Street Talk

Raise a glass to $2b Australian Venue Co; new PE investor incoming

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Jul 16, 2025 – 10.30am

Subscribe to gift this article

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

Already a subscriber?

Australian Venue Co, the country’s second-biggest pubs group, has coaxed another global private equity investor onto its register, the third in as many years.

CVC Asia-Pacific, led in Australia by dealmakers Richard Blackburn and Boris Dangubic, is in advanced discussions to take a significant minority stake in AVC, according to people briefed on the matter, who asked to remain anonymous.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column.

Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review.