☕️Walk the Plank

Good morning.

Pengana Capital Group’s chief executive Russel Pillemer is disappointed and confused that Wilson Asset Management (WAM) is looking to overthrow the board of listed investment company (LIC) Pengana International Equities (PIA). WAM says this is naive.

Pillemer told Capital Brief he was surprised by LIC WAM Strategic Value’s notice to remove three of PIA’s four directors after the fund proposed including private credit to its investment mandate, adding that they had not spoken directly to Pengana about their grievances.

“We all hoped we were paying performance fees, but unfortunately, it's only been the case one year out of 10,” Geoff Wilson told Capital Brief.

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Market movers

Shares in PolyNovo rose over 10% Tuesday as investors backed its view that proposed US Medicare reforms could transform the economics of outpatient wound care. The company reckons a shift to flat-rate reimbursement would remove price distortions favouring costly rivals, opening a significant growth opportunity for its NovoSorb products.

The quick sync

• ANZ is quietly reshaping its risk leadership and centralising compliance as CEO Nuno Matos pushes to rebuild trust amid ongoing regulatory probes. (Capital Brief)

• NSW’s new $1b green bank is racing to land its first battery deal, targeting long-duration storage projects the big lenders won’t touch. (Capital Brief)

• Outspoken CoStar boss Andy Florance landed in Australia, promising to shake up the real estate listings war with Murdoch’s REA. (Capital Brief)

• Ray Dalio says America is drifting into 1930s-style authoritarianism as Trump fuels a debt time bomb. (FT)

• Judge rules Google will not have to sell Chrome or Android. (Capital Brief)(WSJ)(Business Insider)(NYT)(Bloomberg)(Reuters)

Trading floor

M&A

• NRW buys Fredon for $200m to expand engineering business. (Capital Brief)

• Blackstone to sell CMAX Clinical Research after ACCC order. (AFR)

• Russia and China sign $50bcm gas pipeline deal via Mongolia. (Capital Brief)

• Dyno Nobel nears decision to sell or shut Phosphate Hill mine in Mt Isa. (The Australian)

• OpenAI will acquire A/B testing startup Statsig for $1.7b in stock, reshuffling its executive team. (Capital Brief)

Capital Markets

• Collins Foods posts 6.7% sales rise, reaffirms profit growth. (Capital Brief)

• Revolut fined $187k by AUSTRAC for late reports. (Capital Brief)

• Tasmea founders set for $1b ASX block trade opportunity. (AFR)

• SocGen fined $3.9m for futures market manipulation failures. (Capital Brief)

• Woolworths investors to vote on restoring beef’s high deforestation risk rating. (Capital Brief)

• PolyNovo to gain from US Medicare reimbursement reforms. (Capital Brief)

• Platinum slumps as $580m client withdrawal adds to woes. (Capital Brief)

• Sea-Flux raises NZD3m to expand vessel management software. (The Australian)

• Australia posts $13.7b deficit, ninth straight, on weak exports. (Capital Brief)

• NSW green bank nears first big battery deal. (Capital Brief)

• CBA set for windfall from Klarna’s $21.5b US IPO. (AFR)

• Australia-Germany €400m green hydrogen program to launch in 2026. (Capital Brief)

• Lotus seeks $70m raising via Barrenjoey for Malawi uranium mine. (AFR)

• Gold hits record high above USD3,500 on rate cut hopes, dollar drop, and investor demand. (Capital Brief)

• Kraft Heinz to split into two companies—sauces/condiments and groceries—by 2026. (Capital Brief)

• Oceania Glass workers, creditors face heavy losses in bankruptcy. (AFR)

• Klarna targets USD1.3b New York IPO at up to USD14b valuation. (Capital Brief)

• Elliott launches USD4b activist push at struggling PepsiCo. (Capital Brief) (WSJ)

• Coal plant closures likely delayed amid renewable grid bottlenecks. (The Australian)

• AustralianSuper to invest $40b locally in housing, health, energy and AI. (Capital Brief)

• Marimaca Copper runs non-deal roadshow to revive ASX listing. (AFR)

• Anthropic secures USD13b, valuation surges to USD183b on AI growth. (Capital Brief)

• Macquarie-backed Local, MONNO launch $350m Docklands build-to-rent tower. (The Australian)

• Black Rock Coffee targets USD1.3b IPO valuation in Nasdaq listing. (Capital Brief)

• Jane Street tops Wall Street banks with record USD10.1b Q2 trading haul. (Capital Brief)

VC 

• South Australian start-up Airspeeder cleared for human eVTOL test flights ahead of flying car races. (AFR)

People moves

• Brambles director Cameron McIntyre exits to lead REA Group. (Capital Brief)

• Morgan Stanley advisers Garth Hu and Cathy Ding have left the bank and plan to launch their own wealth management firm. (AFR)

• Nick Scali adds ex-Allianz CEO Niran Peiris to board. (Capital Brief)

• Nicola Forrest’s Coaxial adds ex-Brookfield & Afterpay execs. (AFR)

• ANZ reshapes risk team amid ongoing ASIC scrutiny. (Capital Brief)

• EVP has parted ways with dealmaker Misha Saul after Strongroom AI collapse. (AFR)

• Finder COO Jeremy Cabral steps down, shifts focus to AI. (Startup Daily)

• Apple’s lead AI researcher for robotics heads to Meta as part of latest exits. (Bloomberg)

The watercooler