☕️ State of Origin

Another twist in the biggest deal in the market

Good morning.

Rupert Murdoch is retiring. The 92 year old media mogul announced he would step down from the boards of News Corp and Fox Corp and take on the title of chairman emeritus of both companies. Lachlan Murdoch, already executive chair of Fox and co-chairman of News, is now the sole chairman of both.

Does this definitively settle the succession dynamics within the Murdoch dynasty? Just about. The New York Times notes that a bruising battle may still loom when Murdoch is no longer with us, as his four eldest children have equal votes in the trust controlling the family’s shares. That might be the case, but it’s pretty clear who Rupert wants to be in charge.

*Stock data as of the market close. Commodities and crypto data in USD.

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MARKET MOVERS

Market News: Origin Energy’s largest shareholder Australian Super lifted its stake in the gentailer from 12.7% to 13.7% and pointedly (and unusually) publicly declared it thinks the stock could go a lot higher. Origin is, of course, subject to a takeover offer from Brookfield worth ~$8.91 per share or $18.7 billion. There has been growing disquiet in the market about Brookfield underpaying for the company. But it speaks volumes that Origin shares rose modestly yesterday in a falling market, rather than declining on concerns the deal could fall apart.

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THE QUICK SYNC

  • Cicso is buying cybersecurity company Splunk for US$28 billion - its largest acquisition to date (CNBC)

  • The VC, the Hollywood star and the women's sport 'arbitrage opportunity' (Capital Brief)

  • A former Murdoch lieutenant says he has the backing to buy The UK Telegraph (Bloomberg)

  • The Bank of England held rates steady at 5.25% after 14 straight hikes (Guardian)

  • The Game of Thrones author joined a class action lawsuit against OpenAI (CNN)

TRADING FLOOR

M&A:

  • Brookfield and EIG may need to raise their $18.7bn takeover offer in order to acquire Origin Energy. (AFR)

  • Mr Yum and are me&u joining forces to establish the world's largest ordering and payments platform catering to the hospitality industry. (BNA | Startup Daily)

  • Whitehaven explains its burning ambition for BHP's coal mines (Capital Brief)

  • Qantas Super is the latest nonprofit superannuation fund to contemplate merging its assets with a larger fund. (SMH)

  • Macquarie's The Infrastructure Fund is thinking about selling its entire 40% stake in Queensland Airports Limited instead of the initial 10% it planned to sell. (AFR)

  • Albertis, with the support of CIMIC's owner Grupo ACS, has hired Citi and JPMorgan for its EastLink bid. (AFR | The Australian)

  • The ACCC's decision regarding EastLink could potentially hinder Transurban's toll road expansion plans. (AFR | Capital Brief)

  • Costa board is poised to accept Paine Schwartz Partners' updated offer of $3.20 per share after nearly four months of negotiations. (AFR)

  • ACCC has expressed competition concerns regarding Endeavour Group's planned acquisition of the Rye Hotel in Victoria. (Capital Brief)

  • Wesfarmers is reported to have hired Barrenjoey as it explores the possibility of acquiring Greencross. (The Australian)

Capital Markets:

  • Cuscal has appointed retail brokers for its upcoming IPO, with Bell Potter and Ord Minnett now among the advisory firms involved in the process. (The Australian)

  • Molycop's investment banks are currently in discussions with potential cornerstone investors. (The Australian)

  • Hybrid capital in APRA’s sights after Credit Suisse wipeout (Capital Brief)

VC:

  • None

Others:

  • Allegro's Team Global Express holds a syndicated asset-backed loan with a carrying value of $134.5m. (AFR)

  • Microsoft is closing the gap with Apple in the stock market as investors perceive greater growth potential and lower exposure to China-related risks in the software giant. (BNA)

  • Goldman Sachs named former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg as the chairman of its Australia and New Zealand operations. (Capital Brief)

  • ASIC has initiated civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Bit Trade, the operator of the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange. (Capital Brief)

INSIGHT OF THE WEEK BY STAKE

Over the past five years, growth investing, championed by Cathie Wood's Ark Invest, has been an extremely popular investment strategy. However, ARKK, their primary fund, which had monthly inflows of more than US$3b during the pandemic bull-run, has faced significant withdrawals from investors in recent times. Despite an impressive +28% YTD return, current inflows are significantly lower and just a glimmer of what they used to be.

This is not financial advice.

THE WATERCOOLER