Episode 138: Atlassian Buys Again, EA Games Breaks LBO Record, SCA Seven Governance Mess, Australia's Most Famous Family, Cameo and Catapult Hits the Big Time
Atlassian does another acquisition, EA Sports goes private, SCA buys Seven, who is Australia's most famous business family, the economics of Cameo and Adir's Catapult in the ASX200.
The Contrarians catchup
Adir joined this episode from Tel Aviv, which is not the capital city of Israel like most people think (it’s Jerusalem).
Adam went to Australia Zoo, home of what he claims is Australia’s most famous family on the world stage - “shout out to a great Australian family and what a great business story that is.”
Adam bought a new car with a Queensland registration, which he was informed of by VicRoads, but when he tried to change the registration to a Victorian one, he had to first provide proof that it had a Queensland registration, even though they VicRoads were the ones who raised it and they didn’t accept their original letter as proof (exhausting sentence to write but proof this isn’t AI).
Adir’s latest book recommendation: ‘Raid on the Sun: Inside Israel’s Secret Campaign That Denied Saddam the Bomb.’
Listen in to hear who is most passionate about the very important topic of tightly tucked sheets on hotel beds.
Adir’s five Bs for his kids: brush your teeth, make your bed, get dressed (body), breakfast, and open the blinds.
The latest Adam quiz: America’s wealth divide split. Listen in why “this is the first generation that the kids are poorer than the parents.”
Catapult, where Adir is famously Executive Chairman, joined the prestigious ASX200.
The app that pays you to record phone calls
Neon, the number-two social app on Apple’s App Store, pays users up to $30 a day to record phone calls and sell the audio to AI firms. Despite privacy concerns, its broad data-use terms allow widespread exploitation. Experts warn recordings could fuel impersonation fraud and undermine consent laws.
Adir: “I wouldn’t use this app, but it’s $30 more than AI generally is going to pay you for taking your content and using it to train its models. So, what are the options? Have your stuff sucked up for nothing and have your IP infringed or hand it over for $30 a day?”
EA Games Breaks LBO Record
Electronic Arts will be taken private in a record $US55B sale to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. The $US210-per-share deal, backed by $US20B in debt, marks the largest leveraged buyout ever and underscores surging Middle Eastern influence in global M&A.
Adir: “It was so obvious to me that this was gonna become a big area because watching passive entertainment, I find so hopeless compared to actually being part of the action. This was always going to be a growing area and any time anyone talks about video games, anyone involved in business should be interested because this is by far the biggest entertainment medium on earth.”
Adam: “This is a heritage brand. They’re terrible at mobile. This is not a business I’d be paying 50 times earnings for. This is a business that feels like it should be like 10 to 15. And it’s a business that they’ve been trying to sell this business for decades.”
SCA Seven governance mess
Southern Cross Austereo and Seven West Media plan to merge, uniting major TV, radio, digital, and publishing assets under one company. Seven CEO Jeff Howard will lead the group, with SCA CEO John Kelly heading audio. The merger promises $25–30M annual cost savings, near-even ownership, and stronger national advertising reach.
Adir: “Mike, didn’t you work at Southern Cross Austereo?”
Mike: “Yeah, I worked there for about eight years.”
Adam: “I thought you were like 25.”
Atlassian buys again
Atlassian acquired The Browser Company, maker of Arc and Dia, for $US610M ($936M) to create an AI-powered workplace browser connecting its tools like Jira and Trello. The deal pits Atlassian against Google and Microsoft, aiming to boost security, lock in users, and strengthen its AI strategy.
Atlassian also acquired US software firm DX for $US1B ($1.5B), its largest deal yet, to boost its AI capabilities. DX’s developer intelligence platform helps measure engineering productivity and AI ROI, complementing Jira and Confluence.
Adir: “We talk a lot about Atlassian. It’s a business that to me it’s very obvious what they have to do, which is cut costs, make profit, grow the core business. I feel like we’ve said this for a year and a half but they’re reticent to do it because it risks a sudden drop in the share price because the narrative changes.”
Five other stories worth following:
Taylor Swift’s limited theatrical event The Life of a Showgirl earned $33M across 3,700 cinemas in the US and Canada. Despite minimal promotion and a three-day run, it topped the box office and delighted struggling theatres. (And ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ is a confirmed bop).
The US government shutdown drags into another week as both parties remain entrenched. The Senate will vote on competing resolutions this afternoon, while the House is adjourned. Economic impacts loom if talks continue stalling.
Hasbro turns 100 amid a strategic shift from toys to gaming. Traditional toy revenue fell 16%, but gaming rose 28%, led by Magic: The Gathering. With a billion-dollar investment in digital studios, “Exodus” could redefine its future.
Midi Health, a menopause care startup, raised $50M, totalling $150M in funding. Serving 20,000 women weekly, it provides medication, testing, and coaching, plus an AI search tool. Women’s health funding hit $2.6B last year, up 55%.
Lore, a new “lurker-first” fandom search platform, raised $1.1M. It curates links, fan theories, and easter eggs, generating monthly obsession reports. Founder Zehra Naqvi calls it a modern “Library of Alexandria” for internet rabbit holes.