☕️ Poached

Good morning.

At the risk of LOI becoming a newsletter dedicated to every twist and turn in Sam Altman’s career… here are some more twists and turns.

In the last 24 hours, OpenAI hired an interim CEO who then got immediately shown the door when they tried to rehire Altman. The company is now onto its third CEO in as many days while Microsoft has stepped in to poach Sam directly – and perhaps most of OpenAI’s staff.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Accent Group has been hammered since it released a trading update late last week. The statement shed light on a soft start to the financial year characterised by flat sales and rising inflation. Yet, it is still forging on with 70 new stores this year.

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The quick sync

• The $20bn Origin takeover vote is set to go right down to the wire. (Capital Brief)

• The US Justice Department wants US$4bn to settle its criminal case against crypto exchange Binance. (Bloomberg)

• How ex-NRL player Wes Maas built a billion-dollar business in Dubbo. (Capital Brief)

• Saudi Arabia is challenging the UFC with its latest MMA acquisition. (Financial Times)

• EV challenger Fisker has lost its CEO and second executive in as many weeks. (WSJ)

• Private equity firms are taking private the companies they recently floated – amid a series of IPO flops. (Financial Times)

Trading floor

M&A

• Origin Energy won't make radical changes if the Brookfield-EIG takeover fails. (AFR)

• AustralianSuper may use same-day settlement to increase the votes in favour of the buyout proposal for Origin Energy by Brookfield and EIG. (The Australian)

• The Growth Fund has reportedly postponed its sale plans for Ekera Dental. (The Australian)

• Next Capital seeks a buyer for artisanal bread maker Noisette. (AFR)

• Bidders for the NSW land title business to submit bids in December.  (The Australian)

• LeasePlan aims to trim its 9.1% stake in SG Fleet Group. (AFR)

CAPITAL MARKETS

• Ares and Pacific Equity Partners are lining up to fund $60m of Rugby Australia debt. (AFR)

• Westpac will raise $750m through an Additional Tier 1 capital instrument. (Capital Brief)

• Healius plans an equity raising amid competition with Barrenjoey to handle injection. (AFR)

• JOLT Charge plans a capital raising for global expansion, eyes $150m. (AFR)

VC

• Carbon accounting startup Avarni raises $2.5m in funding with Main Sequence, Sprint Ventures, and AfterWork Ventures. (Capital Brief)

• Drone-tech startup Aerologix has expanded its global reach through the acquisition of Mappa. (BNA)

• Macquarie Asset Management launches Aula Energy for onshore renewable projects in Australia and New Zealand. (Capital Brief)

People moves

• Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigns after service outage fallout. (BNA)

• Hamish McLennan was ousted as Rugby Australia chairman; Dan Herbert appointed. (Capital Brief)

The watercooler