Good evening,

Somehow, it’s raining deals on the ASX right now.

The latest is David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital, which has hammered out a $1.2 billion deal to buy hospital properties. The seller is the US’s Medical Properties Trust, to whom Australia’s second-largest private hospitals group Healthscope did a sale and leaseback four years ago.

HMC would be the asset manager of these hospitals, while its HealthCo REIT and an unlisted fund would be the owner. It’s the kind of real assets break-up play Di Pilla is known for, and came while everyone had their head turned to Sigma Healthcare for the signature move to surface.

Elsewhere, bankers and investors still couldn’t get enough of Liontown Resources’ shock rejection of a $2.50 bid (or 63 per cent premium) from lithium royalty Albemarle.

Street Talk passed the mic around to find potential rival bidders and heard everything from (most likely) Wesfarmers and Rio Tinto to (least likely) Pilbara Minerals and IGO.

Albemarle’s next move is up in the air. It could return with a higher bid, do nothing and keep the stake, or beat a retreat.

For now, it was understood to be scrambling to buy more shares even if it is under the substantial mark, signalling its camp is still hopeful of a way forward.

Lastly, Light & Wonder was running investor meetings for its mooted dual listing, Australian Clinical Labs had found support on its Healius tilt from its third-largest shareholder, and start-up Marketplacer was making a final push to seal a raising.

Happy reading,
Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood
Street Talk editors