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Infrastructure investor Plenary, whose portfolio ranges from Sydney’s new Metro to university accommodation in Canada and the Middle East, has anointed a new CEO after completing the sale of a 49 per cent stake to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ last month.

Plenary’s chief investment officer Paul Crowe is set to take over as the CEO from David Lamming, who will step down from executive roles after 5½ years in the top job and 21 years with the company.

For the past decade, the Melbourne-based Crowe has been involved in structuring and execution of every major infrastructure investment it has made. Plenary chair Paul Oppenheim told Street Talk on Friday that the firm did not consider external candidates in the search.

As his top priorities locally, Crowe told this column he counts the second leg of the Sydney Metro, transmission lines needed for the government’s Renewable Energy Zones as well as the new $3.7 billion stadium approved this week for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, for which Plenary intends to lob a PPP proposal.

In New Zealand, he is monitoring the 100km Northland Corridor road for which the government has commenced procurement, as well as opportunities in justice and defence infrastructure.

Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page.

• David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital has lobbed a takeover proposal for the country’s second-largest hospital group Healthscope, after several weeks of legwork that included penetrating the target’s $1.6 billion debt stack.
• Accent Group, the ASX-listed retailer behind the Hype DC and Platypus shoe chains, is set to sign a deal with London-listed Frasers Group involving a 19.99 per cent stake and a joint venture.
• CVC Capital Partners is the fifth suitor eyeing a stake in remote power business Zenith Energy, the $2 billion-plus remote power player.

• Virgin kicks off IPO process, hires investor relations team.
• StrongRoom AI goes into administrationtwo weeks after $70 million valuation.
• A trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund could be Trump’s grandest plan.

The new deal, slated to be announced this week, would see UK’s Frasers Group leverage ASX-listed Accent Group’s distribution capability to expand its British fitness brand Sports Direct into Australia.

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