Nokia takes gamble with Siemens combination 19 Jun 2006 Injecting Siemens s telecom equipment group into Nokia s is a lowrisk strategy for the Germans and a highrisk one for the Finns. Siemens rids itself of a managerial headache. Nokia gets to run a much larger venture but with problems to match.
Imperial deal for Altadis would stub out value 18 Jun 2006 A tieup between the two tobacco giants might make strategic sense. But it would be hard to justify financially. The trouble is that Altadis s shares are very highly priced. While that s the case, Imperial should bide its time.
Dawn raids are back 18 Jun 2006 As the recent bids for BAA and AB Ports show, it s no longer enough to get a target s agreement to a deal. You need a wodge of shares too. Why? It s because financial investors are competing fiercely for assets.
GM bankruptcy could boost bondholders 16 Jun 2006 CEO Rick Wagoner says filing for Chapter 11 would be a bad strategy . But it might give bondholders a chance to get some money back. Distressed debt traders starved of new opportunities would pounce on GM s $30bn debt pile. That could push up prices.
SEC should force options-backdating confessions 16 Jun 2006 Chairman Cox is correct to put options backdating under the microscope but he needs to move faster to root it out. He should follow exSEC enforcement cop Stanley Sporkin and offer firms a choice: come clean now or face harsher penalties later.
Will Mike Bloomberg pull a Hank Paulson? 16 Jun 2006 NY s Mayor let slip that he may sell his financial information empire in the next year or so, sparking another round of speculation. Like Goldman s boss leaving for Washington, this might mark an exceptional skill for market timing.
Suez/GdF merger heading for the long grass 16 Jun 2006 With the French government in disarray, the chances of a deal going ahead this side of the 2007 French presidential election look remote. For Suez shareholders, that will come as a relief. They now have a chance to unlock the true value of the French utility.
Tele2 plays hardball with Versatel hold-outs 16 Jun 2006 The telecoms operator has had enough of hedge funds holding up its Dutch takeover. It may complete the deal without squeezing them out. This reflects growing irritation with hedge funds holding out in bids. But Tele2 is also under pressure from investors can't be seen to pay.
Vinci should be wary of Veolia bear hug 16 Jun 2006 The French water company has come out with a headline synergy number that suggests a deal might create some value. But there's no details about where these benefits would come from. Veolia needs to spell them out if it wants to be taken seriously.
Eads share sales require rigorous investigation 16 Jun 2006 The boss of the aerospace group says it was an unfortunate coincidence that executives sold shares ahead of a profit warning. Perhaps. But the French authorities need to establish exactly when the A380 delays first came to light. And if the board wasn t told, why not.
Gates should reflect on splitting Microsoft 16 Jun 2006 Impending retirement offers Bill Gates a chance to think about the best way to preserve his legacy. Microsoft is now a complex beast even with his talent, Gates found the group difficult to control. It may be time to split it up.
Perella Weinberg launches super-boutique 15 Jun 2006 But execution will still determine its success especially whether it can keep the big egos working as one and attract secondtier talent. Rarely has an investment bank had as many advantages at birth: top talent, desire among firms for independent advice and over $1bn in funds.
Vinci right to reject Veolia approach 15 Jun 2006 The deal to merge the French water utility with the construction company lacks industrial logic. But it may make some political sense. What s in it for Vinci? There is nothing Veolia could do that it couldn't copy itself.
Sale of Berliner Sparkasse won’t prompt privatisation wave 15 Jun 2006 Germany may allow the sale of Berliner Sparkasse with its exclusive brand name to Citigroup or another big bank. But sadly it won t herald a mass privatisation of the country s 460odd stateowned savings banks. The fear about job losses is too great.
Russia to test bear market with Rosneft IPO 15 Jun 2006 Moscow is right to push ahead. It has a political timetable to stick to, and the Bank of China float shows large IPOs can get away. But while the timetable is intact, there's still a lot of uncertainty about Rosneft s valuation.
Goldman tries to avoid being Macquaried – again 15 Jun 2006 Last week, a Macquarie advised consortium snatched BAA from Goldman s grasp. By upping its bid for ABP, the bank hopes to prevent a repeat. But the Australians have come back with their own 840p offer. In this quandary, it s not yet clear that Goldman will win the day.
Standard Life’s float won’t derail 15 Jun 2006 The insurer cut its indicated price by about 10%. But this reflects falling markets rather than an indication the float is troubled. Given the costs of demutualisation and shareholder s overwhelming desire to do so, it would take a real meltdown for the float to be pulled.
Germany ducks important governance reforms 15 Jun 2006 German boards are too large, too entrenched and dominated by special interests. But don't expect the government to do anything about it. Investors must take matters into their own hands. They should start by demanding shorter contracts and more power to boot people out.
Forget the algorithm, Google’s edge rests in hardware 14 Jun 2006 The search company s competitive advantage comes from its global network of PCs that produce instant responses to queries. This belies the notion that a company with better searchengine technology could break Google s monopoly.
ABP agrees to £2.5bn offer from Goldman group 14 Jun 2006 The investment bank s consortium is set to pick up the UK ports operator at a nonbargain valuation of 15 times ebitda. It may not be over yet. The stock is trading above the agreed 820p price. But any counterbidder would face big obstacles.
Jana launches largest hedge fund hostile bid 14 Jun 2006 But this is a capitalintensive business. It s questionable whether a hedge fund can take a sufficiently longterm view to maximise value. Jana Partners got impatient with slowmoving shareholder activism. So it s gone hostile on Houston Exploration, a $1.7bn oil company.
Bayer wins E17bn bloody battle over Schering 14 Jun 2006 It has agreed to buy a 22% stake in Schering from Merck for E3.7bn. This means the potentially value creating deal can go ahead. But Bayer has said it may enter cooperative agreements with Merck. Investors should ensure any deal is done at arm's length.
Aegis shareholders give Bollore a beating 14 Jun 2006 A whopping 94% of the UK media group s shares not controlled by Bollore voted against the French financier s resolutions. But to keep the French raider at bay, Aegis needs to ensure a high turnout at future general meetings, possibly for years.
Eurotunnel’s most junior creditors win battle 14 Jun 2006 The channel tunnel operator's lowestranking creditors have rightly been given extra time to come up with a rival restructuring plan. This is a welcome shift from the our way or the highway rhetoric of last month and should give a better result for all stakeholders.
Has Eads bitten off more than it can chew? 14 Jun 2006 Delays in the jumbo jet won t just hit the European aerospace giant s earnings. Its credibility has taken a hit too. But this might help Eads get a knockdown price on BAE's 20% stake in Airbus.
Credit Suisse exits Winterthur cleanly for E7.9bn 14 Jun 2006 With the sale of its insurance arm to Axa, the Swiss bank has drawn a line under the disastrous dealmaking of former boss Lukas Muehlemann. But it can t claim revenge on Axa for selling it DLJ in 2000. The deal looks sound if strategically unexciting for the French.
Vodafone pay revamp won’t hit bosses hard 14 Jun 2006 The mobile operator is linking executive pay closer to shareholder returns. But that could make them better off. It will allow them to milk the group s steep rise in dividend and reduce their chances of being left with more outofthemoney options.
Arcelor is giving Mordashov near-control without a premium 14 Jun 2006 The Russian steel billionaire will have a veto on key strategic matters if the proposed merger of his Severstal and Arcelor goes ahead. All the more reason why Arcelor shareholders should try to block this deal and instead back Mittal's bid, which does involve a premium.
Bond conundrum is back 14 Jun 2006 A few months ago, it looked like Greenspan s 2005 puzzle low yields in a strong economy was on the way to a solution. Not any more. US yields are down in the midst of an inflation scare. Why? Perhaps a lurking recession, or maybe just uneconomic bond buyers.
Misys shareholders over a barrel 14 Jun 2006 The UK software group has little option but to talk to the management buyout group, given Misys' poor share price performance. But Misys would not be in this weak position if the board had turfed out CEO Lomax last year before things got so bad.