Hey hey Flux fam! TGIF 🥳

Here's everything you need to know today - in under 3 minutes.

Today's big stories:

💰 Woolies cuts Wesfarmers' lunch for Priceline

🗞 Aussie Medtech startup Harrison.ai snags $129 million

📱 Square will change its name to Block from December 10 

Oh and get this... 

Tel Aviv has officially overtaken Paris as the world's most expensive city to live in, according to the Worldwide Cost of Living Index. And the cheapest city? That'd be Damascus in Syria...and Buenos Aires in Argentina is up there too!

Woolies has swooped in with a buzzer beating offer for Priceline and did it hurt, Wesfarmers?

Background: The parent company of Priceline, Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) is up for grabs. There have been two main suitors vying for API's heart: Wessies (aka Wesfarmers) and Woolies (the fresh food people). 

What happened: Wesfarmers have been the frontrunners this whole time. In July, they lobbed a huge $764 million. API seemed keen, so Wesfarmers did their due diligence, and signed a binding offer.

What else: Just when it looked like it was a done deal, Woolies swooped in with an even bigger offer. We're talkin' 20 cents more per share. So far, Woolies' offer is indicative and non-binding. 

So what's the key learning?

💡When it comes to takeovers, there are different kinds of offers. We've got binding offers (aka, it's locked and loaded. If the company to be acquired accepts, there's no turning back.)

💡We've also got non-binding offers (or indicative offers). These are like an agreement to agree between the two parties. But it's not intended to be legally binding, so the buyer isn't locked into the deal.

💡By making a non-binding offer, Woolies is saying, 'Hey Priceline, let's keep talking'...but they ain't committing. Either way, this would have really P.O'd Wesfarmers, who was probably already painting the walls Priceline pink.

Aussie medtech company Harrison.ai just raised $129 mil and it's official - AI is coming for your job

Background: Harrison.ai is a Sydney-based software company that builds artificial intelligence tools for the medical industry. 

What happened: They partner with healthcare companies and develop AI tools to solve specific challenges...We're talkin' revolutionary IVF tools and imaging tools. 

What else: Now, they've raised a whopping $129 million in one of Australia's largest ever Series B funding rounds. Not bad for a company that was founded in late 2018.

So what's the key learning?

💡Artificial intelligence has started to revolutionise many industries...like manufacturing, transportation and insurance. But healthcare is one of the largest global industry that's yet to have AI deeply embedded.

💡AI give computers the ability to do tasks that generally only humans could do...but more efficiently and at a lower cost. In fact, the AI healthcare market is expected to reach US$6.6 billion by the end of this year

💡AI can help people stay healthy, which means less visits to the doctor. So, we can see how Harrison.ai managed to attract so much investor interest.

Big tech takes 'New year, new me' to the nek level as Square rebrands to Block

Background: Square is the payments platform that created that little white square at cafes for payments.

What happened:  It was founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey back in 2009...and it acquired Afterpay back in August. And now, Square's revealed it's rebranding to 'Block'.

What else: The name change is supposed to reflect the company's new focus on technologies like blockchain. It's also rebranding its crypto biz Square Crypto to Spiral. So many name changes hurting my brain.

So what's the key learning?

💡Rebranding ain't just about changing the name of an organisation...but its image too.

💡There are two ways a company rebrands:

1. Proactive rebranding: i.e. when a company recognises there's opportunity to grow and tap into a new customer base
2. Reactive rebranding: i.e. the existing brand has been discontinued due to a merger or acquisition...or there's been negative press.

💡When Facebook rebranded to Meta, ya could say that was reactive branding, because it followed years of bad press for the Big, Bad, Zuck. But Square is attempting the ol' proactive rebranding, to show it's ready for its next phase: bitcoin, baby.