Man’s new fund makes eye-popping fees 30 Apr 2006 The UK listed hedge fund group is getting a remarkable 5% management fee on its recent record $2.3bn retail fund launch. If all goes to plan, Man s fees over the life of the fund will be worth about $1.6bn an astonishing 70% of what investors are putting in.
Four-play finally makes economic sense 30 Apr 2006 While telecom and cable companies past offerings of bundled services never amounted to much, this wave looks sustainable. Previous waves were driven by the marketing idea of hitting consumers with one large bill. Technological progress now means one small bill.
Mack should start Morgan Stanley breakup 28 Apr 2006 He can t completely dismantle the conglomerate, although that should be the goal to get the stock moving. Some businesses still need fixing. But he can jettison Discover. That at least would give the lie to the notion he s reluctant to break up because it would make him look bad.
Santander starts to whip Abbey into shape 28 Apr 2006 The Spanish bank had a storming Q1. Even Abbey, its UK acquisition, is beginning to bring home the bacon. That should provide some comfort to investors concerned that Santander will be tripped up by its appetite for deals.
Blackstone DT deal only makes sense with mega leverage 28 Apr 2006 The buyout firm s partners are expecting returns of around 30%. But they won t get that from the slowgrowing telecoms giant, unless Blackstone piles on the debt.
Microsoft better off without MSN 28 Apr 2006 Stuffed inside the conglomerate, MSN has made little headway against more focused rivals like Google despite massive investment. Until MSN is set free or sold to Yahoo it will divert cashflows to investors and never live up to its potential.
Yell goes for growth with E3.3bn TPI acquisition 28 Apr 2006 The Spanish directories business adds an extra leg to Yell s US and UK operations. But Yell is paying a rich price for that Spanish and Latin American growth.
Will carbon trading go up in smoke? 28 Apr 2006 It s a fair question after the price of emission permits fell by 50% in three days. It turns out Europeans aren t as gassy as expected. Some hedge funds are smarting, and some utilities might look less valuable. But the market serves a real need. It shouldn t disappear.
Wal-Mart bank critics guilty of hypocrisy 28 Apr 2006 Among the forces aligning against the retailer are community banks, who say WalMart would destroy American capitalism. But this assumes that small banks dole out credit better than big ones do. That s not what the numbers universally suggest.
Echoes of dot-com era heard in emerging markets 28 Apr 2006 One day Dmytro Firtash is afraid to disclose his ownership of a lucrative gas trading company. The next he s planning a London IPO. It s a rapid change. But he has little to fear from London investors. Enthused for Russian stocks, they are failing to ask tough questions.
VW’s E1bn provision adds to mystery 28 Apr 2006 Not only is its boss s future in the dark, but VW also made E1bn in provisions without saying why. Losses in the US are also a mystery. No wonder investors are getting nervous. Unless VW provides a good explanation, its share price deserves to head south.
VNU bid looks hopeless 28 Apr 2006 Private equity s bid for the Dutch media group doesn t have a hope in hell of reaching the allimportant 95% acceptance level. That will leave VNU without management and board. But that doesn't seem to worry dissident investors, who are confident in their own plan B.
Siemens’ $1.9bn diagnostics buy makes strategic sense 27 Apr 2006 The German conglomerate is doing well in medical technology. And this acquisition is in the seemingly attractive field of genetic testing. If only Siemens' telecoms business was doing as well. Maybe by boosting the medical unit, Kleinfeld will find it easier to let it go.
Pioneer chooses buy over build 27 Apr 2006 Purchasing Vanderbilt gives global fund manager Pioneer Investments $13bn in assets as an entry into structured credit. Rapid growth in demand for structured credit means it would be late in the game to build its own team. Scaling someone else s makes sense.
Smith & Nephew shares look cheap 27 Apr 2006 The UK joint group s revenue growth has been kneecapped by governments clamping down on costs. Once the next wave of orthopaedic products hit the market, government pricing power is likely to disappear.
Bouygues’ E2bn Alstom purchase looks smart 27 Apr 2006 One might ask why a 21% stake in the engineering firm is needed in order to build global power plants. But there's a bigger potential prize. By helping the French state sell out of Alstom to satisfy EU rules Bouygues' reward could be Framatome, the stateowned nuclear supplier.
Engelhard gears up to fend off BASF 26 Apr 2006 The US catalyst's planned $1.2bn buyback may not preserve its independence but it may persude the German group to sweeten its hostile offer. Engelhard would ideally have found a white knight to get a real auction going. But that doesn't look likely now.
ABN toils under weight of reforms 26 Apr 2006 The Dutch bank struggled in Q1. Wholesale dragged down the US. The investment bank declined despite benign trading conditions. That's a sign of the huge task ABN has taken on in revamping wholesale and absorbing Antonveneta. Extra cost cuts will add to the workload.
Morrison’s CEO payout looks like rewards for failure 26 Apr 2006 True, it s hard to see how much autonomy Stott really had. But shareholders are now left footing the bill for Sir Ken s mistakes. The UK retailer is paying £1.4m to see off Bob Stott, a lieutenant of chairman Sir Ken Morrison, even after five profit warnings.
Air Berlin IPO should fly – at a 25% discount 26 Apr 2006 The lowcost carrier has made a loss for the last 2 years as competition stays cutthroat and fuel prices high. Not the best IPO backdrop. But sales are growing well as Air Berlin opens up new routes to Eastern Europe. At a 25% discount to Easyjet, the IPO should fly.
German growth reflects improved economic model 26 Apr 2006 Economists are scrambling to increase their forecasts. They can t quite believe that this supposedly sclerotic economy could be so lively. But Germany s corporate sector has changed with the times. And the government has accepted the welfare state s limits.
Pfizer presents first big CEO pay test 26 Apr 2006 Executive pay in the US may be as oversized as the food portions, but investors have been reluctant to tackle abuses. But two battles at Pfizer and UnitedHealth show how difficult it will be to reign in excess pay.
Ken Lay lays out the fall guys 25 Apr 2006 Enron s failed boss blamed the company s fall on Andrew Fastow and added short sellers and newsmen to his list of villains. But his testimony shows not the strength of the forces that knocked the structure down, but the failure of its architect.
Tesco offers investors cashback 25 Apr 2006 The UK supermarket plans to return to the progressive dividend it shelved three years ago, and buy back £1.5bn in shares. That s a great PR exercise. But Tesco still has growth and impressive returns on investment. It might do better to spend the cash itself.
Rome boos Autostrade’s Spanish tie-up 25 Apr 2006 Given Enel s failure to get into Spain or France and a backlash against crossborder deals it isn t hard to see why Prodi is upset. But the Benettons aren't selling out yet. And even if Italian politicians dislike the deal, it isn t clear there is a lot they can do.
There’s still money left in BP 25 Apr 2006 Capex may be rising and production falling, but thanks to the oil price, BP is throwing off prodigious amounts of cash. But BP s shares are still only discounting an oil price in the low $40's per barrel. That s far too pessimistic.
Are Arcelor top managers blindly loyal? 25 Apr 2006 All 350 of them have signed up to the antiMittal crusade. That s a show of unity from the bureaucrats that would make any dictator proud. If the managers were really so ready to rush to judgement, they would need a real shakeup. But some may secretly harbour other ideas.
Reynolds in $3.5bn chewing tobacco bite 25 Apr 2006 The tobacco group 42% owned by BAT is paying through the cheek to buy the secondbiggest maker of chewing tobacco and snuff. Strategically this makes sense as a hedge against the decline in smokers. But even with 10% growth, the deal looks mildly destructive.
New IMF mandate unlikely to solve anything 25 Apr 2006 The International Monetary Fund wants to do something about the huge US trade deficit and the country s too willing lenders. It won t be easy. The IMF can t force the US or China to change policies. And even if it could, it may be too late for good advice.
Full steam ahead for healthcare buyouts with £2.2bn deal 25 Apr 2006 Netcare s purchase of GHG as the largest healthcare buyout in Europe shows that enthusiasm for the sector is still strong. Aside from an ageing population, a key driver for these transactions is demand for the properties these companies hold.