Good evening,

The vultures are circling APM Human Services International.

Street Talk understands investment banks are pitching APM hard to sponsors with the employment services company languishing below 80¢, just two years after its blockbuster float at $3.55 a pop.

APM boss Michael Anghie knows his way around a private equity buyout and won’t be lifting the business’ bonnet to just anyone who knocks on the door. And sponsors know the firm well, a mainstay of Quadrant Private Equity’s portfolio for several years.

APM’s two largest shareholders – US private equity firm Madison Dearborn Capital Partners and founder Megan Wynne – would also have something to say should the informal interest materialise into an approach. Between them, they control more than 60 per cent of the $670 million market cap company.

APM has had a torrid month. Its stock dived 40 per cent on a single day in January after releasing its first-half trading update. What stunned the market was its forecast first-half profit and earnings, which fell well below analysts’ expectations. APM’s problem is labour costs are through the roof, which is squeezing margins.

Sydney-based Quadrant launched the company onto the ASX in 2020 – back when IPO exits were a dime a dozen. The company was founded in Perth in 1994 and is a big player in the Australian jobs and disability services markets.

Goldman Sachs was the sole global co-ordinator on APM’s IPO supported by UBS, Bank of America and Credit Suisse. Gilbert + Tobin’s initials were on the legals.

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

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Myer handed down a trading update last week that surprised on the upside, forecasting interim sales down 3 per cent to $1.829 billion, or flat on a same-store basis. Shares are trading at 74¢, above where they were when outgoing CEO John King took over in 2018.

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