Good evening,

ECM dealmaking is ready to come out of 2022’s snooze mode! Well, for resources, at least.

Street Talk spotted two billion-dollar plus companies cooking up equity raises on Tuesday afternoon. Indonesian miner Nickel Industries and mining services business Imdex need about $200 million apiece to pin down M&A targets.

Should the talks pan out, these would bury fundies in a good ol’ fashioned mid-January deals rush before the earnings season kicks off next month. The two deals would also ring up opening credits for Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Bell Potter on the 2023 ECM league tables.

Also, remember Spark Infrastructure?

The once-listed juggernaut is back on the dealmaking circuit, albeit with a small carve out.

Street Talk can reveal Spark’s new owners KKR, Ontario Teachers and PSP Investments, have hired Lazard to jettison its renewables unit just as they hit the anniversary of their $5.2 billion take-private.

While Spark Renewables is no CWP Renewables, it’s an asset coming out of a high-quality vendor and should get noticed. The challenge would be beating the $200 million odd price tag that KPMG placed on the outfit, as a part of its independent expert report in the scheme documents.

Elsewhere, we spotted Mitsui and fund manager Patrizia cobbling together a new fund to invest in APAC infrastructure, PE firm Crescent Capital cut a cheque for an air filtration business. And Microequities’s stake in MSL Solutions was making some investors uneasy as suitor Pemba oddly declared its offer final days before the scheme vote and with no rival bidders in sight.

Happy reading,

Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood

Street Talk Editors