Good evening,

Street Talk has kicked off this month with a bang!

We revealed that TPG Telecom had been hunkered down in talks with Macquarie-backed rival Vocus for a multibillion-dollar sale and leaseback. This covers TPG’s non-mobile fibre assets and could help its balance sheet.

The talks, which were soon confirmed by TPG on the ASX, are an exciting development for its shareholders as well as telco bosses. They know the art of de-gearing telco balance sheets by spinning off towers. Now, TPG and Vocus are testing if the playbook works for fibre assets.

TPG boss Iñaki Berroeta has Bank of America working on a strategic review; Vocus is being advised by Macquarie Capital and UBS.

We also revealed that Nasdaq-listed SPAC Integral Acquisition Corporation 1 has been reaching out to Australian start-ups as its talks with Elenium die out, and the clock ticks on finding an acquisition target.

In listed markets, LIC-king Geoff Wilson topped up at VGI Partners Global Investments. With NY’s Saba Capital also on the register, and old-timer David Kingston perennially in the shadows, the LIC is set to be the next battleground in the sector.

Finally, ASX-bound Metals Acquisition Corp failed to rouse US investors with its bumper drilling results, and adviser platform Ensombl was working up a Series A round.

Happy reading,

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Street Talk Editors