Mining magnate is Greta’s unlikely kindred spirit 6 Oct 2021 Fortescue boss Andrew Forrest goes beyond the climate activist’s “blah blah blah” net-zero dismissal by calling such targets “a lie”. He’s basically right, but his own company clings to the carbon trope. The ambition on green hydrogen and Scope 3 targets, however, is welcome.
Capital Calls: Facebook, TeamViewer, Audio M&A 6 Oct 2021 Concise views on global finance: Whistleblower Frances Haugen’s polished rollout is a warning for Big Tech; the video software specialist’s 25% share price fall shows the perils of growth stocks; hearing aid group GN snaps up headset maker SteelSeries for $1.3 bln.
India’s promoter capitalism gets a timely bashing 6 Oct 2021 Shareholders are stirring up resistance at Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance, broadcaster Zee and lender PNB. Some of the uprisings will be quelled, but they underscore a welcome shift toward more investor-friendly forces. It’s an overdue development just as interest in the market surges.
GlobalFoundries is no chip off the TSMC block 5 Oct 2021 The Abu Dhabi-owned chip manufacturer has filed for a U.S. IPO. It has tailwinds thanks to industry capacity shortages and Western countries’ desire to produce semiconductors at home. But it’s plagued by persistent losses and a reported $25 billion valuation looks a stretch.
French cloud IPO is a bet on EU tech sovereignty 5 Oct 2021 OVHcloud is listing in Paris for up to 3.7 bln euros. Slow growth and the tight grip of founder Octave Klaba justify the IT group’s low valuation. But sales could surge if European businesses and governments push to keep data at home rather than with Amazon, Google or Microsoft.
Best tool to rein in Big Tech is a cap on users 5 Oct 2021 Facebook, Amazon and YouTube can shrug off fines because of their size; public hearings don’t much hurt either. A more effective way to change behavior would be to bar them from signing up new users – a tech-world version of what U.S. regulators did with wayward bank Wells Fargo.
India spotlights Facebook’s ubiquity problem 5 Oct 2021 The social network and its WhatsApp platform are proxies for the internet and phone in the $920 bln company’s biggest market. So their outage had users scrambling. That’s New Delhi’s cue to extend its aggressive effort to curb Facebook’s heft beyond simply policing content.
Britain’s grocery LBO boom invites risky price war 5 Oct 2021 CD&R paid $10 bln for Morrisons, months after rival Asda also fell to private equity. Supermarket chains already face thin margins and brutal competition. But with more of the sector now loaded with debt, rivals like Aldi may be emboldened to slash prices and grab market share.
Road to COP: How can banks stop planetary frying? 5 Oct 2021 In the first instance, financial institutions can reduce travel budgets and replace radiators in office buildings and branches. The real leverage comes in how they manage customer assets and deploy balance sheets, UBS Chief Executive Ralph Hamers says in a chat with Rob Cox.
Capital Calls: U.S. deal watchdog, Italian IPO 5 Oct 2021 Concise views on global finance: Blog posts from the FTC’s competition chief reveal plans to go way bigger when extracting concessions from merging companies; Italy's $5 billion security group Leonardo is taking a second run at listing its DRS unit in the United States.
China’s bad loan markets will pad property crash 5 Oct 2021 The real estate crisis is rich pickings for distressed debt investors, as new exchanges and special courts have become more efficient at resolving duff loans. President Xi Jinping is no capitalist, but when it comes to popping bubbles, he’s allowed room for market forces.
Facebook outage is dry run for worse web crashes 5 Oct 2021 The $920 bln firm’s eponymous and Instagram social networks, plus messaging platform WhatsApp, just went kaput for hours. People use them for more than cat snaps. But a similar mess at Amazon, say, would have a bigger impact. Some internet services may now be too crucial to fail.
Cox: How Greta can transition from blah blah blah 4 Oct 2021 The young Swedish climate activist grabbed headlines in Milan at the runup to COP26 last week, castigating “so-called leaders” for talking much and acting too little. She’s got a point. But generational resentment won’t halt global warming. She’d be better off going nuclear.
Fed heretic punctures inflation policy groupthink 4 Oct 2021 A senior adviser at the U.S. central bank has attacked the notion that people's price expectations today influence future actual inflation rates. Challenging conventional wisdom is always useful. And if Jeremy Rudd is right, policymakers may be looking the wrong way.
Capital Calls: Pandora, Facebook files pack punch 4 Oct 2021 Concise views on global finance: A leak with rich people’s offshore activities and a Facebook exposé reinforce perceptions with facts; GitLab’s float shows Microsoft’s wise 2018 buy; Volvo IPO aims to supercharge EV plans; BT’s bid to rule UK broadband may face U.S. competition.
Drahi drags satellite M&A into near-earth orbit 4 Oct 2021 France’s Eutelsat rejected the telecom billionaire’s $3.2 bln bid. If a follow-up offer succeeds, Drahi could pursue a cost-saving merger with rival SES, whose TV-signal business is also succumbing to gravity. A chunky spectrum refund from the U.S. government makes a deal easier.
Solvay activist’s Greenpeace costume doesn’t wash 4 Oct 2021 Smug from shaking up Danone, Bluebell Capital is chiding the chemicals group for dumping limestone on a Tuscan beach. With only token economic exposure, its bid to oust boss Ilham Kadri lacks heft. It’s also unclear what other investors gain from joining its eco-warrior campaign.
Oyo Hotels angles for an IPO upgrade 4 Oct 2021 Covid-19 prompted the Indian online lodging firm to change tactics as revenue fell 69% last year. A mooted $11 bln valuation implies a discount to Airbnb’s sales multiple, but it’s still a robust 19 times. Even a canny boss like Ritesh Agarwal is at the mercy of a travel rebound.
Rivian risks reckless run onto public markets 4 Oct 2021 The electric-vehicle maker backed by Amazon and BlackRock only just started selling its first model. It’s also burning cash fast and Jeff Bezos’s e-commerce empire has the upper hand as a big customer for delivery vans. A mooted $80 bln valuation sounds like a runaway IPO.
Morrisons losers will check out UK’s Sainsbury’s 2 Oct 2021 CD&R won an auction for Britain’s fourth biggest supermarket with a 7 billion pound bid, edging out a consortium led by SoftBank’s Fortress by just 1 pence per share. The winner could be overpaying, making rival grocer Sainsbury’s look more attractive as a fallback option.
Dollar stores have more than an inflation problem 1 Oct 2021 Dollar Tree is upping the number of stores that sell goods for $3 and $5 rather than $1. Part of the problem is skyrocketing costs. But Americans' shopping habits are also changing. For CEO Michael Witynski, charging higher prices is just the first step.
Data center holdout needs new class of buyer 1 Oct 2021 The nearly $10 bln CyrusOne is exploring a sale after missing out on previous consolidation. A historical discount to rivals is an opportunity for infrastructure investors keen on the expanding sector. But any suitor will have to overlook challenges that put off others.
Jefferies will go from banking standout to misfit 30 Sep 2021 As a rare stand-alone investment bank, Rich Handler’s firm is riding high on ebullient markets and dealmaking. Revenue rose 19% last quarter. But as Wall Street peers' businesses shift and interest rates rise, favoring traditional banking, Jefferies could start to look lonely.
ECB has the least worrying inflation problem 1 Oct 2021 Euro zone consumer prices rose 3.4% in September, strengthening the hand of those who want boss Christine Lagarde to wind up emergency monetary stimulus. But structural unemployment is higher, the economy less robust and fiscal policy less stimulative than in the United States.
Capital Calls: Merck pill, Zoom deal 1 Oct 2021 Concise views on global finance: Investors are being stingy about the pharma firm’s new drug to treat Covid-19; the video-conference company and Five9 are dropping their $15 bln transaction.
Zambia chips away at China’s secret debt edifice 1 Oct 2021 The African state owes Chinese lenders $6.6 bln, twice as much as previously thought. That doesn’t change its overall debt burden, just the mix of creditors. But it alters the power balance in restructuring talks. The case for borrowers to be more transparent just got stronger.