☕️ White gold

Lithium prices may have fallen, but the ‘white gold’ is still hot on the ASX

September 01, 2023

Good morning.

India’s Adani Group is back in the news, and not for anything to do with its Queensland coal mines.

Earlier this year, short selling research firm Hindenberg released a damaging report on the Indian conglomerate, making a string of accusations about the company (which Adani dismissed as meritless).

That controversy died down. But this week, the Financial Times and The Guardian have put it back in the spotlight, after an exposé on opaque “offshore structures” used to shield the group’s investors from scrutiny.

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MARKET MOVERS

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

Market News: Lithium play IGO was the best performer among the top 200 on a flat day for the broader market. The company reported record earnings and declared a 16 cent special dividend, funded by a $1 billion windfall from its Greenbushes joint venture in Western Australia, the largest hard rock lithium mine in the world. Prices of lithium may have fallen from their recent peak, but the ‘white gold’ is still hot on the ASX right now.

THE QUICK SYNC

  • Adani shares tumbled after media reports exposed its hidden investors. (Financial Times | The Guardian)

  • China has cut the deposits required for home purchases and encouraged lenders to reduce rates in a bid to prop up its housing market. (Bloomberg)

  • UBS shares rallied to 15-year highs after the Swiss investment bank delivered a blowout quarterly result. (CNBC)

  • The real story behind Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. (WSJ)

  • Competitive streak: Gina-Cass Gottlieb wants to improve the ACCC’s dismal record in court on mergers (Capital Brief)

TRADING FLOOR

M&A:

  • Brookfield is sticking to its guns that its $18.7bn purchase of Origin won’t reduce competition (Capital Brief)

  • GenesisCare is considering seeking help from administrators due to a Medicare issue that has caused financial problems for the company. (AFR)

  • Orora has reportedly bid €1.29bn ($2.19bn) for Saverglass. (The Australian)

  • Moelis has been tapped to assist PEP with their bid of $1.80 per share to acquire Healthia. (AFR)

  • Barrenjoey and Jefferies opened the Affinity Education data room to a handful of chosen parties in what’s tipped to be one of the largest childcare deals seen in Australia. (AFR)

  • Short interest in Magellan Financial fell to 3.4m on August 24 from 6.6m a day prior, coinciding with Regal buying Chris Mackay’s 6.6% stake. (AFR)

  • Silver Lake is evaluating a potential debt deal to pay itself a dividend out of TEG. (AFR)

  • Sandfire Resources is believed to have left the race to buy the $US2bn ($3.08bn) Khoemacau copper mine in Botswana. (The Australian)

Capital Markets:

  • Auckland BioSciences is currently raising $NZ10m ($9.2m) from wealthy investors. (AFR)

  • AMA Group’s board and advisers were preparing an equity raising of as much as $60m. (AFR | The Australian)

  • UBS launched an $NZ800m ($735m) million block trade in Auckland International Airport shares. (AFR | The Australian)

  • Yowie Group is buying the assets and intellectual property (IP) of Ernest Hillier for $375,000. (BNA)

VC:

  • KPMG M&A partner Daniel Teper sees “green shoots” on the horizon for fintech deals (Capital Brief)

Others:

  • Want more women founders? Start by paying them more (Capital Brief)

  • River City Labs is looking to back up to 20 women entrepreneurs in a new program. (Startup Daily)

  • Adamantem’s Rob Koczkar has asked the Albanese government to lower barriers to entry for investment into private equity. (AFR)

  • Jefferies Australia has poached Morgan Stanley managing director and global capital markets boss, Mark Burmeister. (AFR)

  • TPG Capital has brought in Genevieve Gregor as a senior adviser across its portfolio. (AFR)

  • Gresham hires Deutsche Bank’s head of industrials and consumer for Australia and New Zealand. (The Australian)

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THE WATERCOOLER