Good evening,

Street Talk got its mitts on a broad range of private deals this chilly Wednesday.

Up first is fast-growing industrial and safety products supplier ATOM seeking a cashed-up buyer to take its secretive majority shareholder out of the picture.

After sending a request for proposal to investment banks, asking them to pitch for a sell-side adviser role, Street Talk can reveal that Peter Brownie’s corporate advisory firm Stanton Road is in the driving seat.

Next, Singapore’s Tat Hong Holdings, the largest crane owner in the Asia-Pacific region, has brought in Bank of America after green-lighting the sale process for its local business, Tutt Bryant Group.

The company, which was delisted from the ASX in 2010, is expected to seek a staggering $800 million. It seems even a boring business can be worth a truckload.

Mid-market private equity shop The Growth Fund has also launched another sale process. This time, the firm has called in boutique M&A house Allier Capital to canvass buyer interest and run a two-stage auction for dental roll-up Ekera Dental.

This marks the fourth process for the fund this year, which brings up a question: when will The Growth Fund restock its acquisition coffers and raise another fund?

Finally, resources financier Taurus Funds Management is weighing an exit from its 70 per cent equity stake in Queensland’s Foxleigh metallurgical coal mine.

And a capital raising to close out the evening: Galan Lithium, the listed Argentinian and West Australian explorer, had broker Canaccord Genuity building support for a $25 million-plus equity raising.

Happy reading,

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Street Talk Editors