☕️ Oracular Spectacular

Good morning.

It may have been missing Charlie Munger but tens of thousands of investors still flocked to the annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting to hear his partner opine on markets.

At this weekend’s ‘Woodstock for Capitalists’, Warren Buffett revealed Berkshire trimmed its Apple position but still rates it as one of the best companies in the world, explained why the fund is sitting on a record pile of cash, and how it lost a bundle of cash exiting Paramount.

The Oracle of Omaha also compared AI to nuclear weapons, suggesting scamming would become a hot investment.

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Market movers

Block shares rallied on Friday after strong first quarter results saw it beat market expectations. Net income hit US$472 million, more than quadruple the same period a year prior. Block also pledged it would invest 10% of its profits from Bitcoin products into Bitcoin itself.

The stock resurgence came after a day after NBC raised the prospect of a federal investigation in the United States. Authorities are reportedly looking into allegations the company did not properly report compliance breaches to the US government.

The quick sync

• Nine is facing pressure to cut TV costs amid an ad market rout (Capital Brief)

• Shell sold ‘phantom’ carbon credits (Financial Times)

• HESTA has endorsed BHP’s play for Anglo American (AFR)

• Apollo and Sony break into Paramount acquisition talks (NY Times)

• Australia's new privacy chief primes tougher enforcement stance amid 'cyber arms race' (Capital Brief)

• China President Xi visits Europe to avoid a trade war (Financial Times)

Trading floor

M&A

• Europe’s largest renewable energy producer Statkraft is looking to divest a 1.7GW portfolio of Australian assets (AFR)

• LDC rejects Olam's bid for Namoi Cotton despite support from top shareholder. (Capital Brief)

• Quadrant Private Equity is leaning towards selecting an investment bank to manage the sale of The RiteBite Group, which owns Darrell Lea. (The Australian)

• CDPQ, IFM, AusSuper mull $1.6bn Neoen stake as Bank of America seeks indicative offers. (AFR)

• Glencore mulls bid for Anglo American after BHP's rejected offer. (Capital Brief)

• Karoon Energy pressured to increase dividend payout; activist shareholders seek change. (The Australian)

Capital Markets

• CommBank leads refinancing for Allegro Funds-backed Team Global Express with Daimler Truck Financial Services and IFM Investors providing senior debt in the $200m deal. (AFR)

• Ellerston-backed Genero secures a $5m investment led by Acorn Capital for global expansion and tech development. (AFR)

• Breakthrough Victoria invests $37m to attract US company World View to Melbourne, creating 200 jobs. (Startup Daily)

• Ramsay Health Care skips Macquarie Australia Conference; CEO and chairman were in Europe last week. (The Australian)

VC

• None

People moves

• Amid speculation about its pursuit of Anglo American assets, BHP appoints Catherine Raw to lead mergers and acquisitions, replacing Johan van Jaarsveld. (The Australian)

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The watercooler