FTI meets with Star lenders | Real Pet Food RFP out | Powerco ownership shake-up on the cards

Good evening,

Crack open a cold one – craft brewers White Bay and Hawkers have agreed to join forces and will soon pour beers under a new name.

The new group, Social Drinks, will hit the ground running on February 1 with an additional $1.5 million in the bank after ruling off a capital raising in December. It’s also brought in former Heineken Australia boss Judd Michael as its new chief executive offer.

Social Drinks Group has some heavyweight names behind it including Platinum fund manager Andrew Clifford, private equity bigwig Chris Hadley and Hawkers major shareholder Raed Abillama, an architect. Former PwC dealmaker Matthew Millar has also added his name to the investor list.

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

Australian Retirement Trust is in advanced discussions to sell down a minority stake in New Zealand power lines company Powerco, in a deal slated to shake up the $2 billion energy distributor’s shareholder register.

The sharemarket closed higher on Wednesday as a bumper day for technology stocks outweighed steep losses in Australian mining companies.

Click here for the latest equity market wrap.