☕️ Paramount drama

Good morning.

As the curtains closed on the Paramount-SkyDance saga, the real blockbuster wasn't the deal, but the drama behind its abrupt demise.

After months of negotiations, it turned out Shari Redstone, the reigning monarch of Paramount's domain, just didn’t want to sell, according to The New York Times.

Despite a deal so close that economic terms had been reached and we could almost taste the popcorn, trust between Redstone and SkyDance fizzled fast.

Leaks didn’t help and even before Paramount’s special committee voted on the deal, a short email from the Redstone camp reportedly marked the end, stating they could not agree on unspecified "noneconomic terms."

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Nickel Industries took a nosedive after Reuters reported Indonesia is considering terminating permits for Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace (RKEF) smelters - a type of facility used to process nickel ore into ferronickel or nickel pig iron.

Shares tumbled over 7%, as the $3.7b company, once riding high on Indonesia's nickel boom, now faces a murky future.

With an 80% stake in Indonesian’s Hengjaya Nickel, Ranger Nickel and Oracle Nickel projects, the ASX-listed company fortunes hang in the balance, leaving investors feeling the heat.

The quick sync

• Proxy firm Morrow Sodali sues ex-M&A chief over confidentiality breach (AFR)

• ‘Plenty of upside’: QVG makes the case for Guzman y Gomez' $2.2bn IPO despite market doubts (Capital Brief)

• Atlassian shrugs off 'overblown' fears that AI will replace workers en masse (Capital Brief)

• News Corp agrees to consult journalists on AI use as staff brace for job cuts (Capital Brief)

• Minister Mark Butler launches urgent health check of private hospital Ramsay, Healthscope (AFR)

Trading floor

M&A

• Envirosuite has attracted interest from buyout firms and strategic players, but proposals have been too incomplete to disclose. (AFR)

• KKR has reportedly enlisted Morgan Stanley in its bid to acquire Loscam. (The Australian)

• Adamantem Capital has hired UBS to find a buyer for Climate Friendly. (AFR)

• Irish giant CRH will acquire Australian cement maker Adbri for $2.1bn, leading to its delisting from the ASX after 62 years. (AFR)

• Carnarvon Energy faces uncertainty in its sale process, advised by JPMorgan, as it reaches an impasse. (The Australian)

• Fonterra is about to release a request for proposals (RFP) for bankers to vie for a sale mandate, prompting its competitors to reveal their intentions. (The Australian)

Capital Markets

• Pioneer Credit has secured a $300m refinancing deal with Challenger, Nomura, and Revolution Asset Management. (AFR)

• Brazilian Rare Earths launched a $66m share placement at $3.30 per share. (The Australian)

VC

• The Leaf Protein Co raised $850k in pre-seed funding led by the University of Melbourne Genesis Pre-Seed Fund. (Startup Daily)

• Switchboard raised $1.5m from early-stage VCs to digitize logistics. (Startup Daily)

People moves

• Sally Pitkin, chair of Super Retail Group, will retire at the annual general meeting on October 24th, with Judith Swales, a non-executive director, set to take over. (Capital Brief)

• Advisory firm Forvis Mazars has hired Simon Johnson as partner in Melbourne. Previously, Johnson worked for Mayfair Advisory and Pitcher Partners in corporate finance roles. (Forvis Mazars statement).

• Europe’s Permira names Brian Ruder and Dipan Patel as co-chief executives and Kurt Björklund executive chairman in leadership sift. (Permira statement)

Watercooler

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