Street Talk

Could Wesfarmers be set to wish upon a Modern Star?

Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd

Dec 15, 2019 – 9.05pm

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All the spruiking around up-for-sale educational resources company Modern Star has been about Chinese private equity firms and offshore trade buyers.

But as the hammer is set to fall on Modern Star’s $750 million-odd auction, sources are pointing to one well known left-field contender whose name is only just starting to be mentioned.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

Anthony Macdonald is a Chanticleer columnist. He is a former Street Talk co-editor and has 10 years' experience as a business journalist and worked at PwC, auditing and advising financial services companies.

Tim Boyd is a journalist, based in Sydney, who writes for the Street Talk column.