June 2024
The bank at the heart of Project Jalapeno was not Barrenjoey
The founder of Guzman y Gomez, Steven Marks, had been working with one Wall Street giant for years to get the Mexican chain’s $3 billion float off the ground.
April 2024
Inside the battle for Armaguard and the future of cash
The high-stakes negotiations over the financial future for the cash transit monopoly reached a crescendo over Easter, and became clearer this week.
February 2024
How Altium secured sweet $9.1b deal on Valentine’s Day
JPMorgan’s technology banker with deep ties to Silicon Valley brokered an introduction between the companies that set the stage for last week’s mega deal.
Inside Silver Lake’s play for Red 5
Gresham banker Mark Stevens and RBC’s Paul Crooke conjured a $2.2 billion deal that sets the scene for another tussle between Silver Lake and Genesis Minerals.
December 2023
Inside ‘Project Havana’, the $26b merger that shaped Aussie M&A
Newcrest’s tie-up with US peer Newmont resulted in it leaving the ASX after 36 years in December, and more delistings should keep bankers busy in 2024.
October 2023
How a dozen banks and a green trigger recast a $1.4b debt deal
Talks over a new Scape debt deal began in November last year, but a sleeper clause was not activated until now to tie the money to lower carbon emissions.
August 2023
10 long reads for the weekend
Welcome to the weekend. To start off your day, we’ve curated 10 great reads to enjoy.
Anatomy of a takeover: Inside ANZ’s battle to buy Suncorp
In a transaction 14 years in the making, ANZ and Suncorp tried to show the ACCC the world for banking had changed.
June 2023
Inside the tussle for St Barbara’s Gwalia mine
St Barbara remains committed to a deal with Genesis, but all eyes will turn to the June 20 shareholder meeting.
September 2021
Mystery bidder spurred Square to strike Afterpay deal
Details of frenetic and hard-fought negotiations that culminated in Australia’s largest ever M&A deal have been laid out to the US SEC.
March 2021
Long summer days: How BoQ swooped on ME Bank
BoQ’s George Frazis and Patrick Allaway used high-pressure M&A tactics to steal their quarry from more fancied rivals ANZ and Bendigo Bank.
December 2020
How Bain Capital played Hrd ball to secure Virgin
It was a classic bait and switch. Bain Capital used Paul Scurrah, a straight-talking Queenslander, to get its deal to buy Virgin across the line. He thought his job was safe until he was replaced by Jayne Hrdlicka.
December 2019
How Aramco’s huge IPO fell short of a Saudi prince’s wish
The IPO of oil company Aramco, which was supposed to be Saudi Arabia's pitch to global investors, turned out to be something very different.
November 2019
How KKR cooked up a $3.2b Arnott's deal
KKR entered the Arnott's sale as an underdog, but saw off big global strategic players and then a private equity rival in a head-to-head shootout.
May 2019
How the $4b Healthscope deal rewrote the takeover playbook
The year-long process rewrote the rules for M&A, private equity and super funds, but apart from advisers who took home $190m in fees many are still asking who was the clear winner.
April 2019
Twist in tail for Manikay in KKR-MYOB play
The deal brought into question the role of PE funds, directors, independent experts and the legal framework for deal making.