July
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
Adore Beauty acquisition is a great deal … for the other company
Adore Beauty’s $25m purchase of Aussie brand Ikou doesn’t come cheap, and poses questions about whether it has overpaid, and used up too much of its cash.
May
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Why the student protests make me optimistic about the future
If there is any failure in Australian universities it more likely lies with administrators, rather than student bodies.
- Opinion
- Venture capital
Stick or twist? How start-up investors know when it’s time to sell
VCs selling down Canva stakes could leave huge gains on the table, but don’t want to leave selling too late. Poorly timed sales have a history of destroying value.
February
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
The online beauty stock that will be a takeover target this year
Doubts remain on whether Adore Beauty is really a scalable business, but a failed PE takeover bid late last year will not be the last we hear of a profitable buyout.
- Updated
September 2023
- Analysis
- Mergers & acquisitions
Bad timing: how this start-up founder missed out on millions
For The Healthy Mummy’s Rhian Allen, the demise of Halo Foods highlights that returns for founders can come down to a well-timed exit.
August 2023
- Opinion
- Venture capital
How a former premier runs biggest – but least known – VC fund
Blackbird, AirTree and Square Peg are the big name local VCs, but none of them run a fund that is half the size of the mammoth $2 billion Breakthrough Victoria.
July 2023
- Opinion
- AI
Investors know the AI bubble will burst, but FOMO rules
The fight to invest in artificial intelligence remains ferocious amid the race to avoid missing the few biggest winners.
May 2023
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
How a frenzied bidding war started for a broke HR software firm
On January 30, IntelliHR was a struggling microcap software firm burning through cash, but it suddenly found itself the subject of an international takeover battle.
- Updated
March 2023
How Xero’s start-up buyout went from $31m to zero within three years
Xero’s total write-down in the value of its recent acquisition of Waddle, shocked some – not least Commonwealth Bank – but a buyer could still be found.
February 2023
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
Drawn-out battle for Aussie tech stock highlights inscrutable market
It’s only half-time in the takeover game for Nitro software, with private equity suitors set to switch from diplomacy to MMA tactics and retail investors stuck playing chicken.
December 2022
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
This PE investor is (still) getting big premiums in tech M&A
Two fascinating acquisition deals for listed Australian tech firms are reaching the pointy end. Contrarian investor Pemba is a pivotal figure in both.
October 2022
- Opinion
- Funding
Private equity ready to pounce on battered ASX tech stocks
The ASX faces a challenge in its positioning as a home for growing tech companies, as private equity lines up to pick off companies smashed down by local investors.
- Updated
September 2022
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
How an Aussie entrepreneur turned leak-proof undies into $140m in cash
Kristy Chong’s Modibodi was bought by a Swedish conglomerate for $140m, after she built an online retail firm that bypassed traditionally male gatekeepers.
July 2022
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
Why ANZ’s $4.5b MYOB acquisition plan always looked a non-starter
ANZ’s pursuit of Suncorp gave it a nice reason to pull the pin on a planned $4.5 billion deal for MYOB.
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
How Zoe Foster-Blake could buy back Go-To and keep her millions
When cosmetics company BWX bought Go-To, it had a $100 million problem from the get-go. Now that’s playing out with damaging consequences for shareholders.
June 2022
- Opinion
- Shares
An insider’s view into tech company boardrooms
In the space of 100 days, the world of business dramatically changed. We are experiencing a reckoning after the prolonged low-interest environment that fuelled a near-universal asset bubble.
May 2022
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
How Wesfarmers bungled the Catch opportunity
In 2019, Wesfarmers’ $230 million purchase of Catch from Gabby and Hezi Leibovich seemed great for all concerned, but it fluffed its COVID-19 boost and should now sell it back.
- Updated
March 2022
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
Why on earth did The New York Times buy free puzzle game Wordle?
Two months on, will the NYT’s decision prove a masterstroke in the new newspaper economics, or a case study in buying at the top of a hype cycle?
February 2022
- Opinion
- Funding
Healthy Mummy cashes out in the most intriguing deal of the COVID era
Online fitness app The Healthy Mummy was snapped up by ASX-listed Halo Food last week, in what looks a bargain, but also a great payday for founder Rhian Allen.
December 2021
- Opinion
- Funding
How the tech deal boom will change next year
The flood of cheap money and a pandemic-led boom made 2021 the biggest-ever year for tech dealmaking. But a triple threat means key deal drivers will change next year.