☕️ Unfinished Business

Good morning.

Helen Lofthouse has hinted that tokenisation solutions could be on the cards for the ASX within the next few years. But with only weeks left as CEO of the local bourse, she has left some in the industry concerned the exchange is lagging behind its global peers.

Lofthouse told Capital Brief the ASX has been on a “transformation journey” and the CHESS launch is a “proof point”. But she provided vague answers about the timeline for tokenisation.

When pressed on whether tokenisation would feature as part of a second release of CHESS, currently slated for 2029, Lofthouse said: “It’s certainly not impossible that we could deliver some of those things before release two.”

…kind of has a ‘pigs might fly’ feel about it, right?

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in Viva Energy dived 9.1% on Monday after the fire at its Geelong facility forced a production halt, with the company telling investors it expects to lift output back above 90% of capacity within the next few weeks and that it has firm crude supply secured through to July.

The quick sync

• Firmus draws 150 Sydney fund managers as prospectus and float loom. (Capital Brief)

• Protecht bets acquisitions and AI integration can outrun the SaaSpocalypse threatening software firms. (Capital Brief)

• Small business will decide whether AI delivers on productivity, writes NAB's AI boss Pete Steel. (Capital Brief)

• CGT overhaul could anchor Labor's budget as Chalmers weighs housing inequality and war costs. (Capital Brief)

• Kick's manosphere platform is Melbourne-built and has attracted remarkably little scrutiny at home, writes Will Richards. (Capital Brief)

• NextDC's Craig Scroggie questions Firmus's build cost claims and compares its data centres to a Bunnings Warehouse. (Capital Brief)

• Australian banking faces a reckoning as increasingly capable AI reshapes competition, cyber risk and growth. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• Fletcher Building approved to sell its construction unit to Vinci. (Capital Brief)

• Caesars Entertainment has extended talks on an USD18b takeover bid by Tilman Fertitta. (Reuters)

• Monash IVF rejected a takeover bid from Genesis Capital and Washington H. Soul Pattinson, saying the offer undervalues the company. (Capital Brief)

• AustralianSuper is bidding for a stake in Victoria’s $3b land registry business. (The Australian)

• Matt Latimore and the Widjaja family are bidding for Gupta’s Tahmoor coal mine amid stronger coal prices. (AFR)

• Pinnacle Investment Management approved to complete full acquisition of Pacific Asset Management. (Capital Brief)

• Brown-Forman’s controlling family prefers a sale to Pernod Ricard over Sazerac. (Reuters)

• 4DMedical secured a GSK deal and UK approval for its lung imaging software. (Capital Brief)

• McKesson Corporation sold a minority stake in its medical-surgical unit to Apollo ahead of a spin-off. (WSJ)

• Navis Capital Partners is exploring a $1b exit from Device Technologies. (AFR)

• A mystery global investor has emerged as the leading bidder for I-MED Radiology Network in a $3b sale process. (The Australian)

• AirTrunk acquired Lumina CloudInfra to expand into India and grow its data centre capacity. (Capital Brief)

• Blue Owl Capital is buying Sila Realty Trust for USD2.4b. (Reuters)

• Nuix completed its acquisition of Linkurious to strengthen its AI and analytics offering. (Capital Brief)

• Honeywell International is selling its productivity unit for USD1.4b to simplify its business. (WSJ)

• Quadrant Private Equity is selling its NZ media business MediaWorks. (AFR)

• Eli Lilly and Company is buying Kelonia Therapeutics for up to USD7b to expand its cancer treatment pipeline. (Capital Brief)

• Jersey Mike's Subs is preparing a confidential IPO after strong growth under Blackstone ownership. (WSJ)

• AirTrunk entered India via acquisition to expand its Asia data centre network. (AFR)

• Protecht acquired VISO Trust to boost AI capabilities amid SaaS industry disruption. (Capital Brief)

• BHP begins review to rank unprofitable Australian coal mines. (Bloomberg)

Capital Markets

• National Australia Bank shares dropped after flagging $706m in impairment charges amid market volatility. (Capital Brief)

• NextDC boosted capex and raised $2.2b following strong demand growth. (Capital Brief)

• Lastminute.com is closing its Australian business after 25 years. (Startup Daily)

• Qube Holdings faces earnings hit from war-driven costs and lower volumes. (Capital Brief)

• Meteoric Resources is raising $40m to develop its Brazil rare earths project. (AFR)

• L1 Group raised $950m for its gold fund IPO. (Capital Brief)

• Meta Platforms is introducing premium WhatsApp subscriptions with extra features and AI tools. (Bloomberg)

• Viva Energy shares dropped after refinery fire disrupted production. (Capital Brief)

• Citigroup sees oil hitting about USD110 if Hormuz disruption lasts a month. (Bloomberg)

• Heidi Health has rapidly grown revenue and raised major funding, boosting its valuation to $660m. (AFR)

• ANZ forecasts a steady budget deficit despite economic uncertainty and planned reforms. (Capital Brief)

• Hyundai Motor Company is boosting U.S. production to reduce tariff-related profit impacts. (Bloomberg)

• Quadrant Private Equity is targeting a 2026 exit for Jaybro. (AFR)

• ASX completed the first release of its CHESS upgrade project. (Capital Brief) (Capital Brief)

• Mecca Brands paid an $87m dividend to its owners as revenues grew. (AFR)

• Siemens won a $65m contract for Vulcan Energy’s Lionheart lithium project. (Capital Brief)

• Mercedes-Benz Group launched an electric C-Class to strengthen its China market comeback. (Bloomberg)

• SpaceX may withhold Australian mobile satellite services over spectrum allocation rules. (AFR)

• Australian super funds are touring France and the UK to seek long-term investment opportunities. (Capital Brief)

• ECP’s listed fund reflects the Pohl family’s investment views, including on Corporate Travel. (AFR)

• Worley cut FY26 earnings guidance due to war-related delays. (Capital Brief)

• Woolworths Group and Coles Group are expected to gain a $125m profit boost from higher food prices. (AFR)

• AI is forcing Australian banks to rapidly adapt amid rising competition and risk. (Capital Brief)

• NextDC CEO Craig Scroggie casts doubt on Firmus’ data centre cost claims. (AFR)

• ASIC set out a roadmap to regulate and license digital asset platforms in Australia. (Capital Brief)

• Building suppliers like Boral and Tradelink are raising prices due to rising global costs. (AFR)

• ANZ forecasts a stable budget deficit as the government weighs tax and spending reforms. (Capital Brief)

• Leonardo.ai, now part of Canva, launchs 105MP AI upscaler for commercial image production. (Smart Company)

• Kick, an Australian-linked platform, is enabling manosphere creators to grow global audiences with minimal oversight. (Capital Brief)

• Yancoal Australia flagged lower output and diesel supply risks increasing costs. (Capital Brief)

• Strong investor demand is building for Firmus’ IPO, with unusually high turnout at its Sydney roadshow. (Capital Brief)

• AI’s productivity impact will depend on widespread small business adoption, not just big tech use. (Capital Brief)

• Polymarket in talks to raise money at about USD15b valuation. (The Information)

• Trump’s social media posts have transformed oil trading in Iran war, says Citadel. (FT)

• James Hardie investigated for misleading conduct after shares dived, faces potential shareholder class action. (The Australian)

VC 

• None

People moves

• Google’s DeepMind created a strike team to boost AI coding models amid competition from Anthropic. (Capital Brief)

• Microsoft will keep hiring in Australia while expanding data centre investment. (AFR)

• Apple names Ternus as next CEO, Tim Cook to become Chairman. (Bloomberg)

• US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez steps down, White House says. (Reuters)

The watercooler