Daily Roundup

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Steadfast Group has provided an update on its proposed transaction, with investment heavyweight KKR now joining Amwins and Dragoneer as a co-lead investment partner in the company's retail brokerage business. The move, confirmed by the Steadfast Board on 8 July, doesn't change the transaction timeline, though it's worth noting that no binding agreement has been reached yet. There's still no certainty the proposal will actually result in a deal, so shareholders are being advised to sit tight for now.

The announcement came as trading in Steadfast's securities was temporarily paused pending further updates, adding to the intrigue around the potential transaction.

Over in the engineering space, GR Engineering Services has landed a substantial $229 million EPC contract for the Tower Hill Gold Project in Western Australia, awarded by Genesis Minerals. The company has already kicked off engineering works and begun procuring long lead items. What's particularly interesting here is the potential synergy from Genesis's proposed acquisition of Vault Minerals—the deal could allow ore to be processed through the King of the Hills process plant, eliminating the need for a separate Tower Hill facility. GR Engineering expects this contract to have no adverse impact on its FY2026 results, and the company's pipeline remains robust heading into FY2027.

On the technology front, Playside Studios is celebrating a major milestone with its detective game MOUSE: P.I. For Hire surpassing 1 million unit sales across all platforms. The game has generated estimated gross platform sales of US$28.7 million, translating to approximately US$17.6 million in net revenue for the studio. Players have been equally enthusiastic, awarding the game a "Very Positive" rating on Steam with a 94% review score. The company is now working on its first paid DLC and planning to capitalize on future sales events to maintain momentum.

Data centre infrastructure specialist SKS Technologies has secured $28 million for early works on MEL2, a hyperscale data centre facility in Melbourne's northwest. The project includes substation work, internal fit-out, and supply of high-voltage and communications infrastructure for what's expected to deliver over 354MW of capacity. This win is a significant milestone for the company, boosting its order book to $312 million for FY27—a remarkable sevenfold increase since June 2023. SKS is eyeing even bigger ambitions, anticipating it will more than double its capacity from 1.4GW in 2025 to 3.2GW by 2030.

Finally, Mcpherson's Ltd has released a trading update that signals headwinds ahead. The company expects FY26 revenue between $115.0 million and $120.0 million, down from $139.0 million the prior year, with underlying EBITDA estimated at just $4.0 million to $4.5 million compared to $7.3 million in FY25. The decline reflects transition challenges and market conditions, with the company also anticipating non-cash intangible asset impairments of $15.0 million to $20.0 million. Net cash is expected to fall to $4.5 million from $8.8 million. The company will release its full audited results on 27 August.