The Pound gets Pounded

September 27, 2022

Good Morning,

The pound has plummeted to a record low, New Zealand has farewelled the Queen with a memorial service, recreational cannabis use could be legalised in Australia, the far-right has claimed victory in the Italian election, North Korea has fired a suspected ballistic missile, the US has warned of catastrophic consequences if Russia uses nuclear weapons & Binance is seeking a permit to return to the Japanese market.

Football will soon become soccer if the US Dollar overtakes the Pound. 

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • The New Zealand market was closed, and the US and UK markets haven't yet opened again this week.

  • The pound has dropped to a record low, and the UK is trading like an emerging market. (FT)

News Summary

  • New Zealand has farewelled the Queen with a memorial service. (Stuff)

  • A summer of traffic cones awaits New Zealanders as the largest maintenance and rehabilitation programme on the roads will be in full force. (Stuff)

  • New green building solutions could provide a $147B (NZD) economic boost to New Zealand. (Stuff)

  • Demand for free-range eggs is rising in New Zealand as cage eggs are phased out. (Stuff)

  • Recreational cannabis use could be legalised in Australia next year if the Greens' bold strategy goes to plan. (9 News)

  • Optus is still contacting customers who are victims of the cyber attack the company faced. (9 News)

  • Elizabeth Broderick will lead the review into EY's culture in Australia. (AFR)

  • The Albanese-led Australian government has proposed to retrospectively stop companies from paying fully franked dividends to shareholders that are funded via capital raises. (AFR)

  • Former Australian defence minister Brendan Nelson will lead Boeing International in London. (AFR)

  • Australia is planning changes to its privacy rules that would allow banks to be alerted faster following cyber attacks on companies. (RT)

  • The pound has plummeted to a record low, and some investors think the Bank of England will call an emergency meeting to try and stem the flow. (BBG)

  • The far-right has claimed victory in the Italian election, with Giorgia Meloni on track to become the country's first female prime minister. (BBC)

  • The exodus out of Russia is growing due to concerns they could ban mobilization eligible men from leaving. Protests are also occurring across the country. (BBG)

  • The US has warned of catastrophic consequences if Russia uses nuclear weapons. (RT)

  • A Nasa spacecraft has been lined up to destroy an asteroid in a test to see how hard it would be to stop a sizeable space rock from hitting Earth. (BBC)

  • North Korea has fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea in the first test since June. (BBC)

  • China's trade surplus is set to top a record $1 trillion (USD) this year, but Macquaire believes this won't be enough to stop the Yuan fall. (BBG)

  • Japan is pushing into 'deep tech' innovation. (BBC)

  • Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, is seeking a permit to return to the Japanese market after a 4-year hiatus. (BBG)

  • Typhoon Noru has bought floods, killed 5 rescuers and left millions without power in the Philippines. (BBG)

Deal Flow

Investments/ M&A

  • Baring PE Asia is considering merging Tricor and Vista to create a company with a valuation of between $7-$8B (USD). (BBG)

  • Intel, along with the Italian government, has picked the town of Vigasio in the Veneto region of Italy for its new factory. The initial investment will be 4.5B Euro. (RT)

  • Papua New Guinea's national oil and gas company Kumul Petroleum has made a binding bid for an additional 5% of the PNG LNG project from Australia's Santos. The deal will be worth $1.4B (USD). (AFR)

  • Media mogul Stephen Courbit and his investment partners are said to off offered $1.18B (USD) for a 48% stake in French media holding company Groupe M6. (BBG)

  • Japanese petroleum company Idemitsu has taken a 32% stake in Critical Mineral Group's IPO and will be its largest shareholder company Critical Mineral Group's debut on Tuesday on the ASX. (AFR)

  • LXI REIT has scrapped its deal to buy Sainsbury stores after suspending an equity raise due to uncertain conditions. (RT)

  • Private hospital company Ramsay Health Care has said it's open to any new buyout proposal after officially ending talks with KKR. (AFR)

VC & Fundraising

  • 6clicks, a risk and compliance management automation startup, has raised $10m (AUD) in a round led by CentreStone Capital. (AFR)

  • Thirday, an Australian accounting software startup, has received $6m (AUD) in funding, which NAB Ventures led. (AFR)

  • Livewire, an Australian startup that provides advertising agency and technology services for brands looking to reach video gamers, has raised $4.7m (AUD) led by RealVC. (AFR)

Equity Raises

  • Firefinch's recapitalisation has been paused due to gold prices and the Australian dollar sliding down. (AFR)

Debt Raises

  • BNPL firm Zip Co has launched a $200m securitisation deal to investors via NAB. (AFR)

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