☕️Millennium Blessing

Good morning.

Former co-head of the global commodities trading team at Goldman Sachs, Qin Xiao, has reeled in a US$1 billion ($1.55 billion) allocation from Millennium Management for his hedge fund startup, Nexus Commodities.

Bloomberg reports that Qin has also received additional cash from other investors, and will run a separately managed account for Millennium on a non-exclusive basis.

Known to colleagues as Big Dog QX, Qin joins a ballooning group of star traders to win allocations from hedge funds hunting aggressive strategies to deploy assets.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in biotech giant CSL plunged on Tuesday, wiping about $20 billion from its value after announcing a global restructure, 3,000 job cuts and a spin-off of its Seqirus vaccines business. The brutal sell-off dragged the ASX 0.70% lower and left the stock at its weakest level in six years.

The quick sync

• To back Australia’s most innovative firms and lift productivity, super rules and government investment vehicles must evolve to unlock more VC, Allegra Spender writes. (Capital Brief)

• Choked by red tape and rising costs, Labor’s housing agenda risks collapsing under its own rules, writes Andrew Bragg. (Capital Brief)

• SunCable insists it remains committed to exporting clean energy to Singapore but now points to onshore AI data centres as a key part of its future. (Capital Brief)

• CBA is lobbying against the RBA’s payments shake-up, warning of ‘jeopardy’ while critics say it’s protecting fat fees. (Capital Brief)

• Behind closed doors, the Economic Reform Roundtable began with lofty rhetoric and heavy stage management. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• Google partners with AAP to supply news to Gemini as leadership shifts. (Capital Brief)

• CSL taps Goldman Sachs, Gresham for Seqirus demerger. (AFR)

• Santos' $30b takeover talks with XRG face delay. (Capital Brief)

• Li Ka-shing’s CK Group eyes $600m Allgas sale. (AFR)

• APA sells networks arm to AGIG for $47m. (Capital Brief)

• Regis Resources eyes AngloGold Ashanti’s 70% stake in the Tropicana. (AFR)

Capital Markets

• HMC Capital profit surges, but signals slower growth next year. (Capital Brief)

• Reliance profit up 13.5% to $193m, boosted by Holman deal. (Capital Brief)

• Carbon280 raises $16.6m for WA hydrogen storage pilot. (Smart Company)

• Judo profit jumps 24% to $86m, eyes strong FY26 growth. (Capital Brief)

• Revolution secures backers for $400m private credit LIC. (AFR)

• HUB24 profit soars 68% to $79.5m, boosts dividend on strong inflows. (Capital Brief)

• BHP profit up 6% to US$9.8b on record copper, iron ore. (Capital Brief)

• Sims profit flat at $2.4m, dividend more than doubles. (Capital Brief)

• Tesla launches six-seat Model Y in China, rivaling Li Auto’s L8. (AFR)

• Woodside profit down 32% to US$1.3b, dividend cut. (Capital Brief)

• Amaero readies $50m raise with Barrenjoey. (AFR)

• Deterra profit up, but dividends were cut despite earnings growth. (Capital Brief)

• Monadelphous profit and revenue surge on record contracts. (Capital Brief)

• Challenger profit surges on record annuity sales. (Capital Brief)

• Seek returns to profit on new products and higher yields. (Capital Brief)

• TPG probes iiNet cyber breach exposing customer data. (Capital Brief)

• Future Group secures $25m secondary, boosts IPO prospects. (AFR)

• Centuria profit up 6.5% despite lower AUM. (Capital Brief)

• SkyCity halts trading ahead of possible $200m raise. (Capital Brief)

• CSL plunges 16% on $20b wipeout after shock restructure. (Capital Brief)

• Yancoal profit drops 61% despite record production. (Capital Brief)

• Big miners pocket $60b diesel subsidies; calls for reform to fund green shift. (AFR)

• SunCable eyes AI data centres alongside Singapore export plans. (Capital Brief)

• Meta has split its AI division, Meta Superintelligence Labs, into four new groups led by high-profile hires. (Capital Brief)

• Nvidia working on new AI chip for China that outperforms the H20, according to sources. (Reuters)

• US approves potential US$97.3m Javelin sale to Australia through RTX and Lockheed Martin joint venture. (Reuters)

• Intel shares climb on US$2b SoftBank injection, possible US government stake (Capital Brief)

• Options traders brace for Big Tech selloff with ‘disaster’ puts. (Bloomberg)

• How Pimco outmaneuvered Apollo and KKR to win US$29b Meta deal. (Bloomberg)

• Gupta sues Greensill administrators in bid to restart NSW mine. (AFR)

VC 

• Advance VC raises half of $15m target for secondaries fund. (Capital Brief)

• The Laundry Lady raises $1m for UK and Canada expansion. (Smart Company)

• Databricks joins the rare US$100b club as investors bet big on its AI future. (WSJ)

People moves

• Region Group CEO Anthony Mellowes will retire after more than a decade of leadership. (Capital Brief)

• ANZ hires Les Vance to boost governance as CEO Matos reshapes team. (AFR)

• BOQ chair Warwick Negus will retire, with Andrew Fraser as the successor. (Capital Brief)

• Corrs poaches another G+T partner, Ben Macdonald. (AFR)

The watercooler