Good evening,

IFM Investors was all hot and heavy at Atlas Arteria on Tuesday night, but having secured a toehold stake it was happy to slow things down on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday night, talks between IFM and Atlas Arteria were said to be informal only, with the two sides sizing each other up before making any big moves.

Clearly, IFM’s keen to take a look under the bonnet to get a closer look at tax and financing structures and the like. The question is whether a suitor needs to make an offer to get due diligence (normal answer: yes) and then whether $8.10 a share (where IFM raided on Tuesday) would be a big enough price.

Takeover defences normally start with a “just say no” mentality. UBS and Gilbert + Tobin are in Atlas Arteria’s corner, and you’d have to think IFM’s would probably hear a few no’s before much else. It would expect as much.

In the meantime, we looked at how IFM used just about every trick in the book to secure its 15 per cent stake.

Elsewhere, we checked in with investors on Ramsay Health Care’s mooted takeover, and caught up with what’s going on at up-for-sale solar project Mugga Lane.

Happy reading,
Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood
Street Talk editors