BREAKINGVIEWS

Santos gambles on crude with $11 bln bid rebuff

23 May 2018READY SOON

The Australian gas group rejected the last in a string of approaches from private equity-backed Harbour Energy. New Chairman Keith Spence is optimistically betting energy prices will stay high. Given the industry’s volatility, this could come to look like a missed opportunity.

Rollback of Dodd-Frank won’t roll back time

22 May 2018

The first notable revision to post-crisis U.S. financial regulation is more symbol than substance. Minor tweaks aside, large banks will barely notice. Next in the crosshairs is the Volcker Rule, but even so, market changes mean the good old days aren’t coming back any time soon.

WWE is a leading contender for content champion

22 May 2018

Vince McMahon’s wrestling kingdom may be close to inking a deal with Fox for its popular "SmackDown." The agreement would bring more than $1 bln for the rights to broadcast the program, much more than NBC has been shelling out. WWE deserves a champion’s belt for savvy partnerships.

Adobe pays princely sum to add to virtual realm

22 May 2018

Graphics design and video production may be the $120 bln software juggernaut’s crown jewels, but Adobe wants to expand in the lucrative land of helping companies go digital. Magento could be key to unlocking faster growth. Yet at 11 times trailing sales, it’s a stiff price.

Shell investors take a narrow view of climate risk

22 May 2018

The oil major easily fought off an attempt by shareholders to turn carbon-reduction ambitions into hard targets. That prevents it being hamstrung compared with rivals. But even the relatively enlightened Shell assumes oil demand forecasts that are vulnerable to political shifts.

NYSE outgoing boss prepares to eat own cooking

22 May 2018

Tom Farley is leaving the exchange to run a blank-check company backed by hedge-fund manager Dan Loeb that will invest in fintech. While at NYSE, Farley helped make it easier for so-called SPACs to list. He may find hosting these shell companies beats running and filling them.

Trump indulges China’s statist instincts on trade

22 May 2018

To spare Chinese telecoms giant ZTE from extinction, its execs will be scapegoated for violating sanctions, averting an export ban. Beijing will also order firms to import more U.S. goods. Washington is effectively encouraging command, rather than market, economics in China.

Italy’s next economy minister is the one to watch

22 May 2018

Radical parties have proposed little-known academic Giuseppe Conte to head their government. Yet the economic portfolio matters more for the indebted country’s future. The new minister’s attitude towards the euro will go a long way towards determining investors’ faith in Italy.

Sony loudly demonstrates love of content with EMI

22 May 2018

The Japanese group is buying 60 pct more of EMI Music Publishing from a consortium led by Mubadala. A valuation of $4.8 bln, or 19 times EBITDA, is deafeningly expensive. It leaves no room to doubt new boss Kenichiro Yoshida’s belief in a streaming-led recovery for the industry.

French telco M&A requires more than regulatory nod

22 May 2018

The sector’s supervisor has had a change of heart and is now open to dealmaking. Price wars and investments have bled operators dry. The weakest, Altice and Iliad, are the likeliest targets. But the former is too laden with debt and the latter may be cheaper in a year’s time.

Emirates NBD’s Turkish deal riskier than it looks

22 May 2018

The Dubai-based lender is paying Russia’s Sberbank $3.2 bln for Denizbank, Turkey’s fifth-largest bank by assets. NBD is buying a high-return asset near book value, and gets to diversify its top line. Yet Turkey’s rising risks reduce the extent to which this is a bargain.

Insurers risk retreading banks’ pre-crisis folly

22 May 2018

Companies such as AXA have a new excuse for bold M&A. Recent European rules, like bank regulations before the 2008 crash, reward insurers who spread bets across markets and geographies. The result may be similar: more complex groups, and less capital to absorb losses.

Vanguard puts bond fund managers on notice

21 May 2018

The giant fund firm wants to launch the first U.S. exchange-traded product for global fixed-income. Rising rates pose risks to those who buy it, but the $54 trln bond market is largely untapped by cheap index trackers. Active securities pickers will have one less place to hide.