Which bank won't survive this week? 🏦💥

Good Morning,

The US & UK central banks rose rates by 0.25% last week, Labor has won the NSW election, Chris Minns will be the premier of NSW, Russia will station nuclear weapons in Belarus, there have been at least 26th deaths as a tornado rips through Mississippi and Alabama & Deutsche Bank shares dived.

This week we have tried a new format for the wrap-up, where we are showing all the Australia and New Zealand deals plus the key global deals, but smaller global deals are just on the online version. Let us know which version you prefer by voting in the poll at the bottom.

Ps, this format change will only apply to the weekly wrap-up!

Let’s jump in!

Before The Bell

Markets

• NZ and Australian markets were down for the week on the back of weaker investor sentiment

• US stocks had a volatile weak driven by the banking industry and recession worries. The major indexes closed up for the week, but small-cap indexes were down (TRP)

• European shares made small gains for the week, despite weakness in the banking sector (TRP)

Earnings & Data

• Australian credit card spending hit a record $33.5B (AUD) in January (9 News)

• The Bank of England raised rates by 0.25% to 4.25% (BBC)

• Goodman advised that its FY23 annual results are expected to include a $238m (NZD) or 4.7% reduction in the fair value of its property assets (NZX)

• KMD Brands released its 1H results and announced profits of $14m (NZD) and record first-half sales of $547.9m (NZD). It will pay a dividend of 3c (NZ) per share (Stuff)

• Initial filings for US jobless benefits fell by 1,000 to 191,000 in the week ended March 18, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 197,000 applications (BBG)

• New Hope doubled its half-year profit to a record $668.6m (AUD) and declared dividends of 40c per share (AFR)

• UK inflation surprised the market as it jumped to 10.4% YoY, up from 10.1%. This was mainly driven by the increase in the cost of salad and vegetables, which pushed food prices to their highest levels for 45 years (BBC)

• The US Federal Reserve increased the benchmark overnight lending rate by 25 basis points, or 0.25 percentage points, this morning, meeting most expectations of a smaller raise. The move raises the Fed’s target range to 4.75%-5% – the highest level since 2007 (NBR)

• The Warehouse Group stock took a nasty fall, plummeting about 13.5% on Thursday as shareholders responded to a set of disappointing results and uncertain outlook. A record first-half group sales haul, up 4.8% to $1.8 billion, was overshadowed by a 60.9% net profit drop, which fell to $17.4 million from $44.4m the same time the previous year (NBR)

• Westland Milk Products has posted record sales and increased its profit by $120 million in 2022. In a statement released on Thursday, the company said its revenue in the 12 months to December 31 increased by 27% to $1.04 billion (Stuff)

• Westpac NZ released its latest McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index. Confidence levels were up 2.1 points to 77.7, which means consumer confidence remains at extremely weak levels (Stuff)

News Summary

Monday

• Gold rose above $2,000 USD an ounce for the first time in more than a year (BBG)

• NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says 91% of the 1346 kilometres of state highways damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle have now been reopened as lifeline roads (NBR)

• North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen drills simulating a nuclear counterattack against the U.S. and South Korea (RT)

Tuesday

• Unions in New Zealand are calling for a 5% levy on excess bank profits (Stuff)

• The French government has survived a no-confidence vote (BBC)

• Swiss investors and MPs are considering challengers to the UBS - Credit Sussie merger (AFR)

Wednesday

• Kathmandu's US launch will be delayed at least six months (NBR)

• Ukraine will be the first nation at war to receive an IMF loan. An agreement has been made for $15.6B (USD) worth of funding (BBC)

• Silicon Valley Bank had record dollar amounts of loans issued to insiders (Stuff)

Thursday

• Rio Tinto says the personal data of some past and present Australian staff may have been stolen as part of a criminal cyberattack of a supplier to the mining giant (AFR)

• This year is shaping out to be the worst since 2006 for investment banks involved in Australian deals (AFR)

• US Senator Elizabeth Warren increased pressure on regulators to scrutinize CVS Health’s $9.5B (USD) deal to buy Oak Street Health (BBG)

Friday

• Twitter will begin removing so-called legacy verified marks from user accounts this week (BBG)

• UBS has promised retention packages to wealth management staff in Asia at Credit Suisse (RT)

• TikTok wants to distance itself from China, but Beijing is getting involved (CNBC)

Weekend

• Wellington’s nightlife is under pressure as several bars go under (Stuff)

• Bluebridge’s new ferry, the Connemara, is back sailing again after breaking down for the third time in two months (Stuff)

• Labor has won the NSW election, and Chris Minns will be the premier (9 News)

• Dominic Perrottet has stepped down as the NSW liberal leader following their heavy defeat (9 News)

• Russia will station nuclear weapons in Belarus (BBC)

• There have been at least 26th deaths as a tornado rips through Mississippi and Alabama (BBC)

• Deutsche Bank shares dived as worry still remains (BBC)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

Australia & New Zealand

• Origin Energy’s buyers will fly in early this week to finalise their $18.2B (AUD) takeover (AFR)

• Ammonia producer CF Industries agreed to buy the US ammonia manufacturing facility of Australia's Incitec Pivot in a $2.5B (AUD) deal (AFR)

• Andrew Forrest's Wyloo has offered $1.40 (AUD) a share for nickel play Mincor Resources. The bid values the company at $760m (AUD) (AFR)

• Bajaj Finance and Cathay Financial Holdings are among the firms considering bidding for the Indonesian business of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The bid could value the business at several hundred million dollars (BBG)

• Goldman Sachs is set to sell its stake in Australia's biggest premium marinas, owner d'Albora, to MA Financial. The transaction could value d'Albora at more than $200m (AUD) (AFR)

• Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand (MCK) and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) have announced the purchase of the Sofitel Brisbane Central Hotel in Australia from Brookfield Asset Management for $177.7m (AUD). This purchase is a 50:50 joint venture between MCK and M&C (NZX)

• Tasman’s blue economy cluster has caught a half-a-million-dollar cash injection from the Government (Stuff)

• Bain Capital lobs $3 (AUD) a share bid for Estia Health, Morgan Stanley on ticket (AFR)

• Tyro and Potentia Capital are taking about a binding bid at a price of $1.70 (AUD) per share (AFR)

• Private equity-backed Australian Clinical Labs is trying to pull off a dream domestic consolidation deal, combining the No.2 and No.3 pathology market players to topple heavyweight Sonic Healthcare (AFR)

  • Healius is searching for a bulge-bracket investment bank to help with the defence of the bid it received from Australian Clinical Labs (AFR)

• Ochre Healthcare is trying to find a bidder to take a controlling stake (AFR)

• China Molybdenum is considering an exit from Northparkes mine in NSW (AFR)

• Bidders for under-water drill rigs maker Schramm Australia have been given a few more weeks to firm up their final bids (AFR)

• First Sentier Investors has purchased a majority stake in European credit manager Albacore (AFR)

• Eroad has hired Goldman Sachs to advise on its strategic review (NBR)

• Hillhouse Capital will try to restructure its deal to acquire Australian clinical trials business George Clinical in an attempt to get it past the Foreign Investment Review Board (AFR)

• A new company led by former publishing executive John Sandford is working on an offer to buy Turoa skifield from administrators for Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, which collapsed last October (NBR)

• Origin Energy is mulling developing an offshore wind project in the NSW Hunter region, as heavyweights that previously eyed developments in Victoria begin to look east (AFR)

• Flower grower and wholesaler Lynch Group is considering selling its Chinese business (AFR)

Key Global

• Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co, has formulated a new plan to aid First Republic Bank. The new plan would see some or all of the $30B (USD) in deposits that a group of US banks injected be converted into a capital infusion for the struggling California lender (BBG)

• London-listed investment banks Cenkos Securities and finnCap Group will merge in a £21m ($25.9m USD) all-stock deal, creating one of the UK's biggest financial services advisory firms focused on small-cap growth companies (RT)

• Tokyo-based company Toshiba’s board approved on Thursday a bid of about 2 trillion yen ($15.3B USD) from a group led by domestic private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners. The offer is at about a 9.7% premium to Toshiba’s closing price on Thursday (BBG)

• EG Group could complete a £12B merger of its petrol stations with Asda by April (BBG)

• Neptune Energy pushes on with plans for its $5B (USD) sale after takeover talks with Eni cool (BBG)

• UBS has acquired Credit Suisse for $4.5B (AUD) (AFR)

• Thermo Fisher Scientific, a US scientific instrument maker, and South Korea's Celltrion are among the companies competing for the acquisition of the biopharma solutions business of Baxter International. The unit could be worth more than $4B (USD) (RT)

• Tata Group is considering injecting another $2B (USD) of fresh capital into its super app venture as the salt-to-software conglomerate seeks to bolster its digital business, according to people familiar with the matter (BBG)

• John Lau, a Hong Kong tycoon, is weighing his options for his logistics assets. He has held preliminary talks with buyers the assets may fetch a valuation of more than $1B (USD). They include holding company Cargo Services Far East (BBG)

• Liberty Global, a multinational communications company, has agreed to buy the rest of Belgian carrier Telenet Group for ~$1B (USD) (BBG)

• First Citizens is still hoping to strike a deal for all of Silicon Valley Bank (BBG)

• Customers Bancorp Inc is exploring a deal for all or part of the failed Silicon Valley Bank (RT)

• Block Inc. shares tumbled after Hindenburg Research said it’s betting on a decline in the stock, alleging the payments company led by Jack Dorsey facilitated fraudsters who took advantage of government stimulus programs during the pandemic (BBG)

SPAC

• AG tech and analytics services company Braiin will go public via a $215m (USD) merger with blank-check firm Northern Revival Acquisition (BBG)

VC & Fundraising

• Frizona Auto, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.’s new energy commercial vehicle brand, is considering raising as much as $300 million USD in fresh funds ahead of a potential US initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter (BBG)

• Outset Ventures, a deep tech VC fund, is trying to raise between $30m (NZD) to $50m (NZD) for its second fund (NBR)

• Alex's Bank is seeking $20m (AUD) at a $130m (AUD) pre-money valuation (AFR)

• Idemitsu cornerstoned a $20m (AUD) equity raise for Queensland vanadium explorer Vecco Group (AFR)

• Melbourne-based medical technology start-up Mindset Health has raised a $17.8m (AUD) series A round led by King River Capital at a $77m (AUD) valuation (AFR)

• Greengrocer, a Hamilton-based indoor vertical farm, has received $3.5m (NZD) in public funding for research from the Ministry of Primary Industries (Stuff)

• Adams Street Partners, a Chicago-based private market investor, is wining and dining high-net-worth types in Australia (AFR)

• Electric bus company TrueGreen, which dazzled investors with its pre-IPO pitch of $1B (AUD) revenue by FY25 just two years ago, has gone to investors for a shot in the arm while also trying to resurrect its parked IPO (AFR)

Equity Raises

Australia & New Zealand

• Wam Leaders parked its $731.5m (AUD) equity raise due to the falling markets (AFR)

• National Storage REIT has raised $300m via an equity placement at the expected price of $2.33 (AUD), and a further $25m will be raised via a share purchase plan (AFR)

• Minerals explorer Ora Banda Mining is chasing fresh funds to develop its Riverina Underground mine, with a $30 million deal underway via stockbroker Euroz Hartleys (AFR)

• ASX-listed brewer and distiller Mighty Craft has launched a $7.7m (AUD) equity raising via Morgans, as its crown jewel, Better Beer looks for $20m (AUD) of its own via Jarden (AFR)

• Geo, an NZ-listed cloud-based business productivity software provider, is looking to raise $1.51m (NZD) via a renounceable rights issue and the issue of warrants (NZX)

• ASX-listed Tanzanian graphite minnow Evolution Energy Minerals has dusted off its definitive feasibility study update and wasted no time asking for face-time with fund managers, who reckon a raising couldn't be far (AFR)

• Australian chemicals business Redox has asked UBS to reboot investor meetings for an IPO (AFR)

• Virgin Australia's IPO pitch started with meetings in Singapore last week (AFR)

Key Global

• Rakuten Bank is seeking $881m (USD) in Japan's biggest IPO since 2018. It will list on April 21st and has set an indication band of 1,630 yen to 1,960 yen per share (BBG)

• Cowell Health, a Chinese drugstore chain backed by Hillhouse Capital, has selected Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Haitong International Securities for its Hong Kong IPO that could raise $500m + (USD) (BBG)

• DTGO, a Thai conglomerate, is considering listing its UK hospitality assets worth ~ £500m via a REIT IPO in Singapore as soon as next year. The IPO could raise ~$244m (USD) (BBG)

• Virgin Orbit is near a deal for a $200m (USD) investment from Texas-based venture capital investor Matthew Brown via a private share placement (RT)

Debt, Restructuring & Bankruptcy

• Northvolt is in talks to secure over $5B (USD) in funding from banks (BBG)

• Carvana Co said it’s offering to exchange as much as $1B (USD) of bond principal at below-par prices as the struggling online car seller works to restructure its debt load (BBG)

• AMP Bank began taking indications of interest in a $500m (AUD) RMBS deal at 7:30pm on Thursday after Firstmac covered a transaction earlier in the day, in the first batch of securitisation deals to brew after the events between Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse (AFR)

• Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced a $2.9m (NZD) loan to help Scapegrace Distillery expand to help meet growing national and international demand. The government will also underwrite $4.5m (NZD) of the Silverlight Studios’ film studio project (Stuff)

• Sri Lanka's bondholders are considering a proposal to swap defaulted bonds with new securities that would have cash flow linked to the nation's future growth (BBG)

• Liquidators have been appointed to New Zealand businessman Andrew Griffiths's investment vehicle, Satori Holdings. The company had a 48% interest in the company behind the Six Senses resort in Fiji, which went into receivership in December 2021 (NBR)

• Lenders have called in receivers on Terry Serepisos's Century City Hotel property (NBR)

• Rivet Mining Services has been placed into administration (AFR)

• Apollo Global Management and Carlyle Group are zeroing in on a book of loans up for grabs now that the former parent company of Silicon Valley Bank has filed for bankruptcy (BBG)

Job Board

New Zealand

• BDO graduate and intern roles - Apply here

• Bell Gully summer intern roles - Apply here

• Buddle Findlay summer clerkships - Apply here

• Chapman Tripp winter and summer clerkships and clerk roles - Apply here

• Deloitte intern roles - Apply here

• Deloitte graduate roles - Apply here

• DLA Piper insight programme, summer clerkships and clerk roles - Apply here

• EY graduate and intern roles - Apply here

• Forsyth Barr associate analyst - Apply here

• Forsyth Barr associate analyst (global equities) - Apply here

• Grant Thornton graduate roles - Apply here

• KPMG graduate and intern roles - Apply here

• PWC graduate and intern roles - Apply here

• Russell McVeagh summer clerkships - Apply here

• Russell McVeagh clerks - Apply here

Australia

• Citadel Securities graduate and intern roles - Apply here

• Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Intern - Apply here

• IMC graduate and intern roles - Apply here

• Jarden

  • Graduate role - Apply here

  • Summer internships - Apply here

• Macquarie graduate roles - Apply here

• Optiver

  • Graduate role - Apply here

  • Internships - Apply here

The Daily Deck is sponsored by Industrial Equity, LLC