Street Talk

AustralianSuper nudges BlueScope to give its bidders a fair hearing

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Feb 22, 2026 – 4.38pm

Four days ago, the Stokes-controlled SGH Limited and its Nasdaq-listed bid partner Steel Dynamics returned with a $14.2 billion bid for BlueScope, in their fifth (and final) attempt to buy Australia’s largest steelmaker.

Not a peep since then from BlueScope’s board on whether it will grant due diligence to its suitors. That’s after it has spent the past six weeks slapping down the consortium’s previous $30 per share bid – and issued a rejection in record time when this masthead outed the talks on January 5.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column.

Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review.