☕️Fee Frenzy

Good morning.

Perpetual was taken to task during its earnings call on Thursday, Capital Brief reports, as analysts took the opportunity to berate its management team over their inability to accurately forecast the stranded costs associated with the potential sale of its wealth business.

“Before we go through another process and Perpetual burns tens of millions of dollars again [by] going through a sale process, what number have you guys got internally that you're using to recommend the sale of the wealth business?” MST Financial's Lafitani Sotiriou fired off.

It is the second time Sotiriou has aired his sentiment toward Perpetual management, clearly feeling the need to make known his displeasure at the eyewatering $42 million the investment manager poured into advisory fees for the failed sale of its wealth arm to KKR.

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Market movers

Eagers Automotive defied a profit slump with record sales, booming hybrid demand and a bold $1 billion growth plan. Investors responded.

The quick sync

• Fund managers like Antipodes Partners are turning to alternative data—web traffic, card spending, and even satellite imagery—to gain an investing edge in a market dominated by passive flows. (Capital Brief)

• Paramount slashes the value of Network 10’s TV licences and secures Australian regulatory approvals for its $13.3b Skydance merger. (Capital Brief)

• Ovum’s $1.7m raise backs its plan to fix AI’s gender bias with the first women-focused health assistant—built for women, trained on women’s data. (Capital Brief)

• PsiQuantum claims its Omega chip is a game-changer, outpacing Microsoft and Google in the race to build a real, working quantum computer by 2027. (Capital Brief)

   

Trading floor

M&A

• Ramsay Health Care to sell Europe unit after HY loss, refocus on Australia. (Capital Brief)

• Southern Cross Austereo reported a 5.5% profit increase and finalized a TV divestment deal with ADH Holdings. (Capital Brief)

• Real Pet Food Company has appointed Citi Australia to explore a $1b sale, including a potential trade sale. (AFR)

• Karoon profit down 39%, buys Baúna FPSO for $182m. (Capital Brief)

• Virgin Australia set for ASX float post-Qatar deal, but CEO exit uncertainty lingers. (AFR)

• PM Capital bids for two Platinum funds, challenging merger plans. (Capital Brief)

• Luminis expands partnership and teams up with Guggenheim Securities for succession planning. (AFR)

• Pointsbet rejects Bluebet bid over funding and due diligence concerns. (Capital Brief)

• Japan’s Nissan-Honda merger and 7-Eleven buyout collapse, leaving firms vulnerable to foreign takeovers. (Bloomberg)

• Oaktree, TA Associates, and FirstCape vie for Perpetual’s wealth unit, priced between $500m-$1b. (The Australian)

• Perpetual faced criticism for spending $42m on a failed KKR deal, alongside a 65% profit drop and plans to sell its wealth arm. (Capital Brief)

• PE firms are scrambling to cut losses as their overvalued renewable energy bets, inflated by cheap debt and subsidies, face a painful reckoning. (Bloomberg)

Capital Markets

• Trump confirms 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting March 4, with an extra 10% on Chinese goods. (Capital Brief)

• Nvidia beats forecasts as Blackwell chip demand offsets DeepSeek AI concerns. (Capital Brief)

• Umwelt is seeking a private equity partner, with Deloitte managing the process and a $100m valuation expected. (AFR)

• Australia pledges $3.2m in aid to Vanuatu, reinforcing regional support amid U.S. cuts and China competition. (Reuters)

• Wilson Asset Management has enlisted eight brokers for its $400m IPO. (AFR)

• ASIC chairman Joe Longo sees WiseTech scrutiny as key corporate culture debate. (Capital Brief)

• GoZero eyes mid-2025 IPO after $400m valuation. (AFR)

• PsiQuantum unveils Omega chip, aims for 2027 quantum computer. (Capital Brief)

• Rio Tinto’s Australian investors oppose $6bn equity raising over dilution concerns. (The Australian)

• Amazon to unveil smarter Alexa devices in fall, adding service-based features. (Bloomberg)

• The UK’s largest pension fund, The People’s Pension, is shifting £28b from State Street to Amundi and Invesco due to their stronger sustainability focus. (Capital Brief)

• Intuitive Machines' Athena lander launches with SpaceX, targeting moon's South Pole. (Reuters)

• BP CEO targets US$200b valuation, pivots back to oil and gas. (Capital Brief)

• Apollo may finance US$35b for Meta’s U.S. data centers, but talks are early. (Bloomberg)

• AWS debuts Ocelot chip to cut quantum error correction costs. (Capital Brief)

• Oceania Glass administrators will close its Dandenong factory, cutting 151 jobs, after failing to secure a buyer. (BNA)

• Local publishers expect Labor’s tech levy to proceed despite U.S. tariff concerns. (Capital Brief)

• Nvidia’s AI dominance is under pressure as profit margins tighten and new competition emerges, but its blockbuster Blackwell chip could reignite investor confidence. (Bloomberg)

• Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance has emerged as the largest creditor of the failed Whyalla steelworks, claiming $500m while also facing scrutiny from ASIC over disclosures. (The Australian)

• Planet Ark and Boston Global launch $1b investment fund targeting waste reduction and circular economy opportunities. (The Australian)

• Big money managers are reviving the controversial "portable alpha" strategy—leveraging market returns to chase hedge fund gains—despite its collapse in 2008. (Bloomberg)

• Microsoft unmasks hackers exploiting AI to generate illicit content, triggering criminal action against the global cybercrime ring Storm-2139. (Bloomberg)

• Big-money investors are pouring back into NYC office bonds, driving a surge in high-end commercial mortgage-backed securities while lower-tier properties struggle with rising defaults. (Bloomberg)

• Allianz is launching a €2b share buyback, adding to €14b in repurchases since 2017, as CEO Oliver Baete pushes higher investor payouts. (Bloomberg)

• Australia’s US$2.6 trillion pension industry is deepening ties with the US, eyeing a $1 trillion investment by 2035 in infrastructure, renewables and digital assets. (Bloomberg)

• Goldman Sachs scrapped diversity targets from regulatory filings, marking Wall Street’s latest retreat from DEI commitments since Trump’s executive order. (Bloomberg)

• Short sellers hit AppLovin—bullish analysts say it’s noise, not a red flag. (Bloomberg)

VC

• Australian startups embrace AI to fend off disruption. (Capital Brief)

People moves

• Coles chairman James Graham will retire on April 30, with Peter Allen set to replace him. (Capital Brief)

• Majella Campbell named Fishburners CEO as Martin Karafilis steps down. (Startup Daily)

• Keybridge Capital shareholders were barred from a board spill meeting, with remote attendees denied access. (AFR)

• Virgin Australia eyes Ed Sims as CEO after Qatar deal approval. (The Australian)

• Blackstone appoints former McKinsey digital leader Rodney Zemmel as global head of portfolio operations, signalling a push to expand AI-driven business transformation. (Bloomberg)

• Jim Craig joins Future Fund board, replacing Michael Washtel. (Capital Brief)

• Ari Mervis to become Endeavour’s executive chairman as profits decline. (AFR)

The watercooler