Good evening,

There is little chance that Origin Energy will have a locked-and-loaded deal tomorrow.

Its joint bidders Brookfield and EIG’s exclusivity runs out in less than 24 hours and Street Talk hears the duo’s $9 a share joint bid was starting to look rich amid changing funding and regulatory markets.

The bets were leaning heavily on the no-deal-tomorrow side. However, we also heard some potential workarounds: perhaps the bidders could reprice their bid, or maybe Origin could run an auction for its energy markets business, which has been its drawcard for Brookfield.

But what’s clear is Origin’s phone lines will be open for any potential bidders till close-of-business tomorrow, should they wish to initiate talks.

Elsewhere, KKR has picked up its file on Heinz Australia again, talking to banks about funding structures and the like late last year and early this year. Should the talks pan out, it would put Heinz’s tomato ketchup, Campbell’s Soup (Australian unit) and TimTam owner Arnott’s under the same PE owner.

Lastly, we’ve got the scoop on Adore Beauty founder Kate Morris and former Quadrant managing partner Justin Ryan’s first deal out of their investment firm Glow Capital, which launched in 2021 and so far has been in fund-raising mode.

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