It’s a short in deals – and there will be plenty to digest.
First, the election. Bankers are not expecting either party to announce plans for any privatisations (a la Medibank Private 2014, or Telstra in the 1990s), or necessarily help spark any M&A activity.
What the hungry deal makers are hopeful of, though, is that getting the election out of the way may remove one of the four pieces of uncertainty (others: Ukraine, inflation, market volatility) that have kept a lid on deals so far this year.
Obviously, FIRB approvals will be a no-go for the coming six weeks or so. Bankers and lawyers don’t expect that to pose too much of a problem.
In deals this week, we expect London-based buyout firm CapVest will lead activity on Monday morning with another bid for Virtus Health.
It’s expected to be quieter at Pendal Group, which is sitting on Perpetual’s $2.5 billion scrip-heavy proposal, and the short week makes it hard to see any serious IPO action getting under way.
As Goldman Sachs and UBS bankers ready Loscam Australia’s potential suitors for the “Project Mars” auction, attention is falling on ASX-listed Pact Group.
