Good evening,

Here comes another test in appropriate company disclosure for Qantm Intellectual Property’s board.

Investor sources told this column on Monday that Sydney buyout firm Adamantem Capital had submitted a non-binding indicative offer for in-play Qantm IP, and had retained Gresham for advice.

It is understood the offer price was pitched at $1.817 a share. That reflects a juicy 58 per cent premium to the undisturbed share price – aka before this column, on February 26, outed that the board was sitting on a privitisation proposal.

Adamantem’s bid has landed at a time when UK-based intellectual property firm Rouse International Holdings remains in due diligence with its mystery proposal. As reported, both Adamantem and rival Quadrant Private Equity had expressed interest around the same time as Rouse lobbed its offer.

It will be interesting to see how Qantm responds to our latest report in Tuesday morning’s ASX filings.

Readers of this column will recall the target board has been surprisingly tight-lipped on Rouse’s proposal and why it deserved a look at the books, especially at a time when PE players have been swarming around the business. Forget bid price, Qantm shareholders were left in the dark – and remain so – on the most basic details including if Rouse was offering cash or scrip.

Qantm debuted on ASX with a $295 million market capitalisation in 2016 and had shrunk to just $161 million as of February 26. The Adamantem bid is worth about $260 million.

A recent a recovery in earnings has revived bidder interest in the business.

• Kiwi investment bank Cameron Partners missed out on the sell-side role for TA Associates′ 34 per cent stake in Fisher Funds. But it is peddling hard to secure a buy-side advisory gig, armed with a flyer of its own.
• Equity desks, especially Macquarie Capital’s, are angling for a circa $300 million block trade out of GQG Partners co-founder Rajiv Jain’s slice of the $6.5 billion fund manager. Hint: ASX 200 inclusion.
• Barrenjoey pulled in Qantas, Airbus and other heavy-hitters for a $29 million raise at Jet Zero Australia, a Queensland company aiming to make jet fuel from ethanol produced from wheat.
• Lithium hopeful Lake Resources sent out Barrenjoey and Canaccord Genuity for a $20 million short in the arm after an 80.5 per cent drop in its share price over 12 months.

• Sydney family behind McDonald’s app worth more than $100 million, after Task Group received a $310 million bid from New York-listed PAR Technology Corp at a 103 per cent premium to Friday’s close.
• Antony Catalano is seeking buyers for The Newcastle Herald, Illawarra Mercuryand The Canberra Times.
• Investors are sceptical of Qantas management’s strategy.

With about $NZ20 billion in funds under management and more than 500,000 clients, Cameron Partners claims Fisher Funds is a “highly regarded brand” and a way to gain exposure to New Zealand’s growing population and assets in KiwiSaver.

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