☕️ Loan lockdown

Good morning.

Lenders are apparently fed up with debt-laden borrowers exploiting flimsy contracts. With high interest rates that seem here to stay, they’re increasingly demanding tighter protections to safeguard their assets, according to Bloomberg.

Years of creditor-on-creditor violence is also leading to deals like ModivCare’s US$525m loan, which introduced a ban on double-dipping pledges. Recent debt deals from Gray Television, City Brewing, and Staples have also adopted tighter terms.

Even private credit isn’t safe, as Vista Equity Partners’ Pluralsight move shows, where assets were moved out of reach of its private credit lenders. So better get familiar with the new “Pluralsight protection” standard.

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Market movers

Liontown Resources bagged a hefty $379 million from LG Energy Solution, solidifying a 15-year lithium love affair at the Kathleen Valley mine. The cash injection is set to pump up production to a steady 3Mtpa, with whispers of a 4Mtpa expansion by 2027.

With their pockets lined and optimism soaring, the share price rocketed 7.3%, even as sceptics argue the lithium glut isn't fully priced in yet.

The quick sync

• Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon are likely to double their electricity needs in the next five years. Increasingly, they are looking to nuclear power. (Capital Brief)

• The $300m e-commerce delivery platform Shippit will expand into New Zealand to broaden its footprint across the region months out from becoming profitable. (The Australian)

• Up to 30,000 disability support workers are reportedly being incorrectly paid by NDIS providers, including those employed by Hireup, a prominent startup backed by ASX-listed employment giant Seek. (Capital Brief)

• Two former Macquarie bankers have teamed up to try to tap Japan’s trillion-dollar pension honeypot, as Federation Asset Management takes a stake in Astris Advisory. (AFR)

• Only 0.3 per cent of bank customers use the CDR to switch accounts says an Accenture report commissioned by the banking lobby group. (AFR)

Trading floor

M&A

• Liontown Resources secured a US250m investment and 10-year offtake extension from South Korean battery producer LG Energy at its Kathleen Valley lithium mine in WA. (Capital Brief)

• Origin Energy has acquired a 20% stake in Climatech Zero. (Capital Brief)

• Motorola Solutions has purchased Noggin, a Sydney-based company that offers cloud-based software for business continuity and operational resilience. (BNA)

• Anacacia Capital is looking to acquire 80% of MGI Golf for close to $100m. (AFR)

• Stonepeak, led by Darren Keogh, has decided against acquiring Loscam's pallets business after initial interest. (The Australian)

• I-MED, Australia’s largest diagnostic imaging company, is acquiring US-based StatRad to expand its teleradiology division in North America. (AFR)

• Seedtag, a Spanish contextual advertising company, has acquired Sydney-based creative intelligence agency JustEggs. (BNA)

• Strickland Metals has completed its acquisition of the Rogozna gold and base metal project in Serbia, which already holds a resource of more than 5.4m ounces of gold equivalent. (SMH)

• Telstra and Optus have pledged to Australia's competition regulator that they will not renew agreements with Google to make its search engine the default on Android devices. (Capital Brief)

Capital Markets

• West African Resources is raising $120m by offering 87.6m new shares at $1.37 each, a 13.8% discount to its last traded price. (AFR)

• Bonza Aviation has entered liquidation following a creditors' meeting where future options were discussed. (Capital Brief)

• Bhagwan Marine will debut on the market valued at over $170m, with shares priced at 63 cents in its upcoming IPO. (The Australian)

• Deutsche Bank has led a $210m refinance for Bendigo Hospital's public-private partnership, replacing an existing bank syndicate as the long-term lender. (AFR)

• Liontown Resources secured a $379m investment and a 10-year offtake extension from LG Energy Solution for its Kathleen Valley lithium mine in Western Australia. (Capital Brief)

VC

• ReciMe, a cooking app facilitating recipe organization, sharing, and shopping, raised $1.5m in a seed round led by Even Capital. (Capital Brief)

• Mentwell, a mental health gift card startup, raised $228,950 through a Birchal crowdfunding campaign to expand into the US and UK markets. (Startup Daily)

• Sydney's Marketboomer raised $4.9m led by Salter Brothers Tech Fund.(Startup Daily)

People moves

• Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has appointed Richard Fennell as its new CEO and managing director, succeeding Marnie Baker. (Capital Brief)

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The watercooler