☕️ Bold IPO

Good morning.

HMC Capital’s DigiCo Infrastructure REIT float hits the ASX at midday today under the DGT code, raising $1.99 billion and debuting with a $2.75 billion market cap. It offers retail investors rare exposure to AI-fuelled data centres and stands as the year’s biggest IPO—arguably David Di Pilla’s boldest move yet.

Healthy scepticism is surrounding the listing though. Morningstar pegs DigiCo’s fair value at $3.40, well short of the $5 fully underwritten offer price.

Others have pointed to sky-high fees—17% of the $1.99 billion raised, including a tidy $65 million one-off payment to major shareholder HMC—and to the financial engineering behind its promised yield.

Either way, DigiCo’s performance will put HMC’s multi-billion-dollar ambitions to the test.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Ventia’s shares tanked on Thursday when the ACCC hit it and rival Downer with cartel accusations over Department of Defence contracts. Taxpayers footing the bill didn’t land well with the market, with allegations including price-fixing tied to COVID-era programs.

The quick sync

• DAZN eyes Foxtel's sports assets, aiming to secure AFL and NRL rights and 4.6m Australian subscribers in its ambitious global push. (Capital Brief)

• Generative AI is revolutionizing Australian banks by slashing the costs and timelines of modernizing decades-old core systems built on outdated code like COBOL. (Capital Brief)

• Hnry, born from a spreadsheet in 2017, now processes 1% of NZ’s tax revenue, with a $35m boost driving its trans-Tasman fintech growth. (Capital Brief)

• Klarna stopped all hiring a year ago to replace workers with AI  (Bloomberg)

• Sanjay Shah, a British hedge fund trader, jailed in Denmark over ‘cum-ex’ tax fraud scheme. (FT)

Trading floor

M&A

• Rio Tinto is investing $2.5bn to expand its lithium production capacity in Argentina to 60,000 tonnes per year. (Capital Brief)

• Under Armour has invested in ISC Sport to expand its reach in grassroots sports. (BNA)

• Betashares is closing down several of its ETFs, including the Metaverse ETF, despite strong performance. (AFR)

• Blackstone Group considered a potential $8bn acquisition of Dexus but has reportedly paused its interest. (The Australian)

• WiseTech Global has acquired BSM Global to enhance its Cargowise platform. (Capital Brief)

• IPH increased its share buyback program and its shares rose on the ASX. (Capital Brief)

• Oaktree Global Management has sold its entire stake in Perenti, a global mining services company. (AFR)

• Coal miner Coronado Global Resources is opening its first underground mine in Australia, Mammoth, in Queensland's Bowen Basin. (Capital Brief)

• Telstra considered acquiring Spark, a New Zealand telecom company, but decided against it. (The Australian)

• AMP has invested $27m in Bitcoin, making it the first major fund to do so. (AFR)

• Pacific Current Group has revised its timeline for a proposed $300m share buyback.  (Capital Brief)

• Bain Capital is considering a potential acquisition of Insignia Financial. (AFR)

• Viva Energy has received ACCC approval to fully acquire LOC Global. (Capital Brief)

• Northern Star Resources may sell its Carosue Dam gold mine to Ramelius Resources. (The Australian)

• Vinyl Group is buying Concrete Playground for $5m. (Capital Brief)

• Fremantle Octopus, a West Australian octopus supplier, is looking to sell part of its business due to financial constraints. (AFR)

• Orora will buy back shares and expand its Australian operations after selling its North American business. (Capital Brief)

• Spark New Zealand and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan have sold a 50% stake in their mobile tower business, Connexa, to CDPQ for $NZ909m. (The Australian)

• Spark New Zealand sold the remaining stake in its mobile tower business to a Canadian pension fund to focus on core assets. (Capital Brief)

• Advanced Navigation has been selected by Rheinmetall Defence Australia to supply navigation systems for their Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles. (BNA)

Capital Markets

• Birchal successfully raised $2m in just 29 hours through its own platform. (Startup Daily)

• The Australian Labor government is introducing a new policy that will force tech giants like Meta, Google, and TikTok to pay news publishers. (Capital Brief)

• TCorp has acquired a 4.92% stake in Euroclear for $752m. (AFR)

• Space Machines Company (SMC) has introduced Optimus Viper, a spacecraft designed to protect and repair satellites in orbit. (Capital Brief)

• Private equity firms are expected to get creative in 2025 to exit their investments, potentially using methods like partial sell-downs and backdoor listings. (AFR)

• Sonic Healthcare's shares declined following the announcement of its acquisition of LADR Lab Group, despite analysts' positive views. (The Australian)

• OOh!media is restructuring and cutting costs due to a challenging market. (Capital Brief)

• Carlyle Group has secured a loan to finance its acquisition of Waste Services Group. (AFR)

• Downer EDI and Ventia Services Group are facing legal action from the ACCC for alleged price-fixing related to government contracts. (Capital Brief)

• Syrah Resources is facing a crisis due to civil unrest near its Mozambique mine. (AFR)

• Bit Trade has been ordered to pay $8m for failing to comply with regulations related to its margin trading product. (Capital Brief)

• Kraken's Australian arm, Bit Trade, has been fined $8m for unlawfully providing credit to customers through its margin extension product. (Startup Daily)

VC

• LaunchVic has announced a new strategy to boost the state's startup ecosystem, including new board appointments and a new program to support early-stage founders. (Capital Brief)

• Fleet Space Technologies, an Australian company, raised $150m to expand its operations, including lunar exploration. (Capital Brief)

People moves

• Herbert Smith Freehills has removed partner Damien Hazard following his offensive social media post targeting another law firm. (Capital Brief)

• Super Retail disputes oral settlement agreement with former legal officer, Rebecca Farrell. (Capital Brief)

• David Bonderman, a co-founder of TPG and a prominent figure in the private equity industry, has passed away. (AFR)

• Unexpectedly low unemployment rate delays potential rate cuts. (Capital Brief)

• Meridian Energy CEO Neal Barclay will step down next year, and CFO Mike Roan will take over. (Capital Brief)

The watercooler