☕️Forbidden Fruit

Good morning.

Australian design software giant Canva is attracting growing interest from investors ahead of its anticipated public listing, Capital Brief reports, with its shares increasingly appearing on US-based secondary platforms such as Forge, Nasdaq PM, EquityZen and Hiive.

Private market exchanges enable the buying and selling of shares in high-growth private companies, connecting existing shareholders — often early employees or venture backers — with accredited buyers seeking exposure ahead of a public listing or exit.

But there is one major problem: Canva’s company policies restrict such activity.

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Market movers

Shares in Iluka Resources skyrocketed Friday after the US Department of Defence agreed to take a 15% stake in rival MP Materials to boost local rare earths output in the country and cut import reliance.

The quick sync

• Life360’s surging stock and bold expansion bets have investors eyeing its shift from family tracking app to full-blown safety tech ecosystem. (Capital Brief)

• RBA eyes key jobs data this week as Bullock flags a rate cut path tied to labour and inflation trends. (Capital Brief)

• Qantas' cyber breach exposed data from 6 million customers but, unlike Optus and Medibank, it’s avoided a major backlash, for now. (Capital Brief)

• Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey warns top banks off stablecoins, urging tokenised deposits instead amid growing global regulatory divide. (Bloomberg)

Trading floor

M&A

• Warburg Pincus enters $3b La Trobe auction, hiring Goldman to boost its bid. (AFR)

• Kirsh’s Abacus bid falters as National Storage ups stake to block the deal. (The Australian)

• Dental Boutique is up for sale, with Morgan Stanley tapped to run the deal. (AFR)

• RACQ hires Macquarie to sell its bank, with Bendigo Bank seen as a likely bidder. (The Australian)

• Betashares merges with InvestSense to launch Trellia, expanding into managed accounts. (AFR)

• PEP’s $1.1b Johns Lyng bid wins support, with more deals in the sector likely. (The Australian)

• Google outbid OpenAI, spending $2.4b to acquire AI talent from Windsurf. (Bloomberg)

• NIB’s $200m travel insurance sale draws top bidders, including Zurich, Hollard, and Allianz. (The Australian)

• UniCredit eyes next move on Banco BPM after court blow to Italy’s deal blocks. (Bloomberg)

Capital Markets

• SpaceX is investing $2b in Musk’s xAI to grow its chatbot Grok and rival OpenAI. (Capital Brief) (WSJ)

• Redback Boots seeks investors for growth, hiring Rothschild to explore capital options. (AFR)

• JustFund gets $200m from MA Financial to expand its fast-growing divorce loan business. (AFR)

• Investors see Life360 as undervalued despite its stock rally, citing strong growth and expansion plans. (Capital Brief)

• Glencore may still spin off coal assets despite price slump and lender hurdles. (AFR)

• Keybridge reclaimed its Tesla from ex-director Nick Bolton in a Byron Bay showdown. (AFR)

• Canva shares are trading on US platforms despite company bans, driven by rising pre-IPO demand. (Capital Brief)

• Imugene to raise funds after steep share drop and recent cancer drug acquisition. (AFR)

• HSBC exits Net-Zero Banking Alliance but credits its role in climate goal-setting. (AFR)

• Global investors are pivoting to Australian private debt as US risks rise, lured by stronger credit fundamentals, lender protections and a $250 billion growth opportunity. (AFR)

• AI-driven trading is reshaping earnings season, compressing price reactions into sharper, faster, more volatile market moves. (AFR)

VC

• Former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Miller is close to raising US$400m for a new London-based tech fund, Evantic Capital. (FT)

• Memecoin platform Pump.fun raises US$600m within 12 minutes. (Bloomberg)

People moves

• None

The watercooler