☕️Constructive Criticism

Good morning.

While ANZ shareholders may not have quite reached for the torches and pitchforks at the bank’s fiery AGM yesterday, the blisteringly honest feedback served up to the board left no questions about the level of restrained rage being channelled toward the non-exec directors.

Even before the AGM formally got underway, proxy votes had already delivered a second strike against the board, though a full board spill was avoided.

One shareholder grilled chair Paul O’Sullivan: “My question is, when are you going to retire? Seriously, you’ve stuffed it.”

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in Boss Energy sank Thursday after the uranium miner withdrew its feasibility study for the Honeymoon project in South Australia and flagged major changes to key operational assumptions.

The quick sync

• The High Court’s 2026 docket will test if covert animal cruelty footage is legal, if Uber owes payroll tax and if teens can be locked out of social media. (Capital Brief)

• Audacy to launch a $151m climate tech fund focused on Australia and APAC early next year. (Capital Brief)

• Politico’s Europe chief visited Australia twice this year, but says no local expansion is planned. (Capital Brief)

• Albanese moves on antisemitism after the Bondi attack, faces backlash for not acting sooner. (Capital Brief)

• Kristin Cabot breaks her silence to deny ever kissing Astronomer’s CEO Andy Byron before Coldplay kiss-cam that ended her career. (NYT)

Trading floor

M&A

• APA shares jumped after agreeing to sell its final GDI stake to Stonepeak for $64m. (Capital Brief)

• Wesfarmers puts 54 Priceline stores into receivership amid Infinity Pharmacy Group’s financial difficulties. (AFR)

• Perpetual extended exclusivity with Bain Capital as talks continue on selling its wealth unit. (Capital Brief)

• Allegro selects Igneo as preferred buyer for $500m Strait Link, including two vessels. (AFR)

• GemLife acquires Townsville site for $21m to build 500+ homes. (Capital Brief)

• Warner Bros Discovery board calls Paramount’s $163B bid “illusory” and urges shareholders to stick with Netflix merger. (AFR)

• Austal wins $1b deal to build 18 landing craft for Australian Army. (Capital Brief)

• PT Petrokimia Gresik hires CITIC CLSA to explore acquiring Dyno Nobel’s Phosphate Hill. (AFR)

• Qube sells Beveridge property interest for $111m, earning ~$100m pre-tax profit. (Capital Brief)

• Trump Media jumps 37.5% premarket after $6b merger with TAE Technologies to build fusion power plants. (Capital Brief)

• Hogan Lovells is merging with Cadwalader to form the world’s fifth-largest law firm by revenue. (WSJ)

Capital Markets

• Netwealth will compensate First Guardian investors with $100m after admitting compliance failures. (Capital Brief)

• Bendigo Bank faces $50m APRA charge over anti-money laundering failures. (Capital Brief)

• Canaccord claims 11% market share to lead 2025 ECM, surpassing JPMorgan, UBS, and Barrenjoey. (AFR)

• APRA imposes stricter governance rules on Equity Trustees over investment oversight. (Capital Brief)

• Santos awarded $240m from Fluor Australia after court upholds contract dispute ruling. (Capital Brief)

• Real Flow Finance raises $3.5m from Singapore’s Lyte to expand its property cashflow platform into Australia. (AFR)

• Paladin Energy slides as debt facility cut from USD150m to USD110m. (Capital Brief)

• Optus triple-zero outage review finds 10+ mistakes, triggers reforms and accountability. (Capital Brief)

• Arena REIT portfolio up $61m; rents rise 3.6%, full-year distribution 19.25c. (Capital Brief)

• BetMakers shares rise 5.7% on three-year Stake RaceOdds+ deal. (Capital Brief)

• “Nobody would be that stupid” – how one Excel error exposed Tricolor’s alleged USD1b fraud, ending in bankruptcy and federal charges. (Bloomberg)

VC 

• Jen Clark’s travel startup Heartful faces potential collapse after AI bot attacks on her design business cut off the funding that supported the company. (Startup Daily)

• Bailador raises PropHero and Updoc valuations, lifting portfolio by $13.3m as Updoc pays $700k in dividends. (Startup Daily)

People moves

• Bapcor shares jumped after Chris Wilesmith was named CEO. (Capital Brief)

• Regal Funds’ John Manchee rejoins JPMorgan following a 12-month stint at Morgan Stanley. (AFR)

• Woodside shares slid after CEO Meg O’Neill resigned to join BP. (Capital Brief)

• Women account for 50% of new partner promotions at top Australian law firms, but male dominance remains in most partnerships. (AFR)

• ANZ chair Paul O’Sullivan won’t rule out $8m bonus for ex-CEO Shayne Elliott despite shareholder opposition. (Capital Brief)

• MCoBeauty’s ex-finance chief Stuart Sher has reached a confidential settlement in his unfair dismissal lawsuit against the company. (AFR)

The watercooler