ASX closes lower; oOh!media shares surge 33% on Pacific Equity Partners buyout offer
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The news: The Australian sharemarket has finished lower after the latest data saw inflation spike in March, leading many economists to lock in their expectations for the RBA to hike rates next week, and following losses on US markets overnight.
The benchmark ASX 200 index fell 0.27% to 8,687, with five of the 11 sectoral indices in negative territory.
Biggest movers:
- G8 Education (-31.3%) — The early childhood education operator announced the suspension of 40 centres citing cost of living and socio-economic challenges.
- oOh!media (+32.9%) — Received an unsolicited, non-binding indicative offer from Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) that values the company at about $747 million.
- Codan (+15.5%) — The communications product maker told the exchange it is trading “above expectations” in the second half of FY26, tracking at the top of its revenue guidance range.
Executive and board moves:
- Regis Healthcare (-0.8%) — Appointed Bupa’s Andrew Kinkade as managing director and chief executive.
- IGO (+1.1%) — Johan van Vuuren has resigned from his position as the chief financial officer of battery minerals company IGO, effective today, after serving for less than a month.
Other news:
- Bellevue Gold (-0.9%) — Reported significantly higher gold production in the March quarter, totalling 40,745 ounces compared to 32,031 ounces in the previous quarter, citing improved grades and lower costs.
- Woodside Energy (+2%) — Reported an 8% slump in first-quarter production to 45.2 million barrels of oil equivalent, compared to the previous quarter, primarily driven by severe weather impacts across its Western Australian facilities.
- ANZ (+0.4%) — Entered into a binding agreement to acquire French payments giant Worldline SA’s 51% stake in their joint venture ANZ Worldline for $89 million.
What’s ahead:
- The Bank of Canada will make an interest rate decision at 11:45pm AEST. Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem and senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers will hold a press conference at 12:30am AEST.
- The US Federal Reserve will make an interest rate decision on Thursday at 4:00am AEST. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 4:30am AEST.
