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.
- Aaron Weinman
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.
- James Eyers
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.
- Aaron Weinman
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.
- Aaron Weinman
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.
- Aaron Weinman
October 2023
- Exclusive
- Investment banking
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.
- Aaron Weinman
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.
- Lucas Baird, Liam Walsh and James Eyers
June 2023
- Analysis
- Investment banking
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.
- Aaron Weinman
September 2021
- Exclusive
- BNPL
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.
- James Eyers and Jonathan Shapiro
March 2021
- Exclusive
- Bank of Queensland
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.
- Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald
December 2020
- Exclusive
- Mergers & acquisitions
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.
- Updated
- Anthony Macdonald and Sarah Thompson
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.
- Kate Kelly and Stanley Reed
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.
- Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd
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.
- Jemima Whyte
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.
- Jemima Whyte