What the Flux

Aussie biotech giant CSL has bought Switzerland’s Vifor Pharma for $16.4b - giving CSL exposure to the fast growing market for kidney disease and iron deficiency treatments.   Harley Davidson is planning to take its electric motorbike business public in order to attract millennials and Gen Z.   Rotten Tomatoes is partnering with TikTok to allow users to link to movies and TV traile...

Woolies has encouraged shoppers to hit the shops early this xmas, as COVID-related supply chain issues could mean some products might be in short supply.   In a first for Australia, investment firm IFM is sinking $200m into CBA through a term deposit that will only be used to fund sustainability-linked loans.   Nike bought virtual sneaker company RTFKT, as Nike aims to expand its footpri...

Booktopia is being taken to court after an ACCC investigation found it had misled consumers about their rights re  faulty or damaged goods.   A plot line from the Sex and the City reboot has sent shares in exercise company Peloton tumbling.   Reddit has followed in Spotify’s footsteps by rolling out its own version of Spotify Wrapped - a personalised end-of-year recap of your...

Two of Australia’s largest breweries have warned that we could be facing a beer crunch due to the supply chain crisis.   Coles wants its smaller Coles Local stores to make up around 10% of its total supermarket stores across the nation.   Apple signed a gigantic US$275 billion deal with China back in 2016, and it could be why Apple has managed to remain so successful in China. &nbs...

Twitter is testing a feature that turns its explore page into a TikTok-style video feed (and it’s even got a ‘For You’ tab like TikTok).   Payments company Visa is launching a new consulting service to help clients understand the wacky world of crypto.   'AdBlue', a crucial diesel fluid, could run out by around February - which would hurt Australia’s trucking indu...

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will legislate a new power that could force Apple to join the banks in investing in Australia’s $650 billion-a-day payments system.   Delivering purchases within 10-15 minutes is the latest trend in grocery delivery, and as a result, DoorDash has debuted its own ultra-fast delivery service.   NFT platform OpenSea is growing so strongly that it has started...

Pet Circle, the Aussie online pet supplies and services marketplace, has just become Australia’s latest unicorn after a juicy $125m capital raise.   BuzzFeed shares plunged 17% at their public debut - and it wasn’t an IPO that did the damage... but a ‘SPAC’.   Aussie online marketplace developer Marketplacer has just banked $38m in investment, as retailers continu...

Metcash, the owner of IGA supermarkets, Mitre 10 and Foodland, saw sales and profits grow big time this year, thanks to a shift towards local neighbourhood shopping.   BHP has hinted that it might be open to boosting its dividend payout next year after selling off key petrol and coal assets.   Didi, a Chinese version of Uber, is going to de-list from the New York Stock Exchange despite o...

Commbank’s New York-based crypto exchange partner, Gemini, is planning to launch an ‘income product’ for everyday Aussie investors.   Westpac is slashing jobs in its $45b superannuation arm BT, as it prepares to sell the business over the coming months.   Luxury goods maker Hermés will list be added to the Euro Stoxx 50, where Europe’s top stocks are listed...

Woolies has thrown a last-minute bid to acquire the owner of pharmacy chain Priceline - an offer that tops Wesfarmers’ offer from a month ago.   Payments platform Square is changing its name to Block from December 10 - possibly after getting FOMO from Meta.   Medical tech startup Harrison.ai has raised $129 million in one of the largest funding rounds ever for an Aussie startup. &n...

Netflix will finally start paying tax on its $1 billion-plus Australian subscriber revenue, as it converts to a local entity structure.   Aussie media giant Seven West Media has invested around $10 million into micro-investing platform Raiz.   The UK’s antitrust watchdog has ordered Facebook (aka Meta) to sell Giphy.   ---   Sign up to the Flux app to be in the $1,000 Giv...

The corporate regulator has launched 6 lawsuits against Westpac for allegedly charging dead customers financial advice fees.   Mr Yum, the Aussie mobile ordering platform, has raised a whopping US$65 million - after the pandemic and social distancing increased its adoption.   Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has stepped down from his role as CE .and is passing the reins to the company&rsqu...

Channel 7 and Channel 9 have both claimed victory in the 2021 TV ratings battle... and they’re both right depending on which way you look at it.   The new covid variant, Omicron, has caused major sell-offs in share markets - in Australia and around the world - as investors panic.   The augmented reality platform that developed Pokemon Go, Niantic, is now valued at US$9 billion (and...

QSuper has been sued by its members in a class action because members believe they were overcharged for life insurance fees.   Nike has created its own virtual world named Nikeland inside the online video game platform Roblox.   Zoom’s share price tanked 15% last week - even though the company reported better-than-expected earnings.   ---   November = Flux Savings Month:...

Homewares retailer Adairs has acquired Focus on Furniture for $80 million in a play to expand into the furniture and bedding industry.   Rest Super has become the first super fund to announce it will invest a portion of its funds in crypto assets.   Tinder’s owner, Match Group, will expand beyond the digital dating world into the physical world by introducing human matchmakers to i...

Vodafone is trying to compete head on with NBN by cutting prices on its 4G and 5G internet plans.   Life360, a family tracking app has acquired key and wallet finder app Tile for nearly $300m.   Spotify is partnering with Netflix to create a ‘Netflix Hub’ to help listeners browse soundtracks from Netflix shows. --- November = Flux Savings Month: https://bit.ly/flux-savings-mo...

Aussie telcos, including Telstra, Optus and TPG are in the firing line after streaming giants and film studios are suing them over piracy concerns.   Twitter is getting into the e-commerce game by launching a livestream shopping event, with a US department store.   The former CEO of market-darling Theranos has hit the courts, in the highest-profile fraud case to come out of Silicon Valle...

Several industry superfunds could become insolvent from January, thanks to a new law that stops them from using members’ cash to pay fines.   Crown Resorts could open its books to private equity behemoth Blackstone, in the hope it will convince Blackstone to up its latest $8.46 billion bid for the company.   Graphics company Nvidia has announced another quarter of record sales ($9....

Optus has won the rights to be the exclusive broadcaster of English Premier League football for the next six seasons, winning a ‘blind auction’.   Apple is ramping up its electric car plans and is refocusing the project around full self-driving capabilities - aiming to become the no.1 player in the industry.   Staples Centre, the Iconic Los Angeles sports arena, will rebrand...

CommBank shares had their biggest single-day drop since March 2020 earlier this week, as investors worry about competition in the mortgage space and the record low cash rate.   Nestle expects to almost double e-commerce sales to 25% of total company sales by 2025 - by pushing sales to consumers directly via its own online channel.   Crypto fans are uniting to spend millions of dollars wo...

Aussie bank Macquarie wants to shake up Australia’s property market by spending $500m on new ‘build-to-rent’ complexes around Australia.   Revenue at Warner Music, the record label of Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran, has increased by 22% thanks to TikTok and fitness platform Peloton.   Casper, the OG ‘mattress in a box’ retailer, is going private again - less than 2...

Telstra is fighting back against energy retailers that sell internet and telco services, stating it will begin selling energy and gas to Aussies by June 2022.   Zoomo, the Aussie startup that builds e-bikes and offers subscriptions to gig workers and couriers, wants to be the next big electric vehicle company after raising US$60 million.   Disney, which owns sports network ESPN, is consi...

The High Court of Australia has refused to hear Volkswagen’s appeal against the record A$125 million fine imposed on it after deceiving customers about the environmental performance of its cars.   Taylor Swift has re-released her 2012 album Red, and as a result the balance of power between record labels and musicians could be starting to shift.   Beyond Meat has admitted that deman...

Victoria’s Secret has been sued by the company that owns Kayla Itsines’ Sweat, for allegedly copying its trademark.   Coffee brand De’longhi Australia has gone direct-to-consumer with its first ever luxury coffee lounge.   Amazon has opened a 35,000 square foot supermarket with no cash registers - suggesting the company is serious about dominating the grocery market. &n...

Just 7% of Aussies who found out they were in a dud superannuation fund actually did something about it, according to a new report from APRA.   Aussie logistics company GetSwift has been found to have made misleading statements on their sharemarket updates.   Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive has had the world’s biggest IPO for 2021.   ---   November = Flux Savings...