☕ Construction collapse

Good morning. The Aussie construction market is having a so-called Credit Suisse moment (fka a Lehman moment) with a couple of builders — Porter Davis and Lloyd Group — both going under over the weekend.

April 03, 2023

Good morning. The Aussie construction market is having a so-called Credit Suisse moment (fka a Lehman moment) with a couple of builders — Porter Davis and Lloyd Group — going under over the weekend.

Interest rate rises + higher input costs are biting, with rumours that a few other major builders are on the cusp too. (More below)

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MARKET MOVERS

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

Market news: EML is back, baby!!! Well, sort of... with the company that once traded in the $3-5/sh range reaffirming its FY23 guidance on Friday.

The Friday update they shared (besides the guidance news) was generally pretty bad — with the Irish regulator scrutinizing their European operations turning the screws on EML.

EML's European business is now being capped to 0% growth — down from +10% — over the next 12mths because the regulator hasn't been happy with their remediation progress.

THE QUICK SYNC

  • Inside Potentia Capital, the tech gurus banking double-digit returns. (AFR)

  • Aussie building industry ‘on the brink’ after two groups collapse in 24 hours. (SMH)

  • Why VGW's Perth billionaire founder is aboard Ferrari in F1. (Australian)

  • Salvage of Zoe Foster Blake’s Go-To owner BWX goes down to the wire. (SMH)

  • The one big loophole in the online gambling debate. (SMH)

  • Bernard Charles: The intern who became a billionaire. (SMH)

  • Swiss prosecutors open probe into UBS takeover of Credit Suisse. (PO)

TRADING FLOOR

M&A:

  • Potentia is expected to lob a revised $1.75-$1.80/sh bid for Tyro over the coming days. (AFR)

  • Allegro is expected to close on its Slater & Gordon takeover with major backers rolling into the 55c/sh bid. (AFR)

  • China Moly is exploring a sale of its NSW’s Northparkes copper and gold mine after receiving some interest from multiple buyers. (AFR)

  • Wyloo Metals is compelled to buy Mincor shares despite learning about the product quality problems unless it gets approval from ASIC to withdraw its bid. (AFR)

  • Kelly family has decided to sell its Village Hotel in Sydney’s west for $40m. (SMH)

  • Zip has struck deals to offload Twisto and Payflex. (StartupDaily)

  • Paine Schwartz Partners has lifted its stake in Costa Group. (The Australian)

Capital Markets:

  • Sovereign Metals' graphite spin-off is going public. (The Australian)

  • Meteoric Resources is looking to raise $20m. (AFR)

  • CBA runs out of patience at BWX, says no more extensions on its debt facility. (AFR)

  • Northern Star gets $US600m at its US debt capital markets trip. (AFR)

VC:

  • Halter, an agtech startup has raised NZ$85m (A$79.5m) in a Series C led by Bessemer Venture Partners (StartupDaily)

  • Paypa Plane, a Brisbane fintech, has raised $10m in a Series A led by the QIC. (StartupDaily)

  • StartADAM, an Australian software ‘communicator’ start-up, secures a $US1.9m ($2.8m) funding from Watertower Ventures. (The Australian)

Others:

  • Christian Johnston has retired from the Goldman Sachs partnership. (AFR)

  • Shell has selected a suburb in south-eastern Melbourne as the location for its first direct investment in a big battery project. (SMH)

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