Good evening,

Tired of the billionaire brawl at Sun Cable yet?

Neither are we. In this week’s edition, we dig deep into mining billionaire (and losing bidder) Andrew Forrest’s last few weeks in the auction.

His Squadron Energy got a few tongues wagging with a statement claiming it lobbed a final bid for Sun Cable, after Mike Cannon-Brookes and Quinbrook were announced as winners.

We retraced the auction, and found competing views of Squadron’s bid intentions at Sun Cable. As sources pointed out, the Forrest camp had (unsuccessfully) put forth an interim funding proposal, gotten control of the creditors and knew the asset well – so the claim about not having bid is a curious development.

Over in private equity land, we spotted Intermediate Capital Group issuing dispatch orders to Jefferies after 3½ years at its SCF Containers business. A new auction is expected to kick off in the second half.

Elsewhere, Azure Capital popped up in Transurban’s line-up for the EastLink toll road, Morgan Stanley’s job cuts claimed a Sydney managing director, and FIIG Securities rejected two hostile bids from an ASX-listed player.

Happy reading,
Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Street Talk editors