Rinehart, Packer, Gances among 12 billionaires to watch in 2024
Australia’s well-known billionaires are back making big deals, and expect plenty more in the next 12 months as merger and acquisition activity heats up in mining, retail and health.
A spate of deals in December by Australia’s billionaires is likely only the beginning of what should be plenty of corporate activity in 2024.
Hit by falling profits and interest rate rises in 2023, their ability to charter some choppy waters was tested.
Many have suffered falling wealth as a result, but some have enjoyed buoyant times as commodity prices increased and property valuations held up.
Billionaires are at the helm of the country’s biggest miners, property firms, retail behemoths and technology giants and dominate the top ranks of The List – Australia’s Richest 250.
They are also the biggest deal makers in the country.
Here are the billionaires to watch in Australia in 2024.
GINA RINEHART
The mining magnate has $20bn in cash burning a hole in her pocket – well, that’s the amount of cash on the balance sheet of Hancock Prospecting – and at least a decent chunk of it will need to go somewhere. Hancock has already started spending big on lithium, the latest being a $1.7bn bid with Chile’s SQM for Azure Minerals in December. That came after a string of other acquisitions during 2023, including office blocks, cattle and other mining assets. Expect Rinehart to keep spending in 2024, as a hoped-for clearer time frame for approval of Hancock Prospecting’s Mulga Downs project in WA inches closer. She could also buy more Australian fashion and apparel assets, adding to a collection that includes Driza-Bone and Rossi Boots.
SOLOMON LEW
The market awaits the findings of Lew’s strategic review of the retail assets held by his Premier Investments group.
The review started in August and focused on strong performers like Smiggle and Peter Alexander, and whether they would perform better as separately-listed entities rather than as part of Premier’s conglomerate. It will be fascinating to see if Lew keeps everything together or spins out some of his best brands. And who knows, maybe 2024 is the year he finally makes a takeover move for Myer.
JACK AND SAM GANCE, MARIO VERROCCHI
Suddenly the most private big retail success story in Australia is going public, with the Gance brothers and Verrocchi executing a reverse takeover by their Chemist Warehouse of ASX-listed Sigma Healthcare. More details will come in late January, but based on documents lodged with the ASX in December, Sam Gance will be a billionaire in his own right based on the Sigma shares he will emerge with – meaning he will join brother Jack and Verrocchi on the Richest 250. Next comes watching how the entrepreneurial Chemist Warehouse operates in a public environment, and the increased scrutiny that comes with it.
EDWARD CRAVEN
The co-founder of online crypto gambling company Stake.com is Australia’s youngest billionaire, and looks on his way to creating another unicorn with streaming business Kick. Stake operates in grey markets and Craven and his American co-founder Bijan Tehrani have already made it known they would like to operate an online betting company in Australia. That makes a move to take a small stake in ASX-listed PointsBet so intriguing. Between making a potential bigger move on PointsBet and growing Kick, which aspires to compete with Twitch, Craven has plenty on his plate. But property watchers are also intrigued about what happens with his plans to overhaul the $88m “ghost mansion” he bought in Melbourne’s Toorak in 2022.
DENNIS BASTAS
While much of the spotlight recently has been deals in the public market, Bastas quietly pulled off a huge $1bn private debt deal to merge his Arrowtex Pharmaceuticals with Juno Pharmaceuticals last year. Bastas owned half of both but now owns the combined entity, Australia’s largest generic drug maker. It might be a few years down the track, but Bastas is likely already attracting the attention of bankers keen to pitch to him the virtues of taking Arrowtex onto the ASX. A deal to go public could come sooner for another of his businesses, genetics firm MyDNA.
JAMES PACKER
While he certainly shuns the spotlight and now spends most of his time overseas, Packer has been one of the more prolific billionaires in investment terms at least. In December, it emerged that he now has a circa $600m portfolio of listed stocks, mostly US-based shareholding including Paramount, Netflix and Spotify, that were likely bought with the proceeds of his sale of Crown shares. Packer also has an eclectic mix of smaller property investments in Australia and will no doubt keep investing his cash holdings in 2024.
LAURENCE ESCALANTE
His Virtual Gaming Worlds social gaming business has been a huge success and made Escalante billions, but the company is having to deal with an increasing number of legal issues in the US.
The company operates Chumba Casino, a digital game where users play online poker machines and card games, and LuckyLand Slots, and has all its customers in North America. Some legal cases have alleged VGM is operating illegally, but it says its sweepstakes model complies with local laws. Escalante is also spending more on marketing – including a deal with Formula One’s iconic Ferrari team – to keep his customers.
BRUCE MATHIESON
Mathieson is battling on plenty of fronts, including watching his significant stake in Star Entertainment falling in value as the casino group continues to struggle. More importantly, Mathieson will likely continue to agitate for change at Endeavour Group. He is its biggest individual shareholder and has made it clear that he wants management to go. Whether his complaints can bring a shake-up of executive ranks, or if he tries to privatise all or part of the company with the help of private equity will be a matter to watch closely.
ALEX WAISLITZ
The next 12 months might see more happening in media than stock-picking for Waislitz. His partnership with Antony Catalano at Australian Community News is a constant hive of activity, with the pair making a tilt for a major stake in ASX-listed Southern Cross Media among other endeavours. Catalano and Waislitz are also moving forward with expansion plans for their View Media Group of online classifieds and other property assets. Then there are Waislitz’s two listed investment companies, Thorney Opportunities and Thorney Technologies, that both trade under their net tangible asset value. That needs fixing.
RAPHAEL GEMINDER
The man known as Ruffy has to be licking his wounds after 10 years in the listed company world with his packaging business Pact Group. Spun out of the very private Pratt family conglomerate (Geminder is married to Fiona Geminder, daughter of the late Richard Pratt), Pact floated on the ASX in a blaze of glory in late 2013. But Geminder’s offer to take it private is for about a quarter of its value back then. The offer has been deemed not fair, but reasonable, by an independent expert. Geminder will hope for better fortunes for Pact if and when it is privatised. How long he owns the business in the future remains to be determined.
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