Good evening,

There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread and clearly we’re not the only ones who think so. Local private equity firm BGH Capital has cooked up a deal to invest in Melbourne bakery chain Laurent alongside founder Laurent Boillon to replace a silent co-investor.

We’ve all had plenty of time in lockdown these past 18 months perfecting our sourdough starters - skills that will surely come in handy as they look to grow the business.

The other big deal we’ve got for you tonight is in the venture capital space. Blackbird Ventures is planning to raise a monster new fund next year, targeting $1 billion-plus. Rick Baker and Niki Scevak aren’t the only ones who will be out raising either.

The other majors, AirTree and Square Peg, are also planning new funds and are teeing up their own investor talks. Then we’ve got SecondQuarter Ventures, which is planning a much larger secondary fund. The rivers of capital are well and truly flowing for this ever-growing segment of the private investment landscape.

Elsewhere, New Zealand gas and electricity infrastructure group Vector is understood to be considering options for its “advanced” metering business; Macquarie’s in the market with a big transition portfolio; and MIRA looks keen to get the Orcon/2degrees merger done, but Trilogy is in no rush.

Happy reading,

Anthony Macdonald, Yolanda Redrup and Kanika Sood

Street Talk editors