WiseTech's woes grow; Domino's takeover talk; Bill Gates' backflip
Published: October 28, 2025
WiseTech's woes grow; Domino's takeover talk; Bill Gates' backflip
News in brief
Domino’s Pizza’s share price surged 17 per cent yesterday after a report in the Australian Financial Review suggested PE group Bain was interested in buying the struggling fast-food outlet. Later in the day, Domino’s said it has not received any offer or held talks with Bain and its share price fell back.
The $4.2 billion, listed insurance broking firm AUB has received a takeover bid from private-equity firm EQT. AUB includes retail and wholesale insurance brokers and underwriting agencies and has 6,000 staff. It is a big name in the insurance world. This latest bid was received more than four weeks ago, though yesterday is the first time the market heard about it.
It is CPI Day in Australia. The ABS will release inflation figures for the September quarter this morning. A higher than expected figure means a rate cut on Melbourne Cup Day is off the agenda. A benign number means it is definitely back on.
Australia’s biggest aluminium smelter, Tomago Aluminium in NSW, has been consulting with employees on the potential closure of the plant, which employs about 1000 people.
Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder who has spent billions of dollars of his own money to raise the alarm about the dangers of climate change, is now pushing back against what he calls a “doomsday outlook” and appears to have shifted his stance on the risks posed by a warming planet, according to the NYT.
Fear-o-meter
WiseTech executive chairman Richard White’s previous defence about selling stocks late last year and early this year, in a blackout period, was that he wasn’t an executive of the software group at the time.
Almost all companies have blackout periods, where key personnel are prohibited from buying or selling company shares before earnings releases.
White sold about 1.87 million shares between December 24 and February 19. The average price over that period was $122, so White probably sold about $230 million worth of shares.
White had left the CEO role and the board in October last year, after a Nine Media investigation revealed a $2m settlement with a former lover, and allegations of bullying and intimidation against him.
However, he was acting in a consultant role to the company when he sold the shares. He returned as executive chair on 26 February.
It is a bit rich – pardon the pun - to suggest he didn’t know exactly what was going on inside WiseTech over the holiday period. Maybe he can argue, legally, that he could sell stock. But it probably wouldn't pass the pub test.
Fear & Greed Q+A today
On the battle between Coles, Woolies, Aldi and Costco, and the past growth and future challenges for Dan Murphy's:
"Dan Murphy's... if you go back to when they expanded nationally, they had a very strong proposition in Victoria. But then the expansion was largely through acquisition of great bottle shops. So they would buy really good retailers in each of the areas they went into and make them better. So the Dan Murphy's brand was strong, but it was also had had very good sites.
And First Choice by comparison, tried to roll out the network afterwards and did it predominantly through greenfield sites. But when you open up a greenfield site in established suburb, you have to start your market share from zero. Now, as Dan Murphy's was buying fairly well-run bottle shops with high market share and sort of cemented those positions.
But Dan Murphy's has also come off in terms of consumer perception a little bit over the last couple of years. And it's got to do with choice... I do think consumers have caught on to the fact that a lot of a lot more of it is now private label or owned and exclusive, particularly commercial wines under $10, under $20. So I think that's that's become a bit more obvious to consumers. They've also lost their way a little bit."
The Australian Federal Police and ASIC raided WiseTech offices in Sydney yesterday, seeking documents related to alleged trading by billionaire founder, Richard White, and three other employees. The company said as far as it was aware, no charges have been laid. It adds to the challenging times for the tracking software group. Its share price tumbled almost 16 per cent yesterday, and is down 40 per cent since July.
Greed-o-meter
| Rank | Restaurant chain |
|---|---|
| 1 | Guzman y Gomez |
| 2 | Subway |
| 3 | Grill’d |
| 4 | Red Rooster |
| 5 | Hungry Jacks |
| 6 | KFC |
| 7 | Zambrero |
| 8 | Pizza Hut |
| 9 | Sushi Sushi |
| 10 | Domino’s |
| 11 | McDonald's |
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As part of the research quoted in the interview above, OC&C also asked Australians for their favourite quick service restaurants, based on factors including price, range and service. The results are quite interesting, considering who came in at the top, and who was last.
Listen to today's episode 🎧
Source: OC&C Retail Proposition Index 2025
Business By Numbers
The top 3 numbers to know for the week, brought to you by Xero
$10 billion: the value of founder Richard White's stock in WiseTech Global.
89pc: the value lost in Domino's since its peak a few years back.
$US4,000 an ounce: the price of gold has slipped below this milestone. It's down 9pc in the past 10 days.