David Chau Takes ABC 7pm Finance as Private Equity Raids the ASX

A new face for the nightly numbers

On Monday the ABC named business reporter David Chau as the new finance presenter for its 7pm news bulletins. He replaces Alan Kohler, who is retiring.1 Kohler announced last month that he would leave after 31 years at the public broadcaster. He will present his last finance segment on Wednesday, 14 October.3 He moved his exit forward from a planned 16 December sign-off so he could join his son Chris on a new podcast.5 The ABC also hired economics journalist Jessica Irvine for a new Money Correspondent role. She is due to start next month and will report on how the economy, business and household finances affect one another.3

The markets carried on regardless. The ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 8,741 points at the open, extending modest gains from the previous week after a positive lead from overseas.1

On the surface this is a story about the media business. But the stories Chau will be explaining from Thursday are not routine. Australian markets are in the middle of a rush of private equity takeovers and a growing loss of confidence in the private credit funds that lend to property developers. Kohler spent more than two decades explaining interest rates, commodity prices and the daily moves of the index. His successor starts at a time when the most important money stories often happen away from the stock exchange, in private markets.

Who Chau is, and why the choice matters

The coverage agrees on the basics. Chau worked as a litigation lawyer for five years before switching to journalism. He joined the ABC as a digital producer in 2017 and began presenting finance reports on the News Channel in 2019.38 Kohler arrived in 1995 as business and economics correspondent for the 7.30 Report and has been lead finance presenter on the 7pm bulletin since 2002. Before that he edited the Australian Financial Review and The Age, and he later founded Eureka Report and Business Spectator.5 Kohler became known for his sign-off, "And that's finance."2

Chau talked about his background when the appointment was announced. He said that as the son of a Vietnam War refugee he grew up without much money, that he taught himself about finance, and that watching Kohler's reports helped him learn. He said he wants to make the segment relatable and even fun.3 ABC News director Simon Robinson called him a clear and reliable explainer of markets and corporate news.2 Reader responses on the ABC's markets blog were mostly positive, though some viewers said they would miss Kohler's charts and personality. Dan Ziffer stays on as the regular stand-in.1

The ABC has not said exactly when Chau's first bulletin will be.6

The Irvine hire may be the more telling move. A role built around cost of living and household finances suggests the broadcaster wants to connect market news to viewers' own budgets. Robinson linked her appointment directly to Australians' worries about the economy and the cost of living.2 That framing fits private credit especially well, because the sector's risks now reach ordinary savers through their super funds.

The private equity raid on the ASX

The deal figures differ depending on who is counting, but they all point the same way. LSEG data put the value of mergers and acquisitions involving ASX targets at about US$133 billion in the first nine months of 2026. That is more than double the same period last year, even though there were fewer deals. Inbound deals rose more than 200% to around US$84 billion.21 Dealogic figures cited by the Australian Financial Review put announced deals for Australian targets at almost US$94 billion as of mid-September, up from US$59.1 billion a year earlier.26 The gap probably comes down to differences in timing and method. Both show a sharp increase.

The list of targets is long. A KKR-backed consortium won approval for a A$7.7 billion takeover of Steadfast in late August. EQT Infrastructure made a A$9.4 billion offer for Cleanaway and was given exclusive due diligence. EQT also had its sweetened A$2.55 billion approach for Perpetual rejected, although it was given limited access to the books.28 Brookfield signed a scheme implementation deed to buy Reliance Worldwide for US$3.38 a share in cash. Morningstar's analyst described that price as opportunistic and estimated it undervalues the plumbing group by 17% against its stand-alone value.23 The size of the Reliance deal is also reported differently: Reuters described it as roughly $2.9 billion, while the AFR put it at $4.1 billion. The difference looks like a currency conversion, not a dispute about the facts.2829

The longest-running contest is Warburg Pincus's pursuit of Ingenia Communities. Ingenia rejected a A$1.94 billion offer in early September as too low.28 Its shares then jumped after a third proposal arrived.30 The land-lease operator has now given the US firm non-exclusive due diligence access, without endorsing the bid. The offer only proceeds if Ingenia drops its agreed acquisition of Peet.25

The explanation in the coverage is fairly consistent. Global funds have large amounts of capital to put to work. A weaker US dollar makes Australian assets cheaper. Buyers see a gap between what Australian companies are valued at and what similar businesses fetch overseas. Private equity firms are also more willing to approach boards without warning, even though high interest rates make leveraged deals harder to finance.21

The exit problem nobody has solved

This is where the private equity story runs into a structural problem. Buyout firms profit when they sell. In Australia, the usual way out, a stock market listing, is narrowing. The AFR reports that completed IPOs total only about US$2.5 billion in local dollars so far this year, while take-privates keep removing companies from the exchange.26 A Jardine executive put it bluntly: investors worry about how to get their capital back out of a market that lacks depth.26

Some help is coming. Glencore's secondary listing is scheduled for 14 October, the same night as Kohler's farewell.26 Firmus has also been preparing a large IPO bookbuild.30 Big private-to-private sales are also in play, including a possible sale of Colonial First State, owned by KKR and the Commonwealth Bank, for $5 billion or more.26 My reading is that the ASX's shrinking list of companies is no longer just a statistic. It is now a real limit on how much more private equity money comes into Australia.

Private credit's first real test

The second big story is the one most likely to reach viewers' retirement savings. Private credit means lending outside the banks. Australia's market has grown from about A$35 billion a decade ago to more than A$224 billion, and residential construction made up more than 40% of lending in 2025.14 Property developer Bathla Group collapsed in late August with liabilities above A$3.5 billion, and roughly 40 funds were exposed to it.1412

ASIC's tone has changed sharply. Commissioner Simone Constant said the regulator is "beyond warnings" and that the sector should prepare for enforcement action. She called carrying distressed loans at full face value to protect management fees "unacceptable."15 ASIC's review of 28 funds found that only four disclosed the interest rates they charge borrowers, and only two wholesale funds stress-tested their liquidity.11 The regulator has since put interim stop orders on three funds run by Australian Secure Capital Fund, which held A$251.8 million, citing disclosure concerns.12 Separately, Metrics Credit Partners suspended three ASX-listed funds after a delayed KPMG audit cut more than $160 million from their reported asset values. Metrics has said it had no exposure to Bathla.20

Accounts differ on how serious the systemic risk is. The ABC reported Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock as saying any weakening of lending standards mainly hurts the investors in those funds and does not point to a systemic problem.11 Other coverage quotes her warning that a large implosion would "wash back onto the banks." Morgan Stanley analysts noted that the four major banks hold A$58 billion in construction loans.14 Both can be true: stress that is contained today could still spread if failures pile up. Given three rate rises this year and falling home prices, the second outcome looks like the bigger risk to watch.14

Why it matters

Private equity buying listed companies cheaply and private credit funds struggling with property loans are two sides of the same change. More of Australia's capital is moving into markets that are hard to see into and hard to value. ASIC has found that Australia's private-market disclosure lags behind comparable countries such as Singapore, the US and the UK.11 Super funds, including AustralianSuper, which plans to double its private credit exposure, are part of that chain.14 On 7pm finance, Chau will have to explain more than the day's ASX close. He will also need to cover what is happening in private markets, where much of Australians' money now sits.