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This marks a premium of 27.8 per cent on the company’s closing price last Friday, and a near 40 per cent premium on ResApp’s three-month volume-weighted average price. Shares in the business rocketed up 22 per cent following the news.

Tony Keating, ResApp’s chief executive, told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald Pfizer had approached the company’s board with an offer, with the multinational keen to use ResApp’s technology to further build out its capabilities in digital health.

“Seeing how quickly they were able to make the [COVID-19] vaccine and prove its effectiveness is really impressive, so if they can apply that into digital health, that’s a massive win for digital health,” he said.

“To have someone like Pfizer, which is very thorough in what it does, for them to propose to acquire ResApp just goes to show the confidence in our company and our team.”

ResApp’s main product is a smartphone-based diagnostics program that uses machine learning algorithms to diagnose and measure the severity of respiratory conditions such as pneumonia and asthma by recording a patient’s cough.

The company is also working on expanding its diagnostics tech to instantly screen for COVID-19, an area Keating says will be the main focus of a new research and development licensing agreement between ResApp and Pfizer which will go ahead even if shareholders do not approve the acquisition in mid-June.

ResApp will be paid $3 million upfront for the licensing deal and a potential $1 million more in milestone payments. Last month it told investors initial trials of the COVID-19 diagnostic tool had successfully detected the virus in 92 per cent of cases.

“This proposed acquisition and research collaboration add to our growing digital capabilities and bolster our efforts to pave a new era for digital health,” Lidia Fonseca, Pfizer’s chief digital and technology officer said in a statement.

ResApp’s board has unanimously recommended that shareholders back the scheme, which will require investor approval and ticks from an independent expert and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

However, some shareholders may be less than pleased with the 11.5 cent takeover price, with many taking to social media to say the offer was too cheap, given ResApp’s historical price of around 50 cents per share in 2016.

Over 100 Coles-label products will be available on the shelves of Singapore’s biggest supermarket chain following a multimillion-dollar deal brokered by the federal government’s trade agency to boost food exports.

Under the newly inked ‘alliance agreement’, Singaporean shoppers will be able to find up to 140 Coles products in a dedicated section at any of NTUC FairPrice’s 390 stores across the Asian country from Thursday.

The products include Coles’ Ultimate Biscuits, Urban Coffee, its Soup range, and a selection of its Wellness Road products. Wellness Road is a healthy food range owned by Coles.

NTUC FairPrice is the dominant supermarket in Singapore, with 60 per cent of market share. By contrast, Coles holds 28 per cent of Australia’s market share, behind Woolworths at 37 per cent.

FairPrice Group chief procurement officer Ah Yiam Tng, who flew to Melbourne last week to sign the alliance agreement, said Australian products were popular among Singaporeans due to their reputation for being clean and high-quality.

“One thing about Singaporean consumers is they look at the country of origin, where it’s from, where it’s being produced and so forth,” Mr Tng told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

NTUC FairPrice has its own collection of ‘own-brand’ products (some of which are produced by Australian farmers, such as its cheese, butter, breakfast cereal and infant formula).

“Our own brand is actually here to cater to the masses. Coles’ products will be here to compliment our assortment for more affluent consumers,” he said.

“Consumers in Singapore always perceive Australian products [to be] of better quality.”

Mr Tng’s favourite Coles product is the ginger cookies. “I finished one pack in one go with a cup of coffee.”

While the exact terms of the deal cannot be disclosed, sources say the first shipment of products comes to nearly $1 million. NTUC FairPrice intends to make monthly orders that will include fresh produce, meat and new products in future shipments.

NTUC FairPrice has held long-standing relationships with a number of Australian producers and already stocks Carman’s muesli bars, Red Rock Deli chips, and Weis ice cream.

Coles has been exporting Australian food to more than 30 countries around the world for more than two decades, with a focus on Asia. The export deal with NTUC FairPrice represents the first time it has exported to Singapore. About 30 per cent of the chain’s sales in Australia come from private label products.

“We are delighted to launch a number of these products for sale at FairPrice in Singapore to showcase their amazing quality and to continue to drive growth in our Own Brand business globally,” said a Coles spokesperson.

The deal was brokered by Austrade, the federal government’s trade and investment promotion agency, in efforts to help businesses find new export markets outside of China as part of the Agri-Business Expansion Initiative.

Singapore is Australia’s seventh-largest export market, according to figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In the last financial year, Australian exports to Singapore grew more than 13 per cent despite supply chain hiccups.

“Many of Australia’s agricultural, aquaculture and food and beverage products adorn the shelves of Singapore supermarkets, take pride of place in home pantries, and are featured on the menus of high-end restaurants and street hawkers alike,” said an Austrade spokesperson.

“Austrade was proud to assist the Coles-FairPrice deal.”

Sydney-headquartered Real Pet Food Company has bought a majority stake in pet supplements start-up People for Pets for an undisclosed sum. 

Founded last year by former executives from Blackmores and Procter & Gamble, People for Pets has developed a range of Australian-made, plant-based, medicinal water treats under the brand Nectar of the Dogs. The product was formulated with the input of veterinary surgeons and naturopaths and contains organic and ‘human-grade’ ingredients. 

The Real Pet Food Company CEO David Grant says has invested alongside one of the founders, Gabriel Perera, who will remain an employee of the business.

“The partnership fits squarely within RPF’s strategic objectives and our future growth ambitions in Australia and key global markets. We look forward to expanding into the pet supplement space.”

Perera said the partnership will allow the combining of “the entrepreneurial style and natural animal health expertise that has made us successful to date,” with Real Pet Food Company’s “experience, resources, capabilities and international reach as a values-led, Australian global pet care leader”.

The Real Pet Food Company was founded in 1994 by Tony and Christina Quinn who opened a small chilled dog roll facility in Burleigh, Queensland under the name VIP Petfoods. The business was bought by Quadrant Private Equity in 2015 which initiated the name change and acquired seven more pet food-related businesses over the subsequent two years: Nature’s Gift, Tucker Time, Dr B’s Barf, Billy + Margot, Ivory Coat, CME Factory at Inverell and Jimbo’s in New Zealand.

The company was sold to a multinational investment group in 2017 and has now grown to include nine factories internationally. It sells in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US. 

Liquor retailer Dan Murphy’s is set to open a bar in Melbourne where patrons will be served only zero-alcohol drinks.

The pop-up bar will open next week in Melbourne’s Hampton suburb, featuring a menu of alcohol-free beers and wines starting from $5. The bar will host a free tasting session in partnership with local producers and a resident mixologist will create bespoke cocktails including negronis and mojitos. 

“The aim of our Zero% bar is to create a destination where customers can discover the great quality and variety of the new wave of non-alcoholic drinks,” said Alex Freudmann, Dan Murphy’s MD.

He says Zoomers and millennials are driving the growth in the non-alcoholic drinks category. During the past two years, Dan Murphy’s sales of zero-alcohol drinks has doubled.

Independent research commissioned by DrinkWise found this trend of consumption is largely led by younger Australians.

“Australians aged 18-44 years, are twice as likely to consume zero- and low-strength alcohol consumption than those over 45 years. The research indicated that zero and lower alcohol alternatives could assist the 43 per cent of the drinkers surveyed who signalled they wanted to cut down their consumption,” said DrinkWise CEO Simon Strahan.

The Zero% bar pop up is situated within the Hampton Hill precinct and will operate seven days a week until the end of June.

Chemist Warehouse will take a 10-per-cent stake in consumer products supplier McPherson’s as part of a broader strategic distribution partnership between the two companies.  

McPherson’s will become an exclusive long-term distributor of a portfolio of health and beauty brands owned or controlled by Chemist Warehouse, outside of the retailer’s Australia and New Zealand network. The range includes Wagner Vitamins, Wagner Body Science, Bondi Protein, Foster Grant, INC and Microgenics, all of which will now be available to all of McPherson’s wholesale customers. 

The distribution rights will be for an initial term of five years commencing July 1, the same date as the shares are issued to Chemist Warehouse.

“McPherson’s will have three five-year options to extend the arrangements, subject to certain minimum performance thresholds on a brand-by-brand basis which McPherson’s considers it is well placed to meet,” the two companies said in a statement. 

Chemist Warehouse will also expand the range of McPherson’s brands which the retailer ranges in Australia and New Zealand. Moosehead, Maseur, Fusion Health, Stratton, Sugar Baby and Happy Flora will be added. 

Liquor retailer Endeavour Group says supply chain challenges are impacting product availability and transport costs but the company is doing “all we can” to support suppliers and hold off price increases. 

MD and CEO Steve Donohue reassured suppliers during a virtual supplier forum this week that the company would hold off on cost increases for as long as possible. 

“Together, we have managed to wade through the availability challenge, and we are genuinely grateful for everybody’s efforts in trying to put stock on shelves and moving through the supply chain, but it’s costing more than ever before,” Donohue said. 

“What we have done is try to hone in on exactly how much it is costing us at the moment, and therefore what the cost increases for us look like. One of our intentions is to try to continue to hold that cost which we view as an investment in trying to facilitate stock movement for suppliers for as long as we can, but we’re also going to start sharing that information with suppliers to give everybody some visibility on what it is costing at the moment to move things around,” he added. 

The company has extended its 14-day payment terms first introduced in April 2020 after the outbreak of Covid-19 that allowed faster payment to small suppliers. These terms will now remain until June next year.

“In a world with so much uncertainty right now, we know how much stability and certainty means,” said the group’s GM merchandising Tim Carroll. 

“We are committed to supporting our suppliers through these never-before-seen circumstances and we recognise the economic challenges faced by small suppliers over the last two years,” 

Innovation was another core theme of the supplier briefing. 

“What customers are looking for increasingly is more discovery, more interesting stuff, more new things and more convenience,” Donohue said. Forty per cent of the products Endeavour’s stores sell today did not exist eight years ago

He encouraged the company’s suppliers to innovate more citing that in the past five years, 85 per cent of sales growth of the company has come from new product development.

He also emphasised that there was room for innovation in the wine category to meet changing consumer trends and attitudes. 

“The wine category needs to keep pace with changing customer expectations; lower alcohol, no alcohol, smaller format, easier format, something new and different like I’ve never seen before,” he said.

Uber and BP have announced a global delivery partnership in an attempt to expand delivery services to everyday convenience.

BP becomes the first major convenience retailer to team up with Uber on such a scale, and will connect more than 3000 retail locations with Uber Eats by 2025. 

The partnership will cover retail sites in Australia, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, the US and the UK with plans to expand operations to European markets from next year.

Emma Delaney, executive VP of customers & products at BP said: “We’ve seen how the pandemic has accelerated customer demand for delivered convenience and this partnership will allow us to scale up quickly on the Uber platform.”

Pierre Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber’s SVP of global delivery added: “With more than 20,500 locations around the world, BP’s reach is enormous. This makes them critical partners as we pursue our ambitions of helping consumers across the world get what they need to be delivered to their doorsteps.”

The companies will work to introduce delivery options onto BP’s own app – BPme, powered by Uber Direct. It will launch that in the UK, the US and Australia by the end of this year.

Ritchies Supa IGA has collaborated with zero-waste company Unpackaged Eco to debut automated refill stations. 

In an effort to reduce plastic waste and save customers’ money on packaging, the refill station features non-toxic, biodegradable Australian made products from cleansing and personal care products to dishwashing liquid. 

Customers can bring their own containers or buy reusable glass or aluminium bottles at the refill counter. In addition, the supermarket will offer a lower price for shoppers who bring their own boxes or bottles. 

“It takes five seconds to make a plastic bottle, five minutes to consume its contents and 500 years to degrade in landfill,” said Irene Chen, founder of Unpackaged Eco,

“We started Unpackaged Eco to cut out single-use plastic packaging altogether and make refilling a simple way to do our bit for the planet.”

As demand for sustainable products grows, refill stations are an environmentally-friendly and economical option. If this trial is successful, many supermarkets across the country can see their customers using their own containers, according to Ritchies. 

ASX-listed Mad Paws Holdings has struck a $20 million deal to acquire online pet medication and healthcare products business Pet Chemist and launched an equity raising to help fund it.

Mad Paws will pay $5.5 million cash and issue $14.5 million worth of shares for the business, and up to another $5 million in the coming two financial years based on performance hurdles.

The deal valued Pet Chemist at 2½ times operating revenue, based on annualised first half FY22 numbers.

The acquisition was to be partly funded by a $5 million equity raising via stockbrokers CCZ Equities and Petra Capital.

The brokers were seeking buyers for new shares at 18¢ each, which was a 10 per cent discount to the last close, according to terms sent to potential investors.

The term sheet pitched Pet Chemist as “Australia’s leading online supplier of pet medication and premium healthcare products”, with $9 million in merchandise sold in the 2021 financial year and more than 44,000 active customers.

Pet Chemist is owned by Howard Humphreys. It was advised by Hawkesbury Partners.

Mad Paws’ brokers were calling for bids into the placement by 5.30pm on Monday.

Global appliances company Breville Group has snapped up Italian specialty coffee company Lelit Group in a €113 million ($168.7 million) cash and shares deal, deepening its penetration of the premium home coffee market.

Breville said on Friday it will buy Lelit – which makes high-end coffee machines and barista equipment – from the founders debt free. Half of the price will be paid in cash and half in ASX-listed Breville shares valued at $27.64 per share for the deal and subject to a five-year lock up.

Breville shares fell about 3 per cent by midday Friday, but rallied some to end the day down 2.7 per cent at $26.24.

The machines range in price from the Lelit Mara X at $2400 to the larger Lelit Bianca – costing $4600 – which can be used at home or in a cafe.

The cash portion of the transaction will be funded from existing reserves and debt facilities. Key members of the Lelit management team, including the founders, have agreed to join Breville.

The transaction is expected to complete by early July 2022 after a restructure of Lelit.

The company was founded in Castegnato, Italy in 1985 by Edoardo Epis. In its early days it specialised in ironing systems and later added production of coffee machines.

Breville chief executive Jim Clayton said Lelit’s range of espresso machines and grinders, together with Breville’s Baratza range of grinders, would create a stronger presence in the specialty coffee channel while providing Lelit with an opportunity to strengthen its presence outside of Europe.

The acquisition of Lelit brings together the two great coffee cultures of the world: Italy and Australia.

— Breville CEO Jim Clayton

“The acquisition of Lelit brings together the two great coffee cultures of the world: Italy and Australia,” he said.

“Both companies have a shared passion for using product innovation to improve our customers’ coffee experience at home, and we look forward to working alongside Lelit and its existing partners to further accelerate its growth and product innovation, while preserving the values that underpin its Italian identity.”

Lelit CEO Mr Epis called Breville an “ideal strategic partner to support Lelit in its next stage of growth at the same time enabling us to remain faithful to our Italian heritage and design”.

In February, Breville posted sales growth of 23.6 per cent for the first half of fiscal 2022. Consumer demand across all regions and categories – coffee, cooking and food preparation appliances – underpinned sales of $878.7 million.

This helped to boost its bottom line by 25.1 per cent to $77.7 million, and increased the interim dividend to 15¢ a share from 13¢.

Barrenjoey analyst Tom Kierath pointed to Breville’s UK operations, which filed local accounts this week showing it may be winning share from its global rival De’Longhi. Breville’s UK sales grew strongly in fiscal 2021, up 48 per cent, with sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa – stripping out the UK – expanded by 53 per cent.

Breville has only a small exposure to Ukraine-Russia with 1 to 2 per cent of sales coming from that area.

“We estimate that Breville’s sales per person in the UK is $1.34 vs Europe (excluding the UK) at 35¢ which points to a considerable opportunity in continental Europe,” Mr Kierath told clients in a note.

He added that De’Longhi is stepping up spending on advertising and promotions considerably ahead of Breville this year and next year, leaving a question over whether the higher investment will drive category growth or if De’Longhi will win market share.