☕️Irreconcilable Differences

Good morning.

The departure of one of the most well liked figures in Australian startups, James Tynan, from a coveted general partner role at Square Peg Capital surprised many. It ultimately came down to one simple factor…square peg, round hole.

Capital Brief can reveal that Tynan’s departure was driven by a growing divergence between his investment interests and the firm’s core focus on SaaS, fintech and, increasingly, AI as it applies to those sectors.

Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said Tynan, who joined the firm in 2020 after running the Startmate accelerator, brought a different sensibility to the firm. He had an appetite for emerging and frontier areas such as climate tech and cellular agriculture.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in Xero plunged Wednesday as a global tech selloff hammered the ASX, triggered by fears that artificial intelligence tools could undercut demand for software products. The accounting software company has lost more than half its market value over the past year.

The quick sync

• Private credit secondaries are entering Australia, promising liquidity but raising concerns over opacity and conflicts. (Capital Brief)

• Software stocks are crashing on AI fears well ahead of the real disruption. (Capital Brief)

• AI coding tools are shrinking dev teams and making solo billion-dollar startups plausible. (Capital Brief)

• Banks say they're stopping scams, but by locking Australians out of legitimate crypto transfers, they're fuelling distrust and undermining financial freedom, writes Charlie Karaboga. (Capital Brief)

• Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says the software selloff is the ‘most illogical thing in the world’. (Reuters)(Bloomberg)

Trading floor

M&A

• Texas Instruments to buy Silicon Labs for $7.5b, boosting its chip business. (Capital Brief)

• Shell to sell 16.7% of Woodside’s $34b North West Shelf project via internal team. (AFR)

• Affinity Equity to relaunch Scottish Pacific sale, price expectations around $1–1.5b. (The Australian)

• Macquarie lines up $5b debt for $11.6b Qube takeover bid. (AFR)

• Insurers’ profits soar, fueling M&A speculation, with Suncorp a possible target. (The Australian)

• MA Financial sells Corrimal Village mall for $103m, biggest non-metro deal since 2021. (AFR)

• Real Pet Food Group quietly explores $1b+ sale, with General Mills a key candidate. (The Australian)

• Musk merges SpaceX and xAI/X into $1.78t private AI-rocket giant. (AFR)

• Perth Radiological among $5b of imaging businesses set for sale, valued near $1b. (The Australian)

• Glencore sells 40% of African copper mines to US-backed consortium, calming Rio Tinto worries. (AFR)

• GrainCorp continues to underperform, but experts doubt a takeover is imminent due to volatile earnings, with Macquarie Group as the only plausible buyer. (The Australian)

• Santander’s Webster deal caps Ana Botin’s dealmaking blitz. (Bloomberg)

Capital Markets

• Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT delivers strong HY profit and lifts distribution outlook. (Capital Brief)

• Synlait shares slump after warning of up to NZD82m half-year loss. (Capital Brief)

• Abacus Group explores internalising Storage King management. (Capital Brief)

• Sharon AI’s non-deal roadshow boosts investor interest ahead of March ASX listing. (AFR)

• AMD shares drop on weaker-than-expected Q1 sales outlook. (Capital Brief)

• Centuria Office REIT posts $62m HY profit on valuation gains. (Capital Brief)

• Amcor shares climb as earnings surge and full-year guidance is reaffirmed. (Capital Brief)

• GDG short interest spikes as escrow expiry nears. (AFR)

• NRF’s concessional Net Zero Fund aims to crowd in private capital for decarbonisation, but draws political criticism over returns. (Capital Brief)

• Petra Capital fined $205k for misreporting regulatory data. (Capital Brief)

• Neuren halts trading ahead of FDA update on NNZ-2591 after EMA setback for trofinetide. (Capital Brief) (Capital Brief)

• Octopus invests $3.3B in Australia, building nation’s largest battery in NSW. (AFR)

• Banks block crypto transfers despite safeguards, limiting customers’ access to their own money. (Capital Brief)

• Banks embrace AI for growth and fraud, but risk controls lag. (AFR)

• Defence to sell $2b in surplus properties to fund upgrades and open heritage sites, after a damning audit. (Capital Brief)

• Super funds lose $150m daily as 1m+ Australians switch providers. (AFR)

• Pinnacle defends Metrics, calling media criticism “stupid” as the team maintains strong performance. (Capital Brief)

• Anthropic to let employees sell shares at $350b valuation. (Capital Brief)

• ANZ chairman criticized for poor handling of cultural issues; bonus cuts not seen as accountability. (AFR)

• AI jitters hit ASX software stocks, but hardware and infrastructure firms hold up. (Capital Brief)

• Elanor Investors Group ends management of ECF fund after replacement, gets $8.5m compensation. (Capital Brief)

• One Nation backs skilled immigration to address housing shortages. (Capital Brief)

• Labor has rejected a bipartisan proposal to limit the big four consulting firms to 400 equity partners and separate audit from non-audit operations. (AFR)

• Future Fund gains 12.4% in 2025, reaching $267.4b, boosted by equities and strategic investments. (Capital Brief)

• Ex-Metcash executives sue after abrupt sackings over bonus concerns. (AFR)

• Software stocks tumble worldwide on AI disruption fears after Anthropic’s automation tools. (Capital Brief)

• KPMG donates $400k to politicians and outsources executive assistants offshore. (AFR)

• Bunnings cleared to use facial recognition for retail crime but failed to fully notify customers. (Capital Brief)

• Ex-director sues Tanarra Capital over forced resignation after compliance concerns. (AFR)

• Silicon Quantum Computing unveils Quantum Twins simulator for materials and quantum research. (Capital Brief)

• Private credit secondaries could expand in Australia, adding liquidity but more complexity. (Capital Brief)

• ASX software stocks plunged after fresh US tech losses, as AI hype turns to scrutiny and investors chase returns beyond the code. (Capital Brief)

• Donald Trump says Kevin Warsh would have lost the Fed nomination if he had expressed a desire for a rate hike. (Bloomberg)

VC 

• AI tools OpenClaw and Moltbook are changing how startups are built, with millions of bot interactions online. (Capital Brief)

• Agentsy raises $700k pre-seed to roll out AI platform across Australia. (Smart Company)

• Bunnings is now selling DIY tiny homes under $45,000, made by Melbourne startup Elsewhere Pods and assembled quickly without a permit. (Smart Company)

People moves

• James Tynan exits Square Peg, a rare partner departure in Australian VC. (Capital Brief)

• Jones Day expands in Australia with new head partners to challenge US rivals. (AFR)

• Fintech investor Brian Collins named CEO of Enterprize Tasmania. (Startup Daily)

The watercooler