☕️ Hung up

Telstra takes a hit for deal-related reasons

Good morning.

The trader depicted by Christian Bale in the Hollywood hit The Big Short is reportedly betting big on another market rout. Mind you, he has sounded the alarm bells quite a few times since that movie came out, with mixed results.

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MARKET MOVERS

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

Market News: Telstra is always one of the most important companies to watch during reporting season, purely by virtue of its sheer size and massive retail shareholder base. The telco’s result this time was fine but the share price took a hit for deal-related (or rather non-deal related) reasons.

The company has hung up the phone on selling its InfraCo Fixed business, which houses all the infrastructure assets for its fixed line network. The unit was set up a few years ago with one eye on a sale, with a mooted $15 billion price tag. But Telstra now says it will hang on to the business for the medium term, which means a lot of bankers and lawyers will have to look elsewhere to generate fees.

THE QUICK SYNC

  • China has ordered state-owned banks to intervene in currency markets to prop up the yuan. (Bloomberg)

  • Big short trader Michael Burry is betting on another market crash. (The Times | The Australian)

  • Elon Musk’s SpaceX lost US$559 million last year, but turned a profit in the first quarter of 2023. (WSJ)

  • UK weapons giant BAE Systems is acquiring space tech company Ball Aerospace for US$5.6 billion. (Guardian).

  • Barbie has topped The Dark Knight at the box office to become the highest grossing film for Warner Bros ever. (CNN)

TRADING FLOOR

M&A:

  • Origin Energy’s expected further profit increase this coming year has drawn criticism over electricity tariffs and inflamed the Brookfield bid debate. (AFR)

  • Navis Capital Partners mandates Luminis Partners to explore exit options for Mainland Poultry. (AFR)

  • PenSam has signed an agreement to invest $500m via QIC over the next three years. (AFR)

  • Whitehaven Coal is among the short-listed parties for BHP’s Blackwater and Daunia mines. (AFR)

  • Intel had “mutually agreed” to terminate a planned merger with Tower Semiconductor. (AFR)

  • IPH acquires Ridout & Maybee for $74m. (BNA)

  • Costa hopes Paine Schwartz Partners’ takeover bid will come to fruition (The Australian)

  • Lendlease looks to a full sale of its communities unit. (The Australian)

Capital Markets:

  • Noble Helium and Cygnus Metals were among a small group of raising candidates on Thursday. (AFR)

VC:

  • Marqo, a developer-focused search engine, has raised $8.13m in seed investment in a round led by Blackbird Ventures. (BNA | StartupDaily)

  • One Model, an HR data analytics startup, scored $64m in Series B. (StartupDaily)

  • Curiious, a virtual reality startup, has raised $1m led by Galileo Ventures and existing backers. (StartupDaily)

  • Hysata, a hydrogen technology startup, bags $24m for its plans to transform the production of renewable energy. (StartupDaily)

Others:

  • PwC breakaway, Scyne Advisory, lures 115 PwC partners to move across to the new company. (AFR)

  • 20 PwC partners who worked in government advisory are suggested to be hunting for new jobs. (The Australian)

  • Abacus Group is expected to be under the spotlight from investors when it reports its results. (The Australian)

  • F45 has announced it will delist from the New York Stock Exchange. (BNA)

  • Super Retail Group has posted record sales of $3.8bn in FY23. (BNA)

THE WATERCOOLER