A monster week for Australian M&A deals has put a spring in bankers’ steps from Martin Place to Governor Phillip Tower.
It started on Monday with REA Group confirming a Street Talk report that it was considering a takeover of Rightmove, the United Kingdom’s largest property platform, in a deal that could be worth more than $9 billion.
Then, glass bottles and cans maker Orora announcedit had sold its US packaging business to private equity-backed group Veritiv, fetching a $1.78 billion price tag.
Deal volume hit a crescendo on Wednesday as Blackstone was declared the winning party in a $24 billion auction, finalising the largest M&A deal this year and netting its founder Robin Khuda a $1 billion-plus payday.
Data from Dealogic reveals just how big a week it has been. AirTrunk alone tops $US16.1 billion ($24 billion). The last time this happened was when Newmont lobbed a $24.4 billion takeover offer for Newcrest Mining in February 2023.
It’s worth noting this data excludes both the REA and Orora deals because the former is too preliminary and the latter is a divestiture. If divestitures are included, M&A volume rises to $US17.4 billion ($25.9 billion) – or the best week since the heady days of 2021 when Square agreed to pay $39 billion for Afterpay.
Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page.
