA)

  • Crescent Capital's $303m bid for Pacific Smiles nears completion amid rival Genesis Capital's interest, with a key shareholder vote on August 1. (AFR)

  • Alumina's AWAC joint venture with Alcoa reported lower production in the June quarter ahead of their $3.4bn merger, where Alumina shareholders will own 31.6% of the combined group. (Capital Brief)

  • Regal Resources Royalties Fund is acquiring a 2.3% royalty over Metro Mining's Skardon River tenements and raising $20m to fund it. (AFR)

  • Large private equity firms are signing NDAs and preparing first-round bids for Compass Education. (AFR)

Capital Markets

  • Synlait Milk secures A2 Milk's backing for a new loan from China's Bright Dairy to avoid insolvency. (Capital Brief)

  • Australian Vintage is cutting its vineyard operations and costs to manage debt after raising $45m, including surrendering a key lease for the Balranald Vineyard. (BNA)

VC

  • Melbourne's JigSpace secures fresh funding as Apple Vision Pro lands in Australia. (Capital Brief)

  • Federation's Sendle deal draws intense VC scrutiny as fresh terms offered. (Capital Brief)

  • LaunchVic has funded seven new pre-accelerator programs in Victoria with $400,000. (Startup Daily)

  • Sircel, an Australian e-waste recycling venture, secured $5m from Kilara Capital to recover valuable materials from discarded electronics, including old solar panels. (Smart Company)

People moves

  • None

☝️ Know about a deal or people move we don’t? Hit reply.

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