Capital Calls: Greensill/Bluestone 1 Jun 2021 Concise views on global finance: The collapse of the supply-chain finance group may have left the governor of West Virginia personally on the hook for $700 million.
Chinese working women will rue three-child policy 1 Jun 2021 Beijing has cranked up the birth cap again, a desperate sign as families shrink. Doubling budgets for healthcare - way below par at 3% of GDP - and education might help. But the men who run China are stingy, and discrimination against female professionals will worsen.
Truck-sharing IPO hurtles down risky road 1 Jun 2021 The $20 bln valuation China’s Manbang is targeting is an axle-stressing 465 times last year’s small adjusted profit. The SoftBank-backed firm operates in a fast-growing market, but faces stiff competition and heightened regulation. Justifying the IPO price will be a long haul.
Capital Calls: Tata’s BigBasket deal 31 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: The Indian conglomerate’s purchase of the Alibaba-backed online grocery startup will underpin its digital consumer ambitions.
Star’s stack looks too short to win Crown deal 31 May 2021 The Aussie casino operator’s $7 bln offer interested its larger rival, unlike the Blackstone bid that was dubiously spurned. Star’s proposal is less than it’s cracked up to be, however, and there’s little wiggle room to improve it. Only gaming regulators can help its cause.
Meituan delivers strong dish with weak sides 31 May 2021 The $207 bln company’s main food delivery business more than doubled quarterly sales. But new bets including e-groceries and community group buying helped serve up a $1 bln operating loss. An antitrust probe and rules on insuring drivers threaten to spoil the whole package.
Smaller AT&T is lighter for mobile battle 28 May 2021 Cutthroat phone wars probably pushed boss John Stankey to suddenly exit the media business – a distraction that sucked up resources and cash. Proceeds from the deal will reduce its $169 bln debt load in line with rivals. That gives AT&T a fighting chance.
Review: A theory of everything green 28 May 2021 Carbon taxes, ESG investing, colonizing Mars – they’re all pieces of the puzzle. In “The Spirit of Green,” Nobel laureate William Nordhaus gives a sweeping account of how they fit together, and what economists can offer to counter climate change, if only humans would listen.
Investors place bold bets in UK deal tussle 28 May 2021 Shares in five takeover targets including Spire Healthcare and John Laing are trading at or above agreed offers. Big shareholders like Allianz are protesting lowball bids while merger arbitrageurs are betting on higher prices. But buyers have plenty of reasons to hold firm.
Pandora adds green polish to its lab-diamond bet 28 May 2021 The $13 bln Danish trinket maker is switching to all synthetic stones, a move driven more by profit than sustainability. Man-made rocks can be 90% cheaper than natural ones, putting them in Pandora’s mass-market ambit. The reduced carbon footprint adds some millennial sparkle.
Capital Calls: Klarna, Dan Loeb, Fashion IPO 28 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: The Swedish “buy now, pay later” group’s possible $50 bln price tag may leapfrog rivals Afterpay and Affirm; the corporate agitator deserves a taste of his own medicine; About You’s mooted 3 bln euro valuation implies a discount to rivals.
Nutty berry deal sows competitive seeds Down Under 28 May 2021 Battles like Blackstone’s for Crown, BetMakers’ for parts of Tabcorp and KKR’s for PEXA position Australia for a bumper year of contested M&A. Plentiful money and growth in buyers, bankers and bravado all play a role. A two-sided, 16-bid fruit-farm fight already portends excess.
Sparks fly around China’s reluctant dating app 28 May 2021 Tencent-backed Soulgate, aiming for a U.S. IPO, targets youths who want to socialise non-romantically and anonymously through virtual avatars in a gamified network. It feels like more of a pick-up place. That unhealthy tension is as much of a turn-off as its ballooning net loss.
Viewsroom: Big Oil’s global blow 27 May 2021 A small activist fund upended Exxon Mobil’s board while Shell was dealt a setback in a Dutch courtroom. At the same time, Chevron shareholders backed a proposal to cut more emissions. The interests of both stakeholders and shareholders are rapidly aligning in fossil fuels.
Oil giants’ setbacks turn BP from tortoise to hare 27 May 2021 Investors were initially sceptical about the UK major cutting fossil fuels, preferring the fuzzier plans of its U.S. and European rivals. Shell’s legal defeat and an investor revolt at Exxon Mobil change the game. Clarity on cutting emissions will increasingly support valuations.
Lambo bid tests Volkswagen’s electric bona fides 27 May 2021 CEO Herbert Diess wags on and on about Europe’s biggest carmaker challenging Tesla for the green automotive crown. Selling the sports car favoured by the crypto-sheikh set, which has attracted a bid worth $9 bln, would allow him to put his money where his gaffe-prone mouth is.
Italy sovereign wealth fund gets market friendlier 27 May 2021 Dario Scannapieco will run state investor Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. Under Fabrizio Palermo the $500 bln fund intervened boldly in M&A and hoovered up stakes in assets like Euronext. A change of the guard, under liberal Premier Mario Draghi, suggests a welcome recalibration.
Capital Calls: Airbus signals liftoff, Bill Gates 27 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: The global aircraft industrial complex got a boost after the European plane maker said it hopes to churn out more of its A320 short-haul workhorses per month than expected; Microsoft founder’s huge private investment vehicle under scrutiny.
Richemont’s perfect match has luxury price tag 27 May 2021 The $58 bln Cartier owner has been talking to rivals. A tie-up with a peer like Kering makes more sense than gobbling up smaller players, but would require boss Johann Rupert to give up control. With the business going strong, he is in as good a position as ever to strike a deal.
Car-charging deal curbs SPAC sticker shock 27 May 2021 Australia-based Tritium’s $1.7 bln blank-cheque merger includes bold revenue predictions typical of such tie-ups. But it values the manufacturer of electric-vehicle fast chargers at a decent discount to rivals and isn’t raising extra cash. The relative thriftiness is welcome.
HSBC better late than never with U.S. exit 27 May 2021 It’s selling much of its American retail business to Citizens and Cathay for a song. There’s little capital relief from this sober end to a pricey, decades-long effort. At least it finally removes a distraction so that boss Noel Quinn can put the needed attention on Asia.
Pinduoduo’s new boss has long list to check off 27 May 2021 The $155 bln e-commerce group tripled quarterly sales to $3 bln and narrowed losses – a good start for CEO Chen Lei. Under his predecessor, Pinduoduo delivered annualised returns of over 90%. Pressure from Beijing, slowing growth and fierce competition will make that hard to top.
India’s Oyo Hotels tidies for new overseas guests 27 May 2021 The SoftBank-backed budget-lodging aggregator wants to borrow $600 mln to refinance debt. Using an offshore syndicated loan suggests a restructuring is working and courts potential IPO investors. For now, Oyo also dodges the issue of how far its peak $10 bln valuation has fallen.
Xiaomi makes smartphones trendy again 27 May 2021 Quarterly handset sales rocketed up 70% to $8 bln, underscoring how the Chinese group has exploited rival Huawei’s woes. Xiaomi's successful overseas expansion and move to more premium models also stand out in the low-margin sector. Sustaining momentum will be the next challenge.
Banks to Congress: hate the game, not the players 26 May 2021 Financial chiefs including Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon and Citi’s Jane Fraser told U.S. senators they want to be more diverse, green and sensitive to workers. They also described themselves as committed capitalists. The latter explains why progress on the former is so patchy.
Activist win at Exxon may change corporate America 26 May 2021 Dissident owners replaced at least two of the oil giant’s 12 directors, a huge feat. CEO Darren Woods and others are now on notice. A radical shift toward green energy is not easy. For Exxon, it may mean broader change, perhaps even an end to its century-old stock-market listing.
Dutch court hands Shell chairman shakeup stick 26 May 2021 A Hague judge has told the oil giant to toughen up its targets for cutting carbon emissions. Besides appealing, Shell could try to dodge the ruling by moving its headquarters. Alternatively, new chair Andrew Mackenzie could shunt the group in the direction of rivals BP and Total.
Inflationary tide rises on glum shipping forecast 26 May 2021 Sea freight costs have more than tripled in the past year. Ports are backed up, containers are in the wrong place, and demand is picking up. Supply-chain disruptions won’t last forever. But, going by what companies like Maersk are seeing, pressures may persist for most of 2021.
UK sends mixed message with London IPO veto 26 May 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is seeking powers to block stock market offerings that threaten national security. Even if used rarely, the move is at odds with his drive to lure firms to list in London after Brexit. It’s another sign of the government’s ideological inconsistency.
UK hospital M&A gives risky fix for future ailment 26 May 2021 Australia’s Ramsay Health Care may buy Spire for 1 bln pounds, creating Britain's largest private operator. It can profit from the Covid-19 recovery, and hedge against government cost-cutting. But for the deal to work, competition authorities will need to be gentle.