☕️ Chess vs checkers

Elon Musk continues to confound.

July 18, 2023

Good morning.

Elon Musk’s US$44 billion acquisition of Twitter continues to look like a disastrous move. Just days after Musk admitted that the social media platform is still burning through cash at an alarming rate due to an advertiser exodus and its heavy debt load, one of the investors who went along for the ride and remained exposed to Twitter as a private company cut the valuation of the business on its books by nearly 50%.

While Twitter still looks deeply challenged and is perplexing just about everyone Musk can at least take solace in the fact that his other major private company SpaceX appears to be doing much better, with reports overnight that it expects to double revenue this year. Maybe Musk’s playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers? Or maybe not.

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MARKET MOVERS

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

Market News: Former Woolworths spinoff Endeavour Group’s shares were torched after the Victorian government announced new restrictions on the use of poker machines in the state, including limits on losses and forcing the closure of poker machines in all areas (except Crown Casino, of course) between 4am and 10am.

THE QUICK SYNC

  • Cathie Wood’s ARK has written down its Twitter stake by 47% (WSJ)

  • Tesla directors will return US$735 million to the company to settle settle claims they grossly overpaid themselves. (Yahoo Finance | Reuters)

  • SpaceX forecasts a doubling of revenue in 2023 to US$8bn. (The Information)

  • Wheat prices surged after Russia axed a grain supply deal. (CNBC)

TRADING FLOOR

M&A:

  • Investa is selling three build-to-rent projects, totaling roughly $1bn. (AFR)

  • Three parties, including Wesfarmers, have approached Incitec Pivot about an acquisition of its fertilisers unit. (The Australian)

  • Entain decided against investing around $40m into Betr. (AFR)

  • Rio Tinto has bought a strategic stake in Sovereign Metals. (AFR)

  • GURNER has acquired a prime Sydney Harbour site on the doorstep of Barangaroo. (BNA)

  • MRI Software acquired Loci Solutions Group for an undisclosed sum. (BNA)

  • Lendlease has reached a deal with Daiwa House to deliver a build-to-rent (BTR) apartment development at Melbourne Quarter. (BNA | SMH)

  • Drone Shield has notched a $33m contract with an unnamed US Government agency. (BNA)

  • Trelise Cooper has recently placed itself up for sale. (The Australian)

  • Seven & I Holdings is still a keen bidder for 7-Eleven Australia despite its disappointing quarterly result last week. (The Australian)

Capital Markets:

  • Australian tech investors and executives are hopeful that IPOs will bounce back after the worst year for new listings in a decade. (AFR)

VC:

  • Wollemi Capital, a climate change investor, has raised $220m in a Series A. (StartupDaily)

Others:

  • Clayton Utz restructuring and insolvency partner Orla McCoy has jumped ship to Gilbert + Tobin. (AFR)

  • Robbie Vanderzeil has been appointed a senior advisor with HMC Capital. (AFR)

THE WATERCOOLER