☕️ Fat Fingers

Good morning.

Just when IperionX thought the short seller report by Spruce Point Capital last November was as bad as things could get, it had another thing coming. The US Department of War-backed titanium miner and alloy maker now bears the title of the 28^th most shorted stock on the ASX, with 7.75% of its shares held in a short position.

After market close on Friday, IperionX told the market it made a typographical error in its half-year accounts relating to the value of its ‘right-of-use’ assets. The business saw its Nasdaq-listed shares fall 14% on Friday. On Monday, IperionX’s ASX shares finished more than 20% lower.

Rather than a carrying amount of USD3,752,600 ($5,354,547.41) at 30 June 2025, the correct value should have been USD21,445,038. Neither the half-year accounts release or the subsequent correction were marked by the company as price sensitive.

Whoops.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in Perpetual rose Monday after the company agreed to sell its wealth management business to US private equity giant Bain Capital for $500 million in cash, and potential earn-out payments of up to $50 million bringing the total consideration to $550 million.

The quick sync

• America's buyout giants are hoovering up Australia's wealth sector, and they're not done yet. (Capital Brief)

• Sharon AI wants to be on the ASX by May and dominate Australia's AI token exports. (Capital Brief)

• Koala’s scaled-back IPO says as much about changing investor attitudes to second-chance founders as it does about timing. (Capital Brief)

• What started as a CBA fraud story is fast becoming an industry-wide reckoning. (Capital Brief)

• Atlassian says it had right to fire engineer for suggesting CEO is ‘rich jerk’ (Bloomberg)

Trading floor

M&A

• Bain Capital will buy Perpetual Limited’s wealth management unit for up to $550m, aiming to complete the deal by 2026. (Capital Brief)

• Horizon Nexus buys PKF Brisbane carve-out. (AFR)

• Lynas signs $137m rare earth supply deal with the U.S. Defense Department. (Capital Brief)

• Whiteoak takes a majority stake in Perth-based industrial designer Arcadia with debt backing from Regal Funds Management. (AFR)

• Perseus Mining agreed to sell its 70% stake in the Meyas Sand project in Sudan for $372m to Matrix Resources. (Capital Brief)

• Global private equity firms, including Carlyle, are evaluating a potential deal for Up Education, which Pacific Equity Partners is preparing to exit. (AFR)

• Nick Curtis plans to sell $100m of his Firmus Technologies shares ahead of the company’s IPO. (AFR)

• US private equity firms are acquiring Australian wealth management assets after major banks exited the industry post-Royal Commission. (Capital Brief)

Capital Markets

• Hilton Brett of Guzman y Gomez will cut back on daily duties for a kidney transplant, while Steven Marks continues leading the company. (Capital Brief)

• AUSTRAC is using Commonwealth Bank of Australia data to identify AML weaknesses and tackle widespread mortgage fraud. (AFR)

• Telix Pharmaceuticals resubmits brain cancer imaging application (TLX101-pX) to the U.S. FDA. (Capital Brief)

• VIQ Solutions enters administration, risking court transcripts. (AFR)

• Orica settled its litigation with CF Industries for $243m and confirmed the purchase of a U.S. explosives business. (Capital Brief)

• Reliance Worldwide Corporation shares rose after announcing a $120m share buyback to return capital to investors on the S&P/ASX 200. (Capital Brief)

• APRA proposes easier lending to boost productivity. (AFR)

• Macquarie Securities fined $35m for misreporting short sales. (Capital Brief)

• Fraud linked to brokers and referrers is emerging as a widespread risk across all major Australian banks, not just Commonwealth Bank of Australia. (Capital Brief)

• Infragreen’s stock plunged from $1 to 35¢, angering investors. (AFR)

• MiAI Law launched an AI-powered platform that provides legal reasoning and analysis for lawyers. (Capital Brief)

• Global buyer shows interest in I-MED as Permira preps ASX listing amid IPO hurdles. (The Australian)

• ASX 200 fell as gold miners dropped due to a decline in bullion prices amid Middle East tensions. (Capital Brief)

• Westpac CEO says households can cope with two expected rate hikes despite rising costs. (AFR)

• China’s economy grew faster than expected at the start of 2026, with industrial production and retail sales beating forecasts. (Capital Brief)

• Emirates says most flights via Dubai are running despite strikes and safety warnings. (AFR)

• IperionX lost nearly $400m in market value after a typo in its half-year accounts triggered a sharp share decline. (Capital Brief)

• Trina Solar halts Queensland battery project but remains involved locally. (AFR)

• Koala is proceeding with its ASX IPO, reflecting evolving investor attitudes toward founders who have previously failed. (Capital Brief)

• Sharon AI plans an ASX listing in April or May following its recent Nasdaq IPO, while expanding AI compute capacity in Melbourne. (Capital Brief)

• Major self-storage operators target Wilson Group portfolio amid booming consolidation. (The Australian)

• Meta will spend up to $27b on AI infrastructure from Nebius over five years to expand its AI capabilities. (Capital Brief)

• Robyn Denholm’s year-long review recommends overhauling Australia’s RD&I system with deregulation and expanded investment incentives. (Capital Brief)

• International Energy Agency can release more emergency oil from its stockpiles “as and if needed” to stabilize markets. (Capital Brief)

• Private credit strains ripple through Wall Street as investors grow wary. (Reuters)

• Wall St underestimates private capital problems, says Davidson Kempner’s Tony Yoseloff. (FT)

• Nvidia’s Jensen Huang sees at least USD1 trillion of AI chip revenue opportunity through 2027. (Bloomberg)(Reuters)

• Nvidia-backed AI startup to spend billions on Korea data centre to combat China. (WSJ)

• Musk’s xAI hiring credit experts, bankers to teach grok finance. (Bloomberg)

VC 

• Woodside Energy delays low-carbon ammonia startup at its $3.35b Beaumont project due to slow customer demand and equipment development. (AFR)

People moves

• Pro Medicus appointed Danny English as CFO, replacing Clayton Hatch who moved to new executive roles. (Capital Brief)

• Healthscope CEO Tino La Spina exits amid restructuring tensions; COO Nicole Waldron named interim CEO. (The Australian)

• Seven partners left Perpetual’s Fordham ahead of the $500m sale of its wealth management unit to Bain Capital. (AFR)

• Michael McCormack returns to the Nationals’ frontbench as water and veterans’ affairs spokesman under new leader Matt Canavan. (Capital Brief)

• Kate Morris exits Glow Capital Partners to prioritize her health. (AFR)

The watercooler