☕ New charges

Good morning. Old mate Bankman-Fried can't catch a break, as he's now been charged for allegedly bribing Chinese officials to unfreeze a crypto account in 2021.

March 29, 2023

Good morning. Old mate Bankman-Fried can't catch a break, as he's now been charged for allegedly bribing Chinese officials to unfreeze a crypto account in 2021.

It's the third charge he's facing (so far) and relates to a $40m bribe he allegedly authorized to regain access to a frozen account holding $1bn of crypto. More below in the Quick Sync.

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MARKET MOVERS

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

Market news: Liontown's short sellers would have had a rough day yesterday after the lithium stock revealed they received a $5.5bn or $2.50/sh takeover offer — a 64% premium to their last close.

Liontown was the 5th most shorted stock on the ASX — with 9% of its shares shorted.

The company knocked back the offer by Albemarle — the world's largest lithium producer — having already rejected two earlier approaches. 

THE QUICK SYNC

  • FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried charged with bribing Chinese officials. (CNN)

  • Bitcoin’s blessing: How crypto became a haven in the bank chaos. (SMH)

  • Latitude hit with class action, corporates slammed for lax data security. (SMH)

  • Alibaba to split into 6 units and explore IPOs; shares pop 9%. (CNBC)

  • Tesla overcomes Australia’s electric car reluctance with surge in sales. (SMH)

  • Stake.com: the Aussie gambling minnow that made it big on crypto. (FT)

TRADING FLOOR

 M&A:

  • Liontown Resources rejects Albemarle's $5.5bn bid. (AFR)

    • Reasons Liontown rebuffs Albemarle’s $5.5bn offer. (The Australian)

    • Albemarle is expected to push for Liontown to put the $2.5/sh offer to its shareholders. (AFR)

    • Albemarle has tapped investment bank JPMorgan for its $5.5bn buyout proposal for Liontown. (The Australian)

    • Liontown millionaires will shape the $5bn bid from Albemarle. (AFR)

    • Albemarle throws down the gauntlet to Rio Tinto and Wesfarmers. (AFR)

  • ACCC is investigating Transurban Group’s plans to buy a 55% stake in Eastlink. (AFR)

  • Analysts and investors back $1.5bn United Malt bid. (The Australian)

  • Tyro shareholders pressure the board to take Potentia Capital's offer. (The Australian)

  • Origin has accepted an $18.7bn takeover deal from Brookfield & EIG. (BNA)

    • EIG has snared almost $US3bn in debt to support its part of the acquisition. (AFR)

    • Origin grew 5x bigger than ex-parent Boral. (AFR)

    • Brookfield is open to discussions with NSW on Eraring sale. (AFR)

    • Brookfield has pledged billions to accelerate the decarbonisation of Origin. (AFR)

    • Brookfield’s Origin deal follows Biden’s energy spending agenda. (AFR)

Capital Markets:

  • Morgans is understood to have been meeting with investors for MoneyMe's $30m reset equity raising. (AFR)

  • Woolworths’ $1.12b Endeavour stake back in favour. (AFR)

  • Redox made its IPO pitch to Melbourne-based fund managers. (AFR)

  • ANZ prints $4.25b in its first Aussie senior bond deal after the banking drama. (AFR)

VC:

  • No IPO and a valuation plunge, but Canva’s private shares are in demand. (AFR)

Others:

  • Michael Hendrie was announced as UBS’s head of global markets for ANZ. (AFR | Australian)

  • Macquarie Capital believed to be talking to a senior Credit Suisse PE banker. (Australian)

  • NAB’s markets boss, Drew Bradford, lobs his resignation. (AFR)

  • ACCC wants merger parties to submit takeover deals earlier for approval. (AFR)

  • Deutsche Bank lost its ‘cultural underpinnings’, according to chairman Maurice Newman. (AFR)

TOGETHER WITH ARCHIE ROSE

Over the last eight years, Archie Rose has celebrated the highest quality Australian spirits and local ingredients through their personalised Tailored Spirits range, which lets you customise gin and vodka by the bottle and whisky by the cask to your individual taste. But now, Archie Rose is taking things to the next level with the launch of Tailored Whisky by the bottle.

Choose Your Flavour Profile:

Building on a base of Archie Rose Single Malt Whisky, seven times awarded Australia’s Best Single Malt Whisky, you’ll have the option of adding two out of three individual local malts.

  • Choose from: Native Stringybark Smoked Malt; NSW Pale Malt; and NSW Chocolate Malt. You can then adjust the amount to suit your personal preference.

  • If you’re unsure of where to start, the Archie Rose production team has also created two presets for you to choose from including: Rich Fruit & Chocolate; and Bold Smoke, Chocolate & Nuts.

Design Your Label:

It all comes together when you create a custom label with your name on the front and a personalised message on the back.

Tailored Whisky by the bottle, a truly special gift for clients, staff, friends and loved ones.

For A Limited Time, Receive a Complimentary Glencairn Glass With Every Tailored Whisky Order.

THE WATERCOOLER

THE TRADE

  • Strategy & Corporate Development Manager — OFX (Learn More)

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