☕️Public Commitment

Good morning.

Canva COO Cliff Obrecht finally has an answer to the question that has been hanging over Australia’s most valuable startup for years: the company is ready to go public. Next year.

“From all metric accounts, we are fully IPO ready,” Obrecht told Capital Brief ahead of its Canva Create event. “We grew 40% last year off a massive base. We’ve been profitable for nine years.”

“You IPO for three reasons,” he said. “Liquidity, to raise capital, or for marketing purposes”. With liquidity the only genuine rationale for Canva to list, he added: “We want to be a liquid company and provide that liquidity without doing sort of annual liquidity events.”

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in dual-listed Life360 surged 12.5% on the ASX on Thursday as investors rotated out of the big four banks and back into technology stocks. Shares in the San Francisco-based family safety app company rose 8.12% overnight in New York.

The quick sync

• Anthropic warned Australia about AI cyber risks but kept its most dangerous model secret. (Capital Brief)

• Capital Brief/DemosAU poll shows One Nation matching Labor on primary votes for the first time. (Capital Brief)

• NZ-founded Allbirds is using AI to sneak back onto Wall Street through the back door. (Capital Brief)

• Gina Rinehart's 16-year mining royalties battle reached an apparent draw, but the courts say cases like this are bleeding the justice system dry. (Capital Brief)

• Henry Paulson says US should prepare for a ‘vicious’ bond crash. (Bloomberg)

Trading floor

M&A

• Insignia Financial takeover by CC Capital approved by Federal Court. (Capital Brief)

• Grant Thornton Australia sale nears finish with US-led acquisition talks. (AFR)

• KKR, Bain, and others bid for UP Education in a potential $1b+ sale. (The Australian)

• Schroders approve GBP9.9b takeover by Nuveen. (Reuters)

• Gresham Partners prepares sale of One Investment Group amid buyer interest. (AFR)

• Channel Infrastructure may buy ExxonMobil’s NZ terminals as Exxon exits the market. (The Australian)

• Esco Technologies to acquire Megger Group in a USD2.35b deal. (WSJ)

• American Express buys AI startup Hyper to automate expense management. (Reuters)

• IFM Investors eyes Foresight’s stake in Flinders Port Holdings amid competitive bidding. (The Australian)

• Stellantis signs an AI partnership with Microsoft to boost car tech and digital transformation. (Bloomberg)

• Intertek rejects EQT’s GBP7.93b buyout bid as undervalued. (WSJ)

Capital Markets

• Netflix slides despite massive earnings beat thanks to Warner Bros Discovery no-deal. (Yahoo Finance)(CNBC)

• Viva Energy refinery fire may cut output and earnings for months. (Capital Brief)

• AMP’s platform inflows jump 45% in Q1, boosting overall performance. (Capital Brief)

• Macquarie conference to showcase 123 companies and major energy CEOs. (AFR)

• S&P downgrades ASX over governance and risk issues. (Capital Brief)

• JD Sports exits Applied Nutrition stake in GBP49m sale. (Reuters)

• Blackmores invests in BiomeBank to expand into gut microbiome therapies. (AFR)

• Fletcher Building hikes prices to counter fuel cost surge. (Capital Brief)

• PEP refinances Modern Star with $500m deal to cut costs and return capital. (AFR)

• Netwealth Group shares climb on strong FUA growth and inflows. (Capital Brief)

• PwC Australia lifts partner pay despite lower profits, boosted by AI efficiency. (AFR)

• Australia secures Indonesian fertiliser supply to support farmers. (Capital Brief)

• OpenAI launches AI model to speed up drug discovery and compete in life sciences AI. (Bloomberg)

• Flight Centre Travel Group shares gain after completing $200m buyback. (Capital Brief)

• Bared Footwear goes viral after Alix Earle wears its boots at Coachella. (Smart Company)

• Retail investors pile into AI-hit tech stocks as Atlassian rebounds but stays deeply down. (AFR)

• Ora Banda Mining shares jump on strong gold production growth. (Capital Brief)

• Allbirds’ shift to AI infrastructure reflects frothy speculation in the AI market. (Capital Brief)

• Coal financing in Australia is rebounding as lenders return, cutting borrowing costs for miners like Whitehaven. (The Australian)

• Anthropic releases Claude Opus 4.7 AI model with weaker cyber skills than Mythos. (Bloomberg)(Anthropic)

• White House to give US agencies Anthropic Mythos access. (Bloomberg)

• ANZ offers cash and rate cuts to stop mortgage customers switching banks. (AFR)

• Anthropic expands UK presence while testing Mythos AI amid cybersecurity concerns. (Capital Brief) (Capital Brief)

• Adrian Portelli set to open LMCT+ discounted fuel stations in Melbourne. (Smart Company)

• PepsiCo beats estimates as salty snack demand rebounds after price cuts. (Bloomberg)

• Calls grow for ACCC probe into Woolworths and Coles over salmon sourcing coordination claims. (AFR)

• Tesla leans on SpaceX purchases to prop up weak Cybertruck sales. (Bloomberg)

• TSMC profits surge 58% on strong AI chip demand. (Capital Brief)

• Private credit funds face more pressure as banks swap collateral. (Bloomberg)

• EU to relax merger rules in bid to create ‘European champions’. (FT)

• Madison Air prices biggest US industrial IPO in 27 years. (Bloomberg)

• Myseum takes flight after Allbirds in fresh AI rebrand wave. (Reuters)

• Google told to share search data with AI rivals in EU proposal. (Bloomberg)

• New York Fed President Williams worries war will slow growth, aggravate inflation. (CNBC)

• World’s biggest chocolate maker Barry Callebaut issues profit warning as cocoa prices collapse. (CNBC)(Reuters)

VC 

• Boman Group leads startup delegation to meet major Chinese tech firms. (Startup Daily)

• Cliff Obrecht confirms Canva working towards an IPO in 2027 as it beds in AI overhaul. (Capital Brief)

• Canva launches AI 2.0, evolving into an agentic, conversational design platform. (Capital Brief)

People moves

• Ansell CFO Brian Montgomery exits to join Blackstone- and TPG-backed Hologic. (Capital Brief)

• Norman O’Bryan faces possible jail over fraud tied to Banksia Securities case. (AFR)

• Intel hires Samsung executive Shawn Han to boost its foundry customer base and expand its chip manufacturing business. (Bloomberg)

• Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher signals plans to stay until 2028 amid leadership changes. (AFR)

• Stellantis hires Hyundai U.S. sales chief Michael Orange to boost its turnaround. (Bloomberg)

• Netflix chair Reed Hastings to leave board in June. (WSJ)

• Top ABC executive resigns after questions about luxury yacht team meeting. (SMH)

The watercooler