It’s Wednesday the 23^rd of July 2025. Twenty-four hours after Insignia Financial told shareholders there was no guarantee that CC Capital’s $3.3 billion bid for the company would go ahead, it went ahead. Yesterday Insignia said it had entered into a deal under which CC would acquire the group, sending its share price up 12 per cent. It is the biggest deal so far this year, apart from the $36.4 billion bid for oil and gas giant Santos.

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News in brief

The big banks were dumped yesterday with Commonwealth Bank dropping three per cent, which given its size, took 30 points off the S&P/ASX200 index. The other banks were also lower, while the big miners and healthcare stocks did well.

The Reserve Bank opted to keep interest rates on hold two weeks ago because of signs of inflation in monthly data, a resilient jobs market and a slight pick-up in spending, according to the minutes of the RBA board meeting.

Federal parliament kicked off yesterday, starting with a church service attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. There was a welcome to country, then lower house MPs were sworn in by High Court Justice Michelle Gordon, and the 48^th parliament was declared open.

Chinese car brands are set to comprise almost half of new vehicles sold in Australia within a decade, which would be the biggest shake-up in the sector since Japanese manufacturers overtook Holden as the country’s most popular cars.

Donald Trump’s Presidency is six months old, and voters’ opinion of him is sliding, with an average of polls tracked by the New York Times showing his approval rating has gone from 52 per cent at the time of his inauguration in January, to 44 per cent today.

Fear-o-meter

Shareholders who sold out of Insignia Financial on Monday, after a company announcement, have every right to be very upset with the financial services group.

The statement on Monday morning said the Insignia board was working with CC Capital in regards to its potential acquisition but “there is no certainty that the ongoing discussions will result in any transaction…”

Insignia’s share price fell 6 per cent, the worst of the ASX200.

Twenty-four hours later, the deal was done, and the group’s share price jumped 11 per cent.

There have been rumours swirling around the deal being completed or otherwise, and no doubt Insignia argues that the wording of the Monday statement was necessary because no deal was signed off.

If that’s the case, why put out a statement? If it was that close to a deal, say nothing. There’s a bunch of shareholders that have been done out of money on Insignia’s poor communications strategy.

Business By Numbers

The top 3 numbers to know for the week, brought to you by Xero

16 per cent: the rise in the value of BHP's share price over the past month. That's worth about $30 billion.

$3.3 billion: the bid for Insignia Financial, one of the country's biggest financial advisory groups. 

43 per cent: the estimated proportion of the car sales market Chinese manufacturers will own in Australia by 2025.

Who's talking today?

From building multi-million-dollar brands, to owning basketball teams - this is an insight into an entrepreneur's journey:

 

"I was a hairdresser by by trade and started from nothing and then started DKM Blue in my parents garage and took a leap forward and sort of built it from nothing. I went to China at a very young age and found the niche in importing directly, which a lot of companies weren't doing in our industry at the time, and fortunately enough, all the decisions that I made at a young age sort of paid off. 

I am getting older, so I do want to work smarter, not harder. And that's my goal right now. I very rarely watch TV. I've always got music in the background. I've got a yacht as well, which I've turned into a charter business as well. So that's a hobby that I've converted into a charter business. So for me, it's all about if you're going to have hobbies, how can you get them to generate you revenue?"

Greed-o-meter

Yesterday's radio ratings saw a major shift in our two largest cities, with audiences opting for music over talk. In Sydney, easy listening station Smooth FM beat talkback station 2GB, while in Melbourne's Gold 104.3 knocked off 3AW for the first time in decades.

Source: GfK

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