Good morning,

Here’s one to put on your radar.

The ACCC’s childcare interim review has spooked the hell out of everyone in the early education sector.

The competition watchdog’s report recommended government intervention, saying market forces in the sector had failed families, and called for the introduction of fee caps.

The report found that a family in Australia with two children in childcare and earning average wages spent about 16 per cent of their income on childcare fees compared with the 9 per cent OECD average, ranking Australia 26th out of 32 countries in terms of cost to families.

Not something to cheer about, particularly if you’re Quadrant’s Affinity Education for whom non-binding indicative bids were due last week.

Quadrant didn’t escape the regulator’s all-seeing eye, scoring a mention on page 140 of the report.

How the fallout alters the auction is one to watch.

Happy reading,

• Vitamin maker Nature’s Care is up for sale; KordaMentha partner Ryan Rabbitt on hand
• Swedish private equity firm EQT to acquire VetPartners for $1 billion-plus
• Get back to the office, Bell Potter tells staff
• Eyes on GQG Partners’ falling stock price as Pacific Current bids loom
• MST Financial picks up Credit Suisse energy guru

• Fundies have five demands for the Virgin Australia float, writes Ayesha de Kretser
• Big banks are sitting out the LBO rebound after being stung by earlier buyouts, the Financial Times reports
• ExxonMobil’s planned takeover of Pioneer National Resources signals big oil’s tightening grip on shale, Bloomberg reports

VetPartners has 267 clinics in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, which helped it make $661 million in revenue and $131 million in EBITDA for the 2023 financial year.

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