Asia-Pacific

Asia $5 bln property deal builds on a big pivot

5 August 2021READY SOON

Hong Kong-listed ESR is buying fellow real estate manager ARA, its second big acquisition in months. It’s a bet that asset owners want to swap their offices and shops for exposure to fast-growing logistics and data centres. The region’s expanding REIT markets will help.

China’s Delta outbreak casts pall over growth

5 August 2021

A dozen provinces have imposed travel curbs, mass testing and other strict measures to try to contain the highly contagious strain. Yet 60% of the population is probably vaccinated. Beijing’s zero tolerance for new cases has limited economic impact so far, but that could change.

Viewsroom: Jack Dorsey takes a trip Down Under

5 August 2021

Square’s $29 bln takeover of Aussie fintech darling Afterpay shines a light on the “buy now, pay later” craze, which poses a big challenge to many established players in the banking and payments businesses, argue Melbourne-based editors Jeff Goldfarb and Antony Currie.

Capital Calls: Japanese carmakers

5 August 2021

Concise views on global finance: Toyota, Nissan and Honda all post surprisingly good first-quarter earnings

Chancellor: Bringing down the Red Curtain

4 August 2021

Recent shocks from Beijing are reminders that while investors in the West are protected by the rule of law, China’s markets are characterised by the “rule by law”. Investors shouldn’t forget Beijing has the final say on how capital is allocated and who gets paid and who doesn’t.

Covid-19 test makers near risky M&A endgame

4 August 2021

Diagnostic groups like Roche and Abbott Laboratories were the big winners of the pandemic, with their market values swelling by nearly $230 bln. The advent of vaccines means demand for their services will wane. Dealmaking could be a fix but only if companies can avoid overpaying.

Capital Calls: GM, Hugo Boss, NYT, Frontier tech

4 August 2021

Concise views on global finance: The U.S. automaker finds inflation cuts both ways; the German-listed fashion brand hopes to double sales by 2025; advertising is a bright spot for the New York Times; Zymergen vaporized 75% of its value under four months after a $3 bln IPO.

Aussie takeover refuseniks toss hitchhiker’s guide

4 August 2021

Sydney Airport, Iress and Altium all spurned bids with a 42% premium, the famed sci-fi number that answers the ultimate question of life. Playing hard to get, as target Spark has done, is part of the M&A game. Hubris, however, has a way of leading to remorse in the deal universe.

Policybazaar IPO stacks up in a price comparison

4 August 2021

The SoftBank-backed insurance and loans marketplace is worth 42 times sales on a mooted $5 bln valuation. Its leading digital market position and blistering growth justify the high multiple, despite rising competition from rivals like Paytm which could beat it on distribution.

Capital Calls: Grab, Gaming, SocGen, Stellantis

3 August 2021

Concise views on global finance: The Southeast Asian super-app delivers some of the goods; Tencent shares tank after Chinese state-media criticism; the French lender’s investment bank overhauls goals; the carmaker hikes operating margin targets to a chunky 10%.

Li Auto’s Hong Kong debut extends battery hedge

3 August 2021

The New York-traded carmaker aims to raise $1.9 billion by adding an HKEX listing. Unlike peers Xpeng and Nio, it sells hybrids, with no pure-electric models on the road until 2023. It’s a wager on a slower energy transition in China that could bring profitability before rivals.

Capital Calls: Aussie oil deal, Fund services M&A

2 August 2021

Concise views on global finance: Santos’ improved and agreed offer for Oil Search comes at a discount to its rejected first attempt; Sanne’s dealmaking poker face looks set to be vindicated.

Sunnier HSBC leaves something for rainy day

2 August 2021

The Asia-focused bank more than doubled first-half profit to $10.8 bln to generate a 9.4% return after the scary bad-loan outlook improved. Despite a steady turnaround, boss Noel Quinn is paying just a slim dividend. With the virus resurgent, there’s good reason for caution.

Afterpay’s $29 bln Square deal taps new reality

2 August 2021

The instalment-payments darling has defied naysayers for years but faces fresh competition from PayPal and Apple. An all-stock takeover by Jack Dorsey’s fintech outfit comes at a discount to a recent valuation peak. Selling now, though, provides a better chance of success later.

Alibaba can shake off its China discount

2 August 2021

The e-commerce titan's shares have tumbled 40% from an October 2020 peak as Beijing cracks down on tech. It’s now trading at a big discount to Amazon even though both are growing profit at about the same rate. Alibaba's resilient businesses should help the valuation gap narrow.

Evergrande’s fire sale risks too little too late

2 August 2021

The indebted developer sold stakes worth $418 mln in media unit HengTen to buyers including Tencent after its shares tanked. But it is also lending HengTen $260 mln for five years, interest-free. With its stock and bonds plunging, this deal looks both stubborn and desperate.

Capital Calls: China, Disney, Banks, P&G, Fintech

30 July 2021

Concise views on global finance: The SEC wants more disclosures on IPO risks related to Beijing regulators; plus Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit, EU stress tests, consumer prices, and Qatar’s investment in an African fintech.

Nomura trails in race to cast off Archegos mess

30 July 2021

The lender has not laid out how it lost $2.9 bln in the U.S. fund’s collapse although fellow loser Credit Suisse just did so in painful detail. With the Japanese bank’s investment unit still wilting from the hit, recovering profits elsewhere will only help to a point.

Grab’s tiny deal spotlights big Indonesia turf war

30 July 2021

A deal to shore up ties with a Jakarta conglomerate recalls the country’s importance for the super-app’s growth ahead of its $40 bln New York debut, and as top local rivals merge. Grab’s Southeast Asian footprint has benefits, but Indonesia carries outsize strategic value.

Review: Turning Beijing’s playbook against it

30 July 2021

China wants to become a global hegemon, Rush Doshi, the White House’s lead China wonk, argues in “The Long Game”. To halt its advance, he suggests copying Beijing’s strategy, and discouraging U.S. corporate engagement with China by tweaking taxes. He has few allies and less time.