☕ Gamestop's back

Good morning. Remember Gamestop? The once-upon-a-time meme stock just fired its CEO and appointed its activist shareholder Ryan Cohen as chairman.

You’d think the shares probably tanked in the post-zero-interest world, but the meme stock has reasonably held its value — still up about 25x from mid-2020.

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MARKET MOVERS

*Stock data as of the market close. Commodities and crypto data in USD.

Market News: Estia’s looking likely to go private (again) after Bain Capital upped their offer for the company to $3.20/sh.

Estia’s only been on the ASX for about 10 years, having been listed by Quadrant PE back at the end of 2014.

Bain’s bid is a 50% premium to where the shares traded before the initial approach. And after this revised bid it still leaves about 10% of upside, assuming the deal goes through.

THE QUICK SYNC

• PwC tax scandal disturbing and unacceptable, says KPMG boss. (SMH)

• Moore predicts a soft economic landing as his former bank, Macquarie backs carbon emitters. (Australian)

• How the PGA Tour and LIV Golf fought each other into a merger. (WSJ)

• PGA-LIV merger is a major win for the Saudis — and Americans are slamming it. (CNBC)

• The SEC is trying to freeze Binance's assets. (Verge)

• Lionel Messi to join MLS side Inter Miami after PSG exit. (ESPN)

TRADING FLOOR

M&A:

• Bain has lobbed a $3.20 a share revised non-binding bid to acquire ASX-listed Estia Health. (AFR | BNA)

  • Bain has secured the tentative backing of Estia Health’s board after increasing its takeover offer by 6%. (AFR)

• Conduit Capital is going global after merging with Infusive. (AFR)

• TPG and PEP’s iNova are among the parties interested in BWX. (AFR)

• Joe Hockey is believed to be pulling together a bid for Austal. (AFR)

• The Growth Fund is looking to sell its vehicle leasing business Compass Corp which will do $41m in earnings. (AFR)

• Edgeworth Capital, an Aussie fund, has emerged as one of the largest shareholders in €676m French takeover target, ESI Group. (AFR)

• Brookfield has pledged to lift renewables spend by another $10bn in Origin takeover push. (SMH)

• Proxy firms, including ISS, Ownership Matters, and Glass Lewis, back Genesis Minerals’ offer for St Barbara. (The Australian)

• Jenny Craig ANZ will be liquidated after administrator FTI Consulting could not find buyers for the physical stores. (The Australian)

Capital Markets:

• Redox’s $402m IPO has gone out wider to local small and mid-cap fundies. (AFR)

• UBS and Barrenjoey are the joint underwriters and book runners in Infratil’s $774m raise. (AFR | The Australian)

VC:

• Antler says Australian investors have poured a significant proportion of the $425m raised for its new fund. (AFR)

Others:

• Sunny Bangia has left Antipodes Partners after eight years. (AFR)

• Alceon Private Equity’s SMS Healthcare has brought in a former Healthscope operative as its CEO. (AFR)

• Tension between Tyro’s directors and investors is suggested to be mounting for a boardroom refresh. (The Australian)

PARTNER WITH ALLIANCE ADVISORS

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THE WATERCOOLER