Karen Kwok

Karen is a columnist focusing on global technology and venture capital sectors, writing stories about fintech, semiconductors, food delivery and alternative food startups. She also covers the Middle East region, mining companies and deals. Prior to Breakingviews, she was a European gas and power reporter at S&P Global Platts in London and covered funds and equities at Morningstar UK. Karen also briefly worked at China Daily Europe and Bloomberg. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.

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Contact Info

Karen Kwok
Columnist, London
+44 (0)77 2182 1589
E-mail: karen.kwok@thomsonreuters.com

Recent stories

Czech Sphinx may need to pay up for UK mail morsel

Daniel Kretinsky has been rebuffed in a bid to buy the 72% of 3 bln pound International Distributions Services he doesn’t already own. The Czech billionaire has deep enough pockets to pay more for the owner of Royal Mail. But his target’s board has grounds to dig its heels in.
17 Apr 2024
Microsoft’s G42 deal puts UAE in America’s AI tent

The $3 trln software giant is paying $1.5 bln for a minority stake in Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence group G42. Microsoft gets years of cloud storage business. But it also implies an end to the Gulf state’s effort to be a neutral AI counterparty to China and the US.
16 Apr 2024
Gulf bank’s M&A hunt risks shareholder injury

First Abu Dhabi, worth $40 bln, may be eyeing Turkish lenders following a short-lived pursuit of Standard Chartered. An overseas deal would help to diversify away from corporate and investment banking, but the cost savings look slim. Better to focus on growing at home.
15 Apr 2024
BP takeover is both appealing and daunting

12 Apr 2024
UAE flips own script with $4 bln oil pipeline deal

5 Apr 2024
A Dr Martens sale may cause multiple blisters

4 Apr 2024
Soho House’s private party may prove disappointing

2 Apr 2024
Middle East AI dream depends on luring brainpower

22 Mar 2024
UK media muddle is fresh turn-off for foreign cash

14 Mar 2024
Cosmetics IPO application calls for a steady hand

4 Mar 2024
UK $4 bln insurance mash-up may yet motor

28 Feb 2024
Klarna IPO now makes less sense than one later

28 Feb 2024
UAE makes $35 bln bet on Egyptian virtuous circle

26 Feb 2024
Anglo American can mine Vale for revamp ideas

22 Feb 2024
DSM’s China de-risking plan hinges on booster shot

15 Feb 2024
Arm’s weirdly high valuation has legs

13 Feb 2024
Abu Dhabi’s Europe M&A hedges an opaque future

26 Jan 2024
Athleisure boom offers edge to premium retailers

18 Jan 2024
Abu Dhabi’s new spinoff raises familiar questions

8 Jan 2024
Artificial intelligence will embark on a data dash

22 Dec 2023
Wintershall saga reaches logical $11 bln endgame

21 Dec 2023
Adobe paints brighter future without Figma

18 Dec 2023
AI firms lead quest for intelligent business model

12 Dec 2023
EU payments tie-up would build wider M&A defence

11 Dec 2023
Glencore’s split is yet to be copper-bottomed

6 Dec 2023
OPEC+ is a weird club for Brazil to want to join

30 Nov 2023
LME win leaves one tricky question unanswered

29 Nov 2023
ADNOC German oil deal has bad timing, good logic

28 Nov 2023
Adevinta $13 bln bid puts minorities in a corner

22 Nov 2023
Payments sector comedown creates opening for M&A

17 Nov 2023
Siemens Energy solves just one of its many issues

15 Nov 2023
Glencore deal is necessary detour on breakup path

14 Nov 2023
Adyen shows being an open book pays off

9 Nov 2023
Profitable Klarna poses IPO valuation conundrum

9 Nov 2023
Germany faces tricky call on Siemens Energy aid

26 Oct 2023
Worldline crash is pivotal moment for payments

25 Oct 2023
West’s latest China corporate risk: medical graft

23 Oct 2023
European payments LBO would be rewarding but messy

18 Oct 2023
Israel’s robust economy faces a major stress test

10 Oct 2023
Meta’s EU subscription looks suspiciously pricey

3 Oct 2023
OpenAI value ignores CEO’s fundraising odyssey

27 Sep 2023
Permira will have to work to exit classified hole

22 Sep 2023
UFC’s Saudi challenge may be less than a body blow

22 Sep 2023
Saudi’s $700 bln PIF is odd sort of sovereign fund

21 Sep 2023
Prosus CEO exit leaves Tencent elephant in room

18 Sep 2023
Arm’s $52 bln IPO value sets stage for a fall

13 Sep 2023
Nvidia gives Arm IPO a double leg-up

4 Sep 2023
Rolex’s deal is ticking time bomb for retailers

25 Aug 2023
Arm’s changing business model is wildcard for IPO

24 Aug 2023
Arm’s IPO risks shine brighter than its potential

22 Aug 2023
SoftBank Arm deal is expensive gift to Vision Fund

21 Aug 2023
Fickle Big Tech customers wash away Adyen’s moat

17 Aug 2023
Arm IPO depends on more than Big Tech support

14 Aug 2023
Britain’s trustbuster has a shot at redemption

3 Aug 2023
Saudi pays rich but logical price for Vale metals

28 Jul 2023
Glencore deal epitomises net zero’s reduced status

27 Jul 2023
ADNOC has upper hand in $30 bln plastics M&A

24 Jul 2023
Amazon-EU web content spat is all about grey areas

20 Jul 2023
Microsoft-Activision deal not yet game on

12 Jul 2023
Ocado has better options than a cheap sale

7 Jul 2023
Prosus’ juggle leaves bigger worries up in the air

27 Jun 2023
Masayoshi Son’s new AI push merits a pinch of salt

22 Jun 2023
AI’s regulation naysayers protest too much

21 Jun 2023
ADNOC’s German chemical punt looks a stretch

20 Jun 2023
Bain’s Swiss software bid merits hard pushback

20 Jun 2023
Bunge’s $22 bln Viterra deal is a tolerable muddle

13 Jun 2023
SoftBank’s Arm IPO set for double stroke of luck

13 Jun 2023
IPO pops are iffy adverts for Gulf capital markets

1 Jun 2023
Glencore’s Bunge redux may yield Teck benefits

26 May 2023
Revolut-SoftBank fight exposes VC share artifice

22 May 2023
Activision is victim of clashing trustbuster whims

16 May 2023
Glencore’s best Teck tactic is a surgical strike

28 Apr 2023
Britain grabs mantle of chief Big Tech deal-slayer

26 Apr 2023
Chile’s lithium grab puts foreign miners on notice

21 Apr 2023
Teck breakup vote is just a battle in Glencore war

21 Apr 2023
Glencore’s Teck gambit could slip on an oily patch

6 Apr 2023
Glencore will have to dig deep for Canadian miner

3 Apr 2023
Israel hits tech sector cash cow while it’s down

3 Apr 2023
War on cow farts is stinky but necessary job

24 Mar 2023
Short-seller attack blunts Block’s edges

23 Mar 2023
Startups lost a wheel greaser with SVB blowup

17 Mar 2023
Clinging to Richemont is Rupert’s smartest bet

9 Mar 2023
SAP ends pointless M&A roundtrip with Qualtrics

7 Mar 2023
Fintech darling Stripe has first-world problems

2 Mar 2023
Revolut audit snag undermines $33 bln price tag

1 Mar 2023
UAE gas IPO’s $50 bln valuation looks like a floor

22 Feb 2023
Hermès’ “MetaBirkin” win misses the big picture

17 Feb 2023
Glencore’s coal fudge risks satisfying no one

15 Feb 2023
Microsoft can answer antitrust “Call of Duty”

13 Feb 2023
Payments darling wisely resists tech layoff trend

8 Feb 2023
Rough chip waters give ASML little room for error

25 Jan 2023
Battered fintech sector’s next play: sell ads

20 Jan 2023
Microsoft’s AI bet: heads I win, tails I also win

10 Jan 2023
First Abu Dhabi and StanChart may have second act

10 Jan 2023
Fitness firms’ regime: lots of brands, few assets

6 Jan 2023
EU is stuck playing catch-up with Amazon and Apple

5 Jan 2023
“Lifetime value” is Silicon Valley’s next buzzword

28 Dec 2022
E-commerce will go viral on social media in 2023

27 Dec 2022
Interlopers may yet crash the Gulf bank fee party

22 Dec 2022
New buy-now-pay-later fad runs old-school risks

8 Dec 2022
Rio Tinto plays chancy round of Mongolian roulette

7 Dec 2022
Oatly’s best turnaround recipe is dollops of cash

25 Nov 2022
Lisbon tech schmooze takes baby steps to reality

4 Nov 2022
Spotify will have to keep an eye on TikTok’s clock

25 Oct 2022
There’s method to Saudi’s $38 bln gaming madness

11 Oct 2022
Best destination for SoftBank’s Arm IPO is nowhere

7 Oct 2022
Mutual funds’ private bets could use more daylight

14 Sep 2022
Rio’s Mongolian buyout saga has further chapters

13 Sep 2022
Cinemas’ debt horror show compels a director’s cut

25 Aug 2022
Richemont finds tolerable way to refocus

24 Aug 2022
Fintech’s next big down round may have an upside

24 Aug 2022
Rio minorities’ bet is far from copper-bottomed

15 Aug 2022
Food delivery’s next gig is software-as-a-service

10 Aug 2022
Why is Tiger dodging family office-dom?

19 Jul 2022
Vendor is main winner in Brookfield’s towers coup

14 Jul 2022
SoftBank’s Fortress sale calls for an interloper

13 Jul 2022
Misra’s next step is worth watching, with caution

7 Jul 2022
EU crypto rules will cheer banks and deter minnows

6 Jul 2022
Euromoney offers warm glow in buyout freeze

21 Jun 2022
Western bankers’ long wait for Gulf gold pays off

20 Jun 2022
Plant-based food stocks lack sustainable finance

10 Jun 2022
Apple pay-later foray blurs tech-finance boundary

9 Jun 2022
UAE’s $20 bln chemical IPO is pricey for a reason

26 May 2022
Unicorns’ hard times point to M&A stampede

25 May 2022
Review: War on digital payment fails to hit target

20 May 2022
Klarna’s $46 bln price tag endures only in theory

19 May 2022
Stars align for UAE to become a global crypto hub

6 May 2022
Arm IPO bankers will struggle to tell growth story

29 Apr 2022
Just Eat investors are stuck with its founder

27 Apr 2022
Just Eat Takeaway faces humiliating U.S. exit

20 Apr 2022
Buy gas now, pay later is a hard tiger to ride

1 Apr 2022
Dubai’s $34 bln utility float tees up IPO drive

25 Mar 2022
Aramco health adds spice to Saudi’s yuan dilemma

21 Mar 2022
Frozen Russia investors can copy hedge fund trick

17 Mar 2022
Russia exodus tests fund managers’ liquidity limit

2 Mar 2022
Kering gets dressed up for elusive mega-deal

17 Feb 2022
Arm IPO marks sober end to SoftBank chip party

8 Feb 2022
Tech slump forces IPO hopefuls to consider Plan B

4 Feb 2022
Rogan deal blunts Spotify’s edgy podcast appeal

31 Jan 2022
Just Eat Takeaway’s best U.S. call is late dropoff

21 Jan 2022
Rising IPO tide could lift all Gulf boats

20 Jan 2022
Red-hot startups face a year of down rounds

29 Dec 2021
Live now, pay later is fintech’s latest extension

21 Dec 2021
Big Meat will channel VW-Tesla in alt-protein war

20 Dec 2021
EU gig economy faces lengthy fight with Brussels

9 Dec 2021
Visa-Mastercard payments duopoly has staying power

8 Dec 2021
Transatlantic food delivery value gap will narrow

3 Dec 2021
Former Uber rival flags down SPAC business model

11 Nov 2021
DoorDash’s $8 bln bite supersizes its ambitions

9 Nov 2021
Tech gabfest shows conferences a real-world future

8 Nov 2021
Rapid grocery delivery will keep investors waiting

19 Oct 2021
Breakdown: Buy Now, Pay Later’s bill is coming due

14 Oct 2021
Sweden’s tiny tech investor is proxy bet on Klarna

8 Oct 2021
Acquisitive Swedes may turn into overseas turnips

7 Oct 2021
Nordic retail robot IPO carries steep price tag

29 Sep 2021
Time for sports data’s also-ran to Be Like Mike

21 Sep 2021
UK bus groups bet on future bumps in the road

21 Sep 2021
Federer’s sneaker IPO sets blistering pace

16 Sep 2021
Federer injects Swiss topspin into On sneaker IPO

24 Aug 2021
Just Eat Takeaway is looking like an M&A leftover

17 Aug 2021
Delivery Hero’s side gig does it few favours

12 Aug 2021
Review: WeWork’s debacle had many enablers

6 Aug 2021
Klarna’s list of suitors may not be that extensive

4 Aug 2021
Swedish tech investor benefits by slimming down

12 Jul 2021
UK credibility on China inward M&A gets wafer-thin

8 Jul 2021
Just Eat Takeaway risks heartburn with U.S. deal

16 Jun 2021
FirstGroup rebels may rue waiting for the next bus

25 May 2021
Oatly IPO pumps fresh air into plant-based stocks

20 May 2021
Germany becomes food delivery battleground, again

12 May 2021
Rapid grocery delivery splurge will end with purge

30 Apr 2021
EQT pays an electrifying price for U.S. bus ride

23 Apr 2021
Oatly’s IPO health depends heavily on China

20 Apr 2021
Hong Kong-on-Thames lies in not-too-distant future

13 Apr 2021
Deliveroo is unsavoury appetiser for UK IPO revamp

31 Mar 2021
IPO laggards pay price for predecessors’ chutzpah

30 Mar 2021
Deliveroo’s IPO cash hunger leaves sour aftertaste

30 Mar 2021
Stripe’s $95 bln pop raises bar for payments hype

15 Mar 2021
Klarna listing would be a mixed blessing

25 Feb 2021
Oatly value ingests Beyond Meat’s bloat

24 Feb 2021
Europe is now the main front in gig economy war

19 Feb 2021
Europe’s payments king faces fight to keep throne

10 Feb 2021
UK throws sand in buy now pay credit boom’s wheels

2 Feb 2021
Shared scooters jump into a profitable future

14 Jan 2021
UK’s duty-free golden goose will become albatross

30 Dec 2020
Picture this: Netflix and Amazon buy cinema chains

22 Dec 2020
Buy-now-pay-later exposes regulation blind spot

8 Dec 2020
DoorDash delivers mixed messages for Just Eat

2 Dec 2020
Elliott’s Swiss cookie raid merits activist slap

24 Nov 2020
VF’s Supreme buy doesn’t need much kick

9 Nov 2020
Chinese tech giants take proxy war to New York

3 Nov 2020
Virus tests faith in food delivery economics

21 Oct 2020
Teaching apps confront elephant in the classroom

15 Oct 2020
Deliveroo’s IPO is a dish best served soon

7 Oct 2020
HK migrants likely to give UK only a tiny boost

6 Oct 2020
Klarna’s new $11 bln valuation looks a stretch

15 Sep 2020
Arm M&A calls for Boris Johnson veto

8 Sep 2020
Fintech payment pioneers face war on two fronts

3 Sep 2020
Delivery Hero M&A feast is DAX-doubtful

27 Aug 2020
SoftBank wins most in $5 bln industrial-data M&A

25 Aug 2020
Sweden’s $2 bln oat milk startup has watery moat

16 Jul 2020
Sweden chips away at fintech star’s foundations

13 Jul 2020
China-UK stock link’s glitches go beyond politics

17 Jun 2020
Just Eat investors may refuse to swallow Grubhub

11 Jun 2020
“Lipstick effect” kissed off by Covid-19

11 Jun 2020
UK’s Hong Kong stance is so far mostly spin

4 Jun 2020
Zynga puts overvalued shares to risky use

1 Jun 2020
Just Eat puts convertibles at top of bankers’ menu

23 Apr 2020
UK’s inward M&A muddle comes home to roost

21 Apr 2020
Anti-Amazon antitrust is UK’s latest crisis victim

17 Apr 2020
Meal couriers can gain by cutting the grocery line

1 Apr 2020
Ritz sale suggests some assets are virus-proof

30 Mar 2020
Lockdowns mean heartburn for meal-delivery market

16 Mar 2020
Uber’s gig model mutates to meet virus challenge

13 Mar 2020
Trump bumps smart infrastructure punters to coach

12 Mar 2020
Virus will change beauty in eyes of beholders

4 Mar 2020
Blackstone bets big on Boris British housing hedge

26 Feb 2020
Bezos-Saudi spat has e-commerce proxy war

3 Feb 2020
UK belatedly bares antitrust teeth over tech M&A

24 Jan 2020
China virus scare leaves bling giants exposed

21 Jan 2020
UK property’s crisis cash call tests Boris bounce

20 Jan 2020
Buy now, pay later faces Juul-style backlash

24 Dec 2019
Just Eat offer is taster for Christmas food fight

9 Dec 2019
Russian tech investors see benefits of state grip

19 Nov 2019
Just Eat M&A takeout is best served with cash

15 Nov 2019
SoftBank would win from $15 bln Yahoo-Line rejig

13 Nov 2019
UK listing rules bonfire gives more pain than gain

6 Nov 2019
SoftBank debt burden may stoke an asset fire sale

5 Nov 2019
Just Eat bidders distracted by messy sideshow

29 Oct 2019
Naspers spinoff wades into UK food delivery fight

22 Oct 2019
Vaping blowback leaves Imperial short of puff

26 Sep 2019
Tapestry’s luxury conglomerate dream unravels

4 Sep 2019
Just Eat M&A bump may have a long delivery time

3 Sep 2019
Li Ka-shing raises fresh glass to diversification

19 Aug 2019
Chinese tourists’ reverse-Marco Polo is no fluke

19 Aug 2019
Western luxury brands’ China dilemma will worsen

14 Aug 2019
Takeaway.com’s $6 bln Just Eat bid is undercooked

5 Aug 2019
Just Eat satisfies hunger for takeaway Dutch CEO

29 Jul 2019
Branson’s space deal defies financial gravity

9 Jul 2019
Canada’s student flat deal hedges its UK bets

3 Jul 2019
Greyhound activist gets few scraps from board coup

25 Jun 2019
China’s UK stock debutante lacks a return ticket

14 Jun 2019
Beyond Meat gets extra fire from being rare

7 Jun 2019
Greyhound sale is first leg of owner’s long trip

30 May 2019
Greyhound breakup is worth the trip

20 May 2019
Amazon-Uber food fight means empty bellies for all

17 May 2019
Uber has recipes to avoid delivery indigestion

9 May 2019
Private equity could choke on Imperial cigar sale

8 May 2019
Vision Fund IPO could self-disrupt

3 May 2019
Uber gets an IPO boost from Middle East deal

26 Mar 2019
Just Eat’s final course looks unappetising

6 Mar 2019
Moncler’s strength will whet its M&A appetite

1 Mar 2019
EU can afford to shunt Siemens-Alstom to a siding

18 Jan 2019
SoftBank-WeWork mess exposes cracks in Vision Fund

8 Jan 2019
Italy’s woes could spell LVMH moment for Moncler

2 Jan 2019
SoftBank writedown will cloud Son’s way forward

17 Dec 2018
Richemont’s Alibaba tie-up can’t come soon enough

9 Nov 2018
Gucci owner is unreliable beacon for luxury sector

24 Oct 2018
China worries give luxury investors excuse to sell

9 Oct 2018
Europe’s $50 bln payment upstarts can justify hype

10 Sep 2018
Winner’s curse defeats numbers game at World Cup

29 Jun 2018
Numbers add up to Germany retaining World Cup

29 May 2018
Peppa Pig can survive Chinese censor’s cleaver

3 May 2018
Trump trade war risks European carmaker backfire

10 Apr 2018