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That seed funding program is called Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR. IperionX has snagged a Phase III contract for “Low-Cost Domestic Titanium for Defence Applications.” Titanium is often used in aerospace applications (vehicles) as well as some weapons manufacturing.

In this instance, IperionX will first go ahead with manufacturing titanium fasteners – in other words, high-performance nuts and bolts. The name of the game? High strength, light weight.

While it’s not a US$99M contract in itself, the market didn’t care on Thursday.

The company can now request that much from the US DoD in moving forward with its research program under the Phase III deal. Whether it draws down the full US$99M remains to be seen – but in Australian dollars, that’s $152M.

(Investors will likely be keen to see what, if any, R&D tax rebates may apply.)

In the company’s own words: “The contract establishes a funding mechanism through which qualifying U.S. Government agencies can place project-specific task orders – collectively capped at US$99 million – for the supply of IperionX titanium components and parts.”

“[The contract] validates the performance of our technologies and underscores the Department of Defence’s commitment to reshore an all-American titanium supply chain,” IPX CEO Taso Arima said.

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Mr Arima added: “We look forward to delivering mission-critical components that are lighter, stronger and more cost-effective.”

Another day, another defence stock benefitting from the global remilitarisation thematic.

IPX last traded at $4.68/sh.

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Once short sellers moved in, however, the stock sharply sold off – this occurred rapidly after the stock hit $2.60 – pretty much exactly reflecting a $2B market cap. Perhaps short sellers hadn’t needed to make a move on the stock, seeing as this seemed a fairly obvious psychological level from which to sell the stock.

Its decline may also have been driven by broad investor fatigue towards the Russia-Ukraine war, which was the real catalyst that drove interest in Droneshield originally.

Not helping matters for the stock is that it trickled through a number of deals sub-US$10 million, and never declared another shipment of tech to Ukraine, the contract that put the stock on the map.

But that was then, and this is now.

In a world where the U.S. government has begun demanding Western allies boost defence spending; and in an Australia where we’ve done just that, Droneshield has been quietly climbing back to its former volatility over the last few months.

(It probably also helps that Ukraine’s latest surprise drone attacks on Russian airbases have led to some excitement around the C-UAS proposition.)

As of midday Wednesday, the stock notched $1.51/ea, bringing its market cap to $1.3 billion. That’s still well above where Droneshield’s fundamental revenues sit, but it appears that right now, the market doesn’t really care.

Liquidity is back for the counter-drone (“C-UAS”) technology provider, with 17M shares trading hands on Tuesday for $26.6M worth of trades, compared to a four-week average of 8.5M shares trading hands per day.

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The question now is how long the stock can last in this renewed thematic environment – again, Droneshield’s fundamentals haven’t drastically changed – but it’s been on a good run since shares first climbed back to $1.00/sh in mid-April.

Maybe the better question to ask is: what might the next sell level be for traders?

DRO last traded at $1.50/eah.

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The airline was originally on the ASX through to 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the flight company and forced it into administration.

Bain Capital saved Virgin at the time, bringing it out of administration. The plan since then has always been to bring it back into the trading fold eventually, with Bain even trying something similar to this IPO in 2023. (It was shelved.)

Now — Virgin will end its time in the cold on June 24, returning after five years.

HotCopper expects it will relist under its old ticker code, “VAH.”

The returning Australian company will land with a market capitalisation of $2.3 billion and an enterprise valuation of $3.6 billion, the Australian Financial Review reported.

Intriguing numbers have already been flying behind the scenes too, with fund managers told the airline should bank as much as $1 billion in underlying earnings for the year ending June 30 – a clear carrot for potential investors.

There won’t be long to think for anyone wanting to get in through raising; HotCopper understands bids are due in by as early as this Thursday, June 5.

Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Barrenjoey have already underwritten the IPO.

Retail investors will then get a bite at Virgin’s return on that aforementioned June 24 re-float date, though this HotCopper writer wonders how many will board.

Not that Virgin as a company isn’t an appealing offer — but instead, some may have been stung by the fact they were given the chance to buy into the company in 2019, only to watch it all come apart at the seams a year later.

We’re not expecting another pandemic, but cost of living isn’t getting any easier.

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Bain Capital seems to have somewhat acknowledged this with its return plan: Retail investors will get to buy into a slice expected to be around $700 million — à la Guzman Y Gomez (ASX:GYG) last year — while the rest of the IPO has already been “covered at launch” by brokers working behind the scenes.

Virgin’s selling pitch was also pointedly aimed at proving the airline has been deleveraged since its COVID-19 collapse. At very least, its profits have turned skyward again under the now-departed Jayne Hrdlicka, who left for Endeavour in April.

The IPO has yet to be added to the ASX’s quite sparse floats docket, at time of writing.

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The contract was signed through the companies’ joint venture subsidiary businesses – Underground Mining Services Burkina Faso SARL (Perenti) and SEMAFO BurkinaFaso S.A (Endeavour) – and builds on a relationship already established between this entity and Endeavour, which has involved the delivery of underground mining and support services at Mana since 2018.

This contract is set to last 60 months and will involve underground development and production, focusing on the complex’s 2 main areas, Siou and Wona.

Perenti managing director and CEO Mark Norwell said he was pleased to announce the expansion of the contract with Endeavour.

“This contract is consistent with our guidance for FY25 and will contribute strongly in FY26 and beyond,” he said.

“Our team continually delivers exceptional value for our clients, and this is clearly demonstrated by this long-term contract for expanded operations at the Mana complex.”

Perenti has been trading at $1.58.

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The shipment was arranged under the umbrella of BP8’s Sales Cooperation Agreement with PT. Kebula Raya Bestari, which will see the latter handle logistics and supply arrangements for the product.

MSC plans to use the product – to be delivered as 60 metric tonnes of Indonesian seaweed biomass – to make carrageenan, an additive used to thicken and stabilise food products.

BP8’s managing director, Matthew Leonard, said achieving the first shipment indicated the partnership with PT. Kebula Raya Bestari was on the right track.

“We are pleased to announce our first shipment under the Sales Cooperation Agreement with Kebula, which demonstrates the practical progress of our strategic partnership,” BP8’s boss explained in a market release today.

“Kebula’s role in managing logistics is enabling BP8 to efficiently connect Indonesian seaweed supply with international customers like MSC.”

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Mr Leonard added: “We look forward to building on this initial transaction as we continue to expand our supply network.”

BP8 rose 25% after the news and is now trading around 0.2cps.

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In short: The ACCC isn’t sure if the deal is kosher. It’s lobbed a Statement of Issues (SOI) letter at Elders, and SOI is basically a heads up to the company that the regulator may feel compelled to look into the deal.

“The SOI is not a final decision, and instead provides a preliminary view on potential competition issues that require further investigation by the ACCC,” Elders informed shareholders on Thursday.

If Elders shareholders were skittish around the news, it wasn’t evident in lunchtime trades. The stock was up +0.6% on $3.3M worth of trades, per Market Index data.

Shareholders are probably well aware one-year returns are down -23%. And while a big fat “no” from the ACCC on the Delta bid would be disappointing, it’s not like the company necessarily pivots on whether the deal goes through.

The regulator’s emerging concerns with the deal are fairly straightforward. Elders, which supplies agritech retail products across Australia, does what Delta does – sell fertilisers and the like.

Except the ACCC isn’t yet entirely sure how big the implications are.

“We are continuing to investigate how closely Elders and Delta retail stores compete with each other, and the extent to which larger retail chains and smaller retailers … are likely to compete with Elders if the proposed acquisition were to proceed,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

But it’s got a hunch of where to look for stress. The deal would probably hit Western Australian markets the hardest, with the wheatbelt the key area of focus.

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“The ACCC’s preliminary view is the proposed acquisition is likely to substantially lessen competition in the retail supply of rural merchandise in certain local markets in the North-West Victoria, Northern Wheatbelt (WA), Central Wheatbelt (WA), Great Southern (WA) and Murray-Mallee (SA) regions,” the ACCC wrote.

ELD last traded at $6.22/sh.

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One contract will see VEEM provide a 3D sand printing machine while the other will see it install a CNC (computer-guided) machining unit.

Sand printing is where a 3D printer uses sand to create a mould bound with glue that is then used to create a part not unlike traditional sand casting; the CNC machine should speak for itself.

While $2M isn’t necessarily the world’s largest amount of money these days, the market reaction was perhaps surprising.

Shares dipped -3.24% to 89.5cps – however, with only $4.3K in shares having traded hands by 11.30am AEST, it’s perhaps truer to say the market missed the news entirely.

“We are proud to be part of Australia’s defence industry and very appreciative of receiving the $2 million in grant funding which enables VEEM to increase its capacity and capability for manufacturing propellers and other critical components for Navy and the Nuclear-Powered Submarine program in particular,” VEEM MD Mark Miocevich said.

If a 3D printer making parts for the Australian defence force ecosystem broadly sounds familiar, that’s because it is.

AML3D is another company that does more or less the same thing; Aurora Labs also operate in the space.

In the background, defence forces around the world are looking to 3D printing as a way to reduce manufacturing costs (read: a human hand being involved in machining).

VEE last traded at 90cps.

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That full downgrade ultimately looks like around $2 to 3 million less in earnings before tax for the full year – with the EBITDA guidance now reflecting $50M to $53M.

Previously, it was $52M to $56M. So, a disappointing change to be sure – after all, fifty-six million nearly looks like $60M on paper – but it could be argued the sell-off on Friday is perhaps an overreaction.

Using the midpoint of both ranges, it is the difference of $2.5M.

The company was also keen to assuage fears heading into the start of a new financial year.

To that end, Duratec today wrote: “Importantly, following a slow start to the calendar year due to late unseasonal weather, May and June are showing strong performance and provide confidence into FY26.”

“Strong tender activity continues with tenders at an all-time high level of $1.7bn.”

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The Australian engineering and construction player still sees its 1Y gains up +33%, though, YTD performance is down -3%. At the same time, it’s effectively outperforming the ASX200 on a 1Y basis by 25%.

With the midpoint difference in guidance ranges pointing to a (ultimately still speculative) loss of $2.5M, that’s about how much in shares had sold off heading into lunchtime on Friday – and morning losses were already well pared at the time.

DUR last traded at $1.45cps.

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Businesses which formerly fell under the ‘Australia’ umbrella will now be integrated into 2 new trans-Tasman divisions: light building products – in which Oliveri Australia, Iplex Australia, Laminex Australia and Fletcher Insulation will join Fletcher Buildings New Zealand products business – and heavy building materials – which will bring together Fletcher’s concrete-related businesses with Australia’s Stramit and the New Zealand steel businesses.

Fletcher’s other 3 divisions – Distribution, Construction and Residential and Development – will remain unchanged.

Former Chief executive of the Concrete Division, Thornton Williams, will lead the Heavy Building Materials division, while former chief executive of New Zealand Building Products – Hamish McBeath – will head up the new Light Building Products division.

And the restructuring has resulted in another executive shift: with former chief executive of the Australia division, Gareth O’Reilly, set to leave Fletcher.

Alongside these changes, Fletcher is aiming to bank approximately $15 million worth of savings in the short term through a further review of the company’s corporate structure. This will add to the approximately $200M of cost out targeted for the 2025 fiscal year.

Managing director Andrew Reding said these changes would drive improvements and growth at the company.

“Fletcher Building is strategically positioned in the growing markets of Australia and New Zealand, where our businesses target leadership in segments with attractive long-term fundamentals,” he said.

“Our operating companies are deeply embedded in their local markets, giving them strong insight into customer needs, agility in decision-making, and the ability to respond quickly tochanging market dynamics.

“We want to leverage these strengths, evolving Fletcher Building into a more decentralised, high-performing portfolio company.”

Fletcher shares have been trading at $3.13.

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Raper has effectively accused Pact Group Holdings of offering to the market a false and misleading rationale for de-listing. He also wants majority shareholder Bennamon (88% stake) – owned by Pact founder Raphael Geminder – to be restricted from voting on that move at an upcoming EGM.

Mr. Geminder, a Melbourne-centric billionaire, is the founder of Pact Group. And what’s maybe more interesting, he’s also the brother-in-law of Anthony Pratt. But that’s neither here nor there.

While Takeovers Panel applications can sometimes be dry reading, Tuesday’s application from Raper was somewhat more straightforward. He additionally alleges “the Board is not acting in the best interests of shareholders in endorsing the Proposed Delisting.”

Quite a charge. In his ideal world, the Takeovers Panel will stay the EGM and disallow Bennamon from doing anything about it while it investigates his allegations that, in pub speak, there’s funny business afoot.

And this was clearly spelled out in a letter Jeremy wrote to the ASX itself on May 1 – which he also promoted on his Twitter/X account.

That letter outlines the nature of his grievance right off the bat – the man holds shares (currently just short of $600,000). But here’s the sensational bit:

“On an examination of the evidence, none of the purported benefits of a delisting … so claimed by the Board exist; and the only beneficiary of such an outcome would be one man,” Raper wrote in his May 1 letter.

Before we go on, there is perhaps a larger context to be acknowledged. For the purposes of visual aid, see a 5Y line chart of Pact’s share price performance.

“In reality, this ‘voluntary’ delisting represents just the final act in a long, lamentable catalogue of coercive behaviours orchestrated by Mr. Geminder that, if allowed to conclude, will irreparably harm minority shareholders,” Raper continued in his letter.

Those minority shareholders come up a lot in Raper’s letter to the ASX. But, typical for activist investors, it is with a comment on the securities exchange operator itself Raper concluded his May 1 letter:

“In the wake of the James Hardie farce, where many investors suggested that the ASX abrogated their responsibilities to protect investors, I believe it is imperative that the ASX discharges its duties in this case with renewed determination.”

Loud and clear.

PGH last traded at 89cps.

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Initial testing of the metal powders has already been conducted, and this contract brings MPW and Westinghouse into a more comprehensive stage of assessment, and underscores the growing importance of additive manufacturing in the global nuclear market.

This market has been evaluated at more than USD$36.72 billion in 2025, encouraged by the push for carbon-free energy and small modular reactor (SMR) deployments.

Within this, the CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of the additive manufacturing market in nuclear applications is expected to grow by more than 20% through 2030, providing MPW with positive expectations for its future.

This company has previously engaged with several major industrial and government partners, and continues to test its powders with prospective customers in aerospace, defence, and energy sectors, with efforts continuing to secure additional commercial contracts as part of its strategic rollout.

Co-founder and managing director John Barnes said the contract was an important milestone for MPW.

“The nuclear sector places some of the most stringent demands on material quality, and reflects the precision and reliability of our DirectPowder™ process,” he said.

“We believe additive manufacturing has a transformative role to play in next-generation nuclear technologies, and we are proud to be assessed by an industry leader to help deliver those solutions.”

MPW has been trading at 46 cents.

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(That’s “90% median methane elimination” to be more precise.)

While landfill methane emissions were simulated – meaning that the applicability of the study’s outcomes to the real world could easily be vastly impacted by the geospatial nature of landfill – the news is, to some extent, an ESG win for the company.

The company’s “strongest” biofilter was billed with the 90% reduction which outperformed another type of filter using only methanotroph inoculum, a type of bacteria, without zeolite being included.

For the uninitiated, methane – the key ingredient of natural gas – is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and is produced by landfill across the planet as part of decomposition.

The value prop here is that companies rushing to meet their internal net zero targets would be keeping a close eye on Zeotech where the latter may be able to assist in clocking key ESG targets.

“High oxidation rates, minimal maintenance, and robustness of the biofilters indicate that we have developed a promising, cost-effective solution to mitigate landfill methane emissions, a notoriously difficult greenhouse gas to eliminate,” Zeotech Head of Projects Dr. John Vogrin said.

Ultimately, three testing boxes around the scale of medium-sized backyard generators were filled with waste material by Cleanaway and then covered with the zeolite biofilter. Then, with the help of Griffith University, the methane emissions from those small-scale landfill simulations (or dioramas) were measured.

It doesn’t require a chemistry PhD to realise that the application of these findings to real world landfill piles – potentially thousands of times larger – would be a source of much complication, if not frustration for Zeotech.

But for now, and with methane emissions load remaining a pertinent issue (for those companies still enthusiastic for net zero targets,) the move is ultimately a step forward. At least for Zeotech.

ZEO last traded at 8.9cps.

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That’s the real admission made to the market; perhaps because it’s already confessions season, what could have been a negative response might get lost along other big news.

(To be fair, job cuts are usually a good thing for share prices, unless mass redundancies pop up out of nowhere in apparent contradiction of fundamentals.)

The news ultimately culminates a ‘workforce review’ kicked off back in 2024.

“Transurban aims to be a leader in helping people move more easily and safely around major cities,” TCL CEO Michelle Jablko.

“To do this, we must be a more agile and efficient organisation and re-allocate our capital and resources in ways that best serve our stakeholders.” The thoughts of commuters paying the tolls weren’t mentioned. (Nor employees getting the chop.)

All in all, the company anticipates having more than $50M in cash lying around after the job cuts, compared at least to what it imagines it otherwise would’ve paid in wages.

The news is unlikely to stir too many waters: FY25 guidance is unchanged.

TCL last traded at $14.31/sh.

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Based on demand from Velo3D over the next 5 years, Amaero anticipates on netting $35M in revenues from the sale of C103 niobium powder, and, titanium powders. That’s first and foremost.

Also included in the deal are molybdenum, tantalum, tungsten and zirconium alloys; all of which have defence properties. Which is to say these materials, particularly Amaero’s niobium C103 alloys, go into the production of missile components.

“Velo3D will exclusively use Amaero’s C103, refractory alloy powders for all parts production,” Amaero wrote on Tuesday, adding: “Velo3D will exclusively offer Amaero’s C103, refractory and titanium alloy powders for sale to its 3D printing machine customers.”

While Amaero specialises in producing the feedstock materials needed for weapons design (and other aerospace applications,) you can probably guess what Velo3D’s bread and butter is: 3D printing.

To date, the potential $35M that Amaero expects to make is unlikely on its own to see the stock become a profitable company. Worth considering is that the relatively junior high-tech materials company already has a $23M loan to draw down from the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

At the same time, as Amaero sees it, Velo3D has until November to qualify its niobium and titanium powder products. If no such qualification arrives by December 1, Amaero is inclined to take business elsewhere – though, this would suggest Velo3D doesn’t like the quality of material it receives.

As far as Amaero CEO Hank Holland sees it, however, the company’s tapping into an obvious good thing – that being the intersection of Trump’s enthusiasm for defence, and, domestic US manufacturing.

3DA last traded at 26.5cps.

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The deal with US decking company Azek, has seen a swift and heated backlash from major investors, including AustralianSuper and UniSuper, after James Hardie issued 35% more shares and raised the prospect of migrating its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange.

The crisis was exacerbated amid a weakened US housing market, elevating investor concerns about the timing and extraordinary price which was set at a 37% premium to Azek’s share price.

Analysts and fund managers lashed James Hardie for paying too much and ratcheting up its exposure to excessive financial risk amid a slowing US economy.

The ASX says its decision aligned wth established legal frameworks, aimed at reducing deal costs and execution risks.

But amid escalating pressure from investors like Aware Super, HESTA, and Fidelity Australia, ASX CEO Helen Lofthouse says the exchange would review the appropriateness of such waivers.

The review will update a 2017 analysis of shareholder approval thresholds for mergers and acquisitions, with further consultation planned.

Notwithstanding the review, James Hardie’s merger will close under existing waivers.

Investors reactions highlight their view that the acquisition unnecessarily exposes shareholders to significant cyclical risks, with US homebuilders reporting declining demand and rising construction costs.

Fund managers underscored James Hardie may be subject to additional earnings downgrades and potential capital raisings in the event the US housing market deteriorates.

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Those protests followed a familiar pattern in recent history: with heavy farm machinery in tow, tractors and the like took to major city centres in a show of force against the government.

In turn, roads were clogged and deliberately bottlenecked. Long story short, fewer people are using toll roads. Bad news for Atlas.

But with the French agriculturalists currently sated – probably not for long – Atlas is now looking at a healthier revenue number compared to Q1CY2024.

It doesn’t hurt, either, that the company raised toll prices at the same time. Still, toll revenue on the A79 in France jumped a whopping 15.7%.

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In terms of actual traffic flow, that increased by 11.7%, with light vehicles accounting for the lion’s share of flow through.

ALX last traded at $4.88 before the bell on Wednesday.

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The licence has effectively gone to an entity called Reclaim Waste with whom EGL co-operates a PFAS separation plant. That plant was in part the result of a “new technology” EGL brought to market last year.

‘Foam fractionation’ is the principle describer for the technology that allows EGL and Reclaim to separate PFAS from water, a tech co-developed alongside Victoria University.

EGL won a patent for its tech in November last year.

While the smallcap stock is on the more obscure end of the Industrials sector, it’s dealing with the kind of value proposition that could point towards further government contracts. The removal of PFAS (also called “forever chemicals”) from waterways is a Federal-level priority.

Environmental Group advertises the claim on its website it can remove 99% of PFAS from water and even soils. Reclaim Waste, for its part, is a leading private player in the Victorian liquid waste sector.

With Reclaim now holding an EPA licence to process PFAS, the jointly-managed Laverton facility now effectively holds a licence to operate.

“We are pleased that Reclaim Waste has received EPA approval and that our PFAS treatment plant will enable them to process and treat PFAS-contaminated waste streams.

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The company continued: “Further to the liquid waste treatment, we have also performed trials on soils and biosolids which have provided extremely promising results,” EGL CEO Jason Dixon said.

EGL last traded at 24cps.

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It’s the latest spike in volatility for Droneshield which has come back onto the radars of day traders in recent history – especially after shorts fell from record highs of over 10% of shares on issue back in February of this year.

(Worth noting is that as of April 7, shorts on the stock are climbing again. The week-behind data shows 5.8% of shares currently shorted.)

Shorts had originally piled on the stock in the second half of 2024 after the company hit a market cap of $2B and shares climbed over $2.50/sh – despite having almost no revenues.

An original shipment of counter-UAV tech to Ukraine originally kicked off interest in the company, but in the years following, it was small-value orders from other government defence entities and even airports that emerged as customers. Not the active warzone of Ukraine.

But today’s news has regenerated interest in the day trader – and HotCopper forum – favourite.

In short, DRO has inked 5 separate contracts “from an Asia Pacific military customer” with payments expected to go through in whole in Q3 of this year.

Notably, the buyer is a reseller: “a wholly-owned subsidiary of a multi-billion dollar, global, publicly listed customer that is contractually required to distribute the products to a major Asia Pacific military government department,” according to the company.

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The company also added: “DroneShield has previously received 7 standalone contracts from this reseller for this customer between May 2024 and January 2025 totalling approximately $12.3 million.”

DRO last traded at $1.00/sh.

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Generating $160M of revenue in FY24, the bulk of Kelsian’s divestment includes SeaLink ferries services in most Australian States and Territories.

Captain Cook Cruises in multiple states and the SeaLink service running atop Sydney Harbour are among those to be divested; notably, the company is set to retain its WA-based Transperth ferry services.

(That may or may not be because that State’s ferry system is to be expanded by the government.)

All in all, investors are clearly appreciative of the move.

That’s probably because Kelsian’s 1Y chart looks like a downward slope, with returns over that period down more than -50%.

But whether the stock does go ahead with its move to effectively sell SeaLink across Australia depends on what it can get for the trouble.

“Kelsian will only proceed with a potential transaction(s) for a sale of the Tourism Portfolio if value and terms are attractive and determined to be in the best interests of shareholders,” Kelsian wrote.

But commentary from chair Fiona Hele sounded more decisive in nature – especially given she pointed out the gov’t support many SeaLink services enjoy, allowing the company to take firmer financial projections to interested buyers.

“The divestment of the Tourism Portfolio will see Kelsian emerge as a more infrastructure like, commuter and contracted business, allowing us to focus on delivering essential journeys through marine, bus and motorcoach transport,” Hele wrote.

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“Many of the continuing businesses are underpinned by defensive long-term government-backed service contracts with cost base protection.”

KLS last traded at $2.68/sh.

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Right before the weekend, French competition regulators arrived unannounced at the Orora-owned Saverglass plant, a brand the former acquired during COVID-19.

Beverage makers have filed a complaint with French regulators over high prices in the early-mid 2020s, to which Orora had two main replies on Monday.

Firstly: Orora only acquired Saverglass in 2022. In its view, most of the cost increases forming part of the industry complaint occurred before its ownership of the brand and so the company has minimal liability exposure.

Secondly: COVID-borne shipping constraints, which kicked off the global inflation crisis – as well as higher energy prices, especially in Europe, worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – were principally behind the cost increases for beverage makers and not corporate malfeasance.

“It is understood that investigations of this nature typically require years to progress. Customary contractual terms were agreed at the time of Orora’s acquisition of Saverglass in 2023, including Warranty and Indemnity insurance. As it is very early in the process, it is not appropriate to comment further at this time,” Orora wrote.

Still, it’s not entirely in the clear. Some business customers part of the complaint to French regulators were, indeed, customers of Saverglass at the time.

That said, Orora has downplayed this on Monday.

“The complaint originated from participants in the beverage industry in France regarding price increases, and at this stage, it appears that only a small number of those are customers of Saverglass, representing minor trading relationships,” the company said. No quantification of ‘minor’ was offered.

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“The Saverglass leadership team is confident appropriate business practices have been followed, operating independently from other glass packaging manufacturers. Orora, and Saverglass, uphold strong standards of integrity at all times, with integrity being one of the company’s core values as well as having a strong commitment to competition law compliance.”

ORA last traded at $1.86.

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