$4b deal heats up M&A market; migration target falls; unis to become retirement villages
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Fear and Greed, Business News You Can News. Today, Brookfield buys plumbing business reliance worldwide at its fourth attempt as MA on the local market accelerates. The Albanese government set to announce a big drop in its migration target and universities' big plans to become retirement villages. Plus, online creators are replacing celebrities for brands wanting to sell products and edge. Sheeran is running out of support acts for his world tour, with four quitting in twenty-four hours. It is Thursday, the seventeenth of september, twenty twenty-six. I'm Michael Thompson and good morning, Sean Aylmer. Good morning, Michael. Sean, the main story this morning: Brookfield has finally, finally landed plumbing supplies giant Reliance Worldwide, agreeing to pay more than $4 billion after sweetening its takeover offer four times.
Now, it adds to the growing list of MA activity on the ASX in recent times, kicked off by the Sigma Healthcare Chemist Warehouse deal in February of last year. Brookfield, which is the of course the the global infrastructure investor, will pay four dollars seventy five a share in cash, up from its first offer of four dollars fifteen back in April, and that sent Reliance's share price up three and a half percent yesterday. Isn't
it? Quite a done deal. Reliance has negotiated a GoShop period. Never heard that term, but there you go. A GoShop period till the middle of October, allowing it to actively seek a better offer from another buyer, but clearly it is happy with the price. Reliance is best known for Sharkbite push to connect plumbing fittings, which plumbers love because it means they don't have to solder things together. The company generates about 50. Of sales in the US, but profits have been squeezed by Donald Trump's tariffs, higher copper prices, and weak US and UK housing markets. Reliance's board says Brookfield's cash offer provides certainty given those risks. It's quite a journey for a business bought by Melbourne's Munz family back in 1986.
40 years ago, revenue then $14 million. Today it generates about $1.8 million. Eight billion dollars.
Wow, that's pretty impressive. Uh looking at the bigger picture here though, Sean, the Reliance Worldwide deal, it would have to be the latest sign, right, that corporate Australia is firmly in the sights of deal makers. Because since the beginning of last year, uh we had the one that I mentioned before, the chemist warehouse uh Sigma deal, uh several mergers or takeovers in the gold mining sector, which is a whole nother level of Of complication because it just says the the deals and then the uh the the triangular shaped deals that we were looking at at different times. The fourteen billion dollar merger of sole pats and brickworks, which unwound a a cross shareholding structure that had existed for decades and created then a much larger listed investment company.
There's been a bit going on. Yeah, we had
Ostel, the Australian shipbuilder. It's currently attracting competing billion-dollar proposals for its US operations. There's private equity groups circling billions of dollars worth of Rio Tinto's Pilbara infrastructure, according to media reports. What else, Mike? We had Healthscape this week. Its assets were divvyed up. And the deal is due to be completed by November 30. That's dozens of private hospitals. You can add in logistics group. Cube Holdings and Insignia Financial. They were both bought no longer on the ASX, Seven West Media. It disappeared from the ASX earlier in the year following its merger with Southern Cross Media. And then Jones Ling was acquired by Pacific Equity Partners, delisted about 12 months ago, a little less than that.
The rush of deals, I've got to say, does follow a fairly poor period for deal makers in the previous couple of years.
What is the Brookfield‑Reliance Worldwide $4 billion takeover and why does it matter?
There wasn't a lot going on for a long while, and now
Can't get enough of it. We have discussed in the past uh trying to put a number on At what point it becomes a deal frenzy? Yes. I I think close. No, I think it's there. You there? Yeah.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:06–3:54
2
What is the Brookfield‑Reliance Worldwide $4 billion takeover and why does it matter?
3:54–8:22
3
How is Australia’s M&A market heating up after the Sigma‑Chemist Warehouse and other big deals?
8:22–14:20
4
Why does the Albanese government plan to cut net migration to 245 000 and what could it mean for the economy?
14:20–18:09
Speakers
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