Good evening,

Here’s a private equity exit that falls neatly into Australia’s energy transformation.

Street Talk understands that MA Moelis Australia has been mandated to review options at Contract Resources,which is slated to fetch a price of as much as $500 million.

It’s expected to be marketed to offshore global specialist energy services contractors where listed competitors are trading at higher multiples than their local peers, sources say.

The high-margin Australian energy and gas services business is controlled by Perth-based Viburnum Funds and global private equity firm SCF Partners, which bought the asset from Anchorage Capital in 2019.

It’s still early days, but sources said Contract Resources was making about $300 million at the revenue line. Revenue has risen at a 20 per cent compound annual growth rate since Viburnum and SCF bought it, it is expected to sell for a high single-digit multiple to an owner keen to help the business make the transition to more sustainable forms of energy.

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

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Guzman y Gomez has pulled back 14 per cent since its strong debut but is still trading above the $22 listing price.

Mining stocks helped push the Australian sharemarket higher on Wednesday after investors shrugged off the stronger-than-expected retail sales data.

Click here for the latest equity market wrap.