'Next year is going to be huge': Late deal rush has ASX primed for blockbuster 2024
After a slow twelve months, it has taken just 48 hours for three multi-billion dollar prospects to land on the table and reignite interest in Australian markets.
When it rains, it pours. Or so it seems right now for Australia's corporate dealmaking community.
Right the end of a very slow year for M&A bankers and lawyers (at least the ones who aren't involved in the Origin-Brookfield saga) and capital markets operatives, a deluge of prospective activity on the ASX has emerged just two weeks out from Christmas.
First there was the news that Chemist Warehouse was pursuing an $8 billion backdoor listing with Sigma Healthcare. Then it was Soul Pattinson’s ultimately rejected $3 billion bid for Perpetual that could well start a bidding war for the storied investment house.
And finally, the very next day, oil and gas giants Woodside and Santos confirmed they have been engaged in early discussions to merge into an $80 billion energy behemoth.
