Canaccord Genuity has hired former RBC Capital Markets managing director Duncan St John, sources said. 

St John, who will be based in Canaccord's Sydney office, was head of metals & mining at RBC until March this year.

The appointment follows the establishment of Canaccord's Perth office, headed by ex-Argonaut operative Paul Carter, in late 2015.

Carter has also recruited Patrick Chang from Argonaut and Tim McCormack from Euroz Securites to round out the WA team.

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Canaccord Genuity has emerged as an adviser in Bain Capital's acquisition of child education success story Only About Children.

The Cannacord team, led by Grant Brown, advised Brendan McAssey, chief executive and founder of the upmarket early learning business. 

K&L Gates provided legal counsel.

As Street Talk exclusively revealed, Bain has purchased a majority stake in the business, which has 24 "campuses" in Sydney and 10 in Melbourne, and is expected to bankroll a national roll-out. 

McAssey, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker, will retain a minority stake and be heavily involved in running the business. He's expected to stay on as CEO. 

Gresham's Charlie Graham and Citigroup's Aidan Allen advised Bain. 

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The West Australian government will miss a self-imposed August deadline to sell a stake in its Keystart loan portfolio. 

Street Talk understands an announcement on a winning bidder is still some weeks away. 

This column revealed that WA's treasurer Mike Nahan and housing minister Colin Holt were aiming for a deal signing and completion by the end of August.

Gresham Partners is managing the auction. 

The state government has already extended the deadline for final bids several times, after they were initially due on July 21. The process is looking fragile after lenders including Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Pepper Group and AFG pulled back from the auction. 

Up for grabs is 40 per cent, or $1.6 billion, of the $4 billion-plus mortgage book.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which was outed by this column as a suitor in May. Macquarie Group is also keeping a keen eye on the Keystart sale. 

The sale structure - which deterred several potential buyers - outlined that Keystart would continue to manage the loan book and pricing would continue to be set at an average of the big four's standard variable mortgage rates.

The WA government established Keystart to provide low deposit and shared equity home loans to low-to-medium income earners unable to obtain finance from private lenders.

 

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Woolworths' disastrous foray into hardware has largely been dealt with and the focus now shifts to its petrol stations sale and divestment of online retail business Ezibuy. 

 As revealed by Street Talk on Thursday, Citigroup will oversee Woolworths' divestment of apparel and homewares company EziBuy.

Fresh from steering a three-pronged $1.5 billion divestment of Woolworths' Masters and Home Timber & Hardware units and inventories, this column understands the bank will have an overarching advisory role on the Ezibuy auction.

Citi may opt to bring in a boutique firm later to assist.

Woolworths last month flagged the sale of EziBuy, a business it acquired only three years ago for $318 million. It also wrote the business down by $302 million and separated it from BIG W.

Ezibuy was established more than 35 years ago as a small mail order business in New Zealand. 

Woolworths posted its first loss as a listed company on Thursday, reporting weaker earnings from supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand, hotels and BIG W.

A BIG W turnaround plan was outlined by Woolworths including consolidating its brands. A sale may still be an option if the business gets back on track.

Citi has a longstanding Woolworths relationship and was front and centre on the hardware divestments. 

Morgan Stanley, however, nabbed the mandate to sell Woolworths' petrol business, as foreshadowed by this column. 

Citi is close to rival Caltex, last advising on its acquisition of Scott's fuel depots in 2014.

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Private equity giant Bain Capital is set to enter the Australian childcare sector with the acquisition of upmarket early learning business Only About Children. 

Sources told Street Talk that Bain had already agreed terms with Only About Children founder and chief executive Brendan McAssey and would announce the deal as early as Friday. 

Only About Children has 24 "campuses" in Sydney and 10 in Melbourne and is expected to pursue a national roll-out with Bain's backing.

Its mantra is all about "a holistic 21st century approach" to early learning, catering for newborns to children up to six years old with things like nutritional programs, in-house cooks, language lessons, sports science-designed active programs and an educational curriculum. 

It's understood McAssey, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker, will retain a minority stake and be heavily involved in running the business. He's expected to stay on as CEO. 

It's just the latest evolution in the Australian childcare sector, which has been through plenty of ownership twists and turns over the past decade despite the government's commitment to help fund the sector.  

The gorilla is $1.2 billion ASX-listed G8 Education which has 478 centres in Australia, 20 centres in Singapore, and 7.9 per cent local market share according to IBISWorld. Then there is Goodstart Early Learning, which rose out of the ashes of ABC Learnings Centres, with 7.2 per cent of the market. 

In the meantime, plenty of private equity investors and entrepreneurs have sought an entry into the sector, creating the likes of Guardian Early Learning which is owned by Partners Group. 

Only About Children's pitch is slightly different and aimed at a certain segment of the market. 

For Bain, the investment is set to mirror one of the firm's flagship investments in its home country of the United States, Bright Horizons, and underline its strategy in Australia. 

Bain was a founding investor in Bright Horizons in 1987, before floating the company, privatising it and floating it again. Bright Horizons has more than 700 childcare centres around the world and Bain continues to hold a 25 per cent stake. 

It's a move consistent with Bain's strategy for Australia, which seems to be about bringing experiences from portfolio companies offshore to the local market. It was a similar thematic when Bain bought MYOB in 2011, with the buyout firm having previously owned a similar business in Italy. So too with its other Australian portfolio company, Boost Juice owner Retail Zoo, with Bain having had success with quick service restaurant businesses offshore including Burger King and Outback Steakhouse. 

The investment comes as Bain steps up its focus on the local market. The firm is expected to unveil a permanent Sydney office later in the year, having opted to take out space in Deutsche Bank Place. 

Bain also recently hired ex-Bain & Company consultant, dealmaker and former Olympian Michael Murphy to spearhead the local team. Bain managing director Warren Valdmanis, who is based in Hong Kong and is also on the board of China-based English language instruction business Rise Education, has overall responsibility for the Australian market. 

It's expected to put them on similar footing to fellow global private equity giants KKR, TPG and The Carlyle Group, which are all well established in the Australian market. 

As for Only About Children, it's understood Bain was advised by Gresham Partners and Citi, while Nomura, Challenger and Macquarie funded the deal. 

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