West End foray breathes life into UK property M&A 1 Jun 2020 Capco, owner of much of London’s upmarket Covent Garden district, has bought a 26% stake in $2.4 bln Shaftesbury, which manages large swathes of the trendy Soho area. A merger could follow. The risky punt shows UK landlords are starting to think about life after the pandemic.
UK’s small-firm debt pile is ripe for forgiveness 1 Jun 2020 Companies have borrowed $23 billion in state sponsored “Bounce Back” loans. Many will probably default. Pursuing debtors will be politically awkward and dent growth. Better to link repayments to financial health or grant relief to companies that hire back furloughed workers.
Buyout firms make first move in EU telco shake-out 1 Jun 2020 KKR, Cinven and Providence are offering $3.3 bln for low-cost Spanish operator MasMovil. Stricter financial discipline may mean less of the cut-throat pricing that hurt rivals. After an EU court ruling on a nixed UK merger, it may also be the start of a new round of mergers.
Germany’s car bonus scheme is only half the trip 1 Jun 2020 Chancellor Angela Merkel is mooting 5 bln euros in auto subsidies. A similar plan saved jobs at Volkswagen and Daimler in 2009. But the incentives would cover 2 mln vehicles – barely half last year’s sales. If the pandemic has permanently dented demand, a bigger boost is needed.
Corona Capital: Tech diversity, CNN’s middle age 1 Jun 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: As big U.S. technology companies’ CEOs speak out about racial inequality, working from home trends could give them a chance to make a real difference; and 24/7 news network CNN feasts on Covid-19 as it turns 40.