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Adir Shiffman

July

iKOU founders Naomi and Paul Whitfeld.

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

Hundreds of students gathered at Melbourne University in support of Palestine.

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.

Venture capitalists Craig Blair, Paul Bassat, Rick Baker, and Michelle Deaker have to judge when to sell just as wisely as what to back.

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

Adore Beauty founder Kate Morris is likely to have options to exit the company after a failed acquisition bid last year.

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

Healthy Mummy founder Rhian Allen achieved a life-changing result, but it could have been much more.

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.

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August 2023

Former Victorian Premier John Brumby chairs the country’s biggest tech and science investment fund.

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

AI investment is definitely in bubble territory, but investors will keep going until they know which companies are the big generational winners.

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

Rob Bromage had a successful outcome for his stint building IntelliHR.

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

Xero chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy made the complete write-down of Waddle one of her first big calls in the hotseat.

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

Nitro founder and CEO Sam Chandler has been building the company since 2005.

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

Two fascinating acquisition deals for listed Aussie tech firms are reaching the pointy end, with one contrarian investor a pivotal figure in both.

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

Private equity group Thoma Bravo has offered $1.1 billion for Australian tech company Nearmap, which provides imagery such as these aerial photos of the NSW floods in the Lismore region earlier this year.

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

Modibodi founder Kristy Chong and Quadrant Private Equity sold the business for $140 million last month.

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

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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.

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.

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June 2022

Will Lopes, CEO of Catapult

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

Hezi and Gabby Leibovich have the start-up hustle to turn small online retailers into giants. That entrepreneurial zeal has been missing at Wesfarmers.

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

The New York Times’ Wordle transaction provides a window into the incredible 20-year transformation of newspaper economics. 

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

Healthy Mummy founder Rhian Allen.

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

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 in 2022.

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.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/adir-shiffman-p4yw7c