☕️ Over Koala-fied

Good morning.

Perhaps fitting for a company dealing in beds and couches, Koala’s long-awaited IPO was marked by a relaxed event at the ASX’s new office on the non-Macquarie side of the Martin Place metro station, Capital Brief reports.

It was chief executive Dany Milham and chair Michael Gordon who rang the bell for its Barrenjoey-underwritten float, in front of a crowd that included at least 30 other attendees affiliated with the company.

After some wobbles in the run up to the float, everything seemed to go to plan on the day. The stock popped more than 12%, outpacing the ASX 200, no doubt prompting management to kick back on a Koala couch brought in specially for the debut, after raking in a tidy number of [Blinky] Bills.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in radio broadcaster ARN Media plunged almost 20% on Tuesday after Jacqueline Henderson, one half of the Kyle and Jackie O show, sued the company for at least $82.25 million over the axing of her contract, claiming the termination was payback for the workplace complaint she had filed about co-host Kyle Sandilands. It's the second legal claim after Sandilands launched his own action against the broadcaster last week.

The quick sync

• RBA payment reforms could strip up to AUD270 million from Qantas's frequent flyer program. (Capital Brief)

• Scrapping card surcharges doesn't fix the underlying cost of payments, and reform will only deliver if pricing, licensing and infrastructure are overhauled together, writes Matt Cheers. (Capital Brief)

• Proseek Bio raises AUD1.5m for a blood test it says could cut unnecessary ovarian cancer surgeries. (Capital Brief)

• ASIC is quizzing managed account providers on fees and conflicts as part of its private credit crackdown. (Capital Brief)

• Albanese is publicly pushing Trump to wind down the Iran war as fuel prices fuel Australia's inflation crisis. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• McCormick buys Unilever’s food unit for USD44.8b. (Capital Brief)

• Glow Capital buys majority stake in Menzies Facilities Services. (AFR)

• TCL buys majority stake in Sony’s home entertainment JV. (Bloomberg)

• Carlyle to buy majority stake in MAI Capital for USD2.8b+. (Reuters)

• Bain advances Estia sale with $2.2b–$2.7b bids. (AFR)

• Spotlight Retail may buy Barbeques Galore, five stores to close. (The Australian)

• Nvidia takes USD2b stake in Marvell, partners on AI chips. (Bloomberg)

• American Exchange Group to buy Allbirds for USD39m. (Reuters)

• Macquarie may sell Christchurch fibre network for NZD1b. (The Australian)

• Eli Lilly to buy Centessa for up to USD7.8b. (Bloomberg)

• KKR offers USD3.33b to acquire Taiyo Holdings. (Reuters)

• M&A tally hits USD1.3 trillion as Unilever joins megadeals parade. (Bloomberg)

Capital Markets

• Traders trigger euphoric rally with Iran, Trump seeking exit. (Bloomberg)

• Collins Foods is exiting its Taco Bell business by selling most of its stores and closing the rest to focus on other priorities. (Capital Brief)

• KMD Brands narrows loss and raises new capital. (Capital Brief)

• Count Limited launches $40m raise to buy Oracle Advisory. (AFR)

• RBA bans card surcharges to cut consumer fees. (Capital Brief) (Capital Brief)

• APRA updates capital rules for retirement products. (Capital Brief)

• Electro Optic Systems wins US contracts and advances Goldrone deal. (Capital Brief)

• Nothing Technology to release AI smart glasses in 2027. (Bloomberg)

• Koala shares rose after its $68m IPO, marking a strong market debut. (Capital Brief) (Capital Brief)

• Alceon raises $100m PE fund, reaches $60m milestone. (AFR)

• ARN Media shares fell sharply after Jackie O Henderson sued for $82m over contract termination. (Capital Brief)

• The RBA’s payment reforms aim to cut fees but have sparked debate over who will bear the costs. (Capital Brief)

• Ox Capital, backed by Challenger, is closing after nearly five years of operation. (AFR)

• Qantas faces losses from RBA fee reforms. (Capital Brief)

• CoreWeave secured a USD8.5b GPU-backed loan to expand cloud capacity, marking the largest chip-backed debt deal to date. (Capital Brief)

• Huawei’s growth slows as iPhone 17 and local AI chips gain traction. (Bloomberg)

• JPMorgan pledges USD80b to support small businesses. (Capital Brief)

• Sydney and Melbourne home prices dip in March. (Capital Brief)

• Proseek Bio raises $1.5m for ovarian cancer blood test. (Capital Brief)

• ASIC cracks down on managed accounts in private credit. (Capital Brief)

• The RBA's payments overhaul has ignited a fresh fight over who bears the cost. (Capital Brief)

• OpenAI valued at USD852b after completing USD122b round. (Bloomberg)

• Lagarde calls Bessent out on Iran damage during G-7 video talks. (Bloomberg)

VC 

• Macquarie Capital participated in Whoop’s USD575m Series G funding round, valuing the company at USD10.1b. (Capital Brief)

• Lendi co-founder’s AI startup gains Atlassian and Gilbert as advisors. (AFR)

• Tenex raises USD250m for AI cybersecurity expansion. (Bloomberg)

• OpenFX raises USD94m to speed cross-border payments with stablecoins. (Reuters)

People moves

• None

The watercooler