Good evening,

It was more of the same in dealmaking today.

Pendal is flying in its CEO, Nick Good, from Massachusetts to Sydney’s Chifley Tower as the company weighs Perpetual’s bid.

But the arrival doesn’t mean things will necessarily move quicker all at once.

Pendal has its quarterly funds under management update next week, and Good and the board are likely to sit still until then. Meanwhile, their adviser, Macquarie Capital, is using the time to drum up a competing bid.

Over at Western Areas and IGO, the two parties are back at the negotiating table after a scathing KPMG verdict knocked back IGO’s bid based on the price.

KPMG’s valuation range is still a mystery, but that’s not stopping investors from wondering what lies ahead in the saga.

Elsewhere, New Zealand’s Vector is testing the appetite for its smart-metering arm; David Paradice has lost two portfolio managers; and trading in the ordinary shares of Dixon Advisory’s US Masters Residential Property Fund hint that investors are going to demand a better offer.

Happy reading,

Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood
Street Talk Editors