KKR gets a biscuit LBO do-over Down Under 2 Aug 2019 The private equity fund that invented the cookie buyout is acquiring Campbell's Australian snacks unit for $2.2 bln. It’s less audacious than the $25 bln RJR Nabisco deal 30 years ago. But if KKR can scrape out decent growth and profitability, this one may prove tastier.
Glencore coal split could scratch multiple itches 2 Aug 2019 The $42 bln giant is the largest thermal coal exporter, at a time when miners are under growing pressure to clean up. Splitting out that business would help, and can also lift a depressed valuation. It might even make sense for boss Ivan Glasenberg to lead the carve-out himself.
U.S. tariffs risk reviving Chinese zombies 2 Aug 2019 President Trump is threatening new levies on $300 bln of goods after Shanghai talks proved inconclusive. Beijing can cushion with stimulus, benefitting state industries and inflating asset bubbles. Liberalisation offers better yields, but by this point patience may be lacking.
Viewsroom: Is Beyond Meat worth a bite? 1 Aug 2019 The meatless-burger maker is the best-performing IPO of the year by far. Now insiders are selling stock early as the company deals with rising competition, regulations and even a potential pea shortage. Plus: Using wine goggles to look at Western firms’ joint ventures in China.
Father of Indian TV muddies deal transmission 1 Aug 2019 Subhash Chandra is selling 11% of Zee Entertainment to Invesco to pay down debt. The transaction values the top broadcaster at $5.6 bln and fends off a mooted Comcast-led bid. Shareholders miss out on a control premium and face more uncertainty before Zee can realise its value.
LSE’s data download needs growth to add up 1 Aug 2019 The stock exchange operator confirmed its $27 bln takeover of financial information provider Refinitiv. To earn an adequate return on investment, CEO David Schwimmer will have to cut costs, but also find new sources of revenue. LSE shareholders’ expectations are already high.
StanChart’s Winters makes best of a weak hand 1 Aug 2019 The emerging market bank is growing, helped by trading revenue and falling impairments. But currency swings, a trade war and rate cuts make Bill Winters’ targets harder to hit. Investors probably shouldn’t begrudge him a salary that's a sliver of what he could have had elsewhere.
Rio’s shiny profit masks a less lustrous reality 1 Aug 2019 The miner reported solid earnings, seasoned with a $1 bln special dividend. The detail is a bit more tarnished: iron ore operations are feeling the strain from years of cuts, and a Mongolian mine has underwhelmed. Investors love cash, but Rio also needs to invest in what it has.
Victor Li is a half mark up on Hong Kong’s tycoons 1 Aug 2019 Political unrest is a threat to top conglomerates with a big focus on the Fragrant Harbour. Earnings at Li’s CK Hutchison put a spotlight on the group’s shift away from the territory. Global growth is slowing and currencies are volatile, but a diversified bet still looks better.
China’s best-case trade deal looks worse and worse 1 Aug 2019 Negotiators have wrapped up another round of talks in Shanghai without result. A ceasefire was brokered in June but Trump no longer seems enthused about a quick compromise that might expose him to criticism. Unfortunately, a lacklustre economy means time is not on Beijing's side.
Banking tests Jack Ma’s lemons-to-lemonade skills 1 Aug 2019 China makes life deliberately hard for online lenders like MYbank, backed by Alibaba's founder. The bank is now raising capital, but what it really needs are elusive deposits. Still, MYbank is growing and profitable, and Ma has experience at being the financial underdog.
Nomura feels the happy effect of a low base 31 Jul 2019 The ailing Japanese brokerage turned in a strong performance in its markets division, which is in the middle of a restructuring. What’s encouraging is that it happened as big U.S. rivals said business was limp. Boss Koji Nagai’s efforts to turn Nomura around may be bearing fruit.
Japan’s banks could use a dose of kind cruelty 31 Jul 2019 As companies slow investment and the central bank talks looser monetary policy, lenders like $62 bln Mitsubishi UFJ look poorly positioned to defend Japan against a slowdown. Tokyo may have to hurry through harsh medicine, including sector consolidation and even taxing deposits.
Japan dims hopes of a Samsung memory chip rebound 31 Jul 2019 Shares of the $260 bln tech giant slid after the company warned of poor visibility into the impact of Tokyo's export curbs. South Korea’s escalating dispute with its neighbour threatens supply chains. It now throws into doubt Samsung's confidence that chip prices will recover.
China’s next debt jitters will be among households 31 Jul 2019 Worries over bad loans are concentrated in the corporate sector but families are taking on borrowings at about twice the rate of overall economic growth. The relentless increase is unsustainable. As other engines sputter, consumers may not be a reliable fallback for Beijing.
Aussie monetary future is everyone else’s past 31 Jul 2019 Australia managed to avoid the ultra-low rates other countries have shouldered for years. Now growth is slowing, and it is up against the limits of conventional policy. An improvement in second-quarter inflation and a cheerier end to 2019 won't change the need for new tools.
China can toss Huawei a lifeline with a 5G splurge 30 Jul 2019 The telecom giant blacklisted by Washington in May says first-half revenue rose 23%, despite tensions abroad. Longer term, it is Beijing’s push on next-gen mobile networks that will shape Huawei’s fate. Forcing carriers to step up infrastructure spending can soften the U.S. blow.
Sony reaps accidental rewards from unruly sprawl 30 Jul 2019 Sales of chips offset falling video-game revenue at the Japanese group, pushing its quarterly operating profit up 18%. Even so, there's little strategic value keeping the two divisions together. Sony's music and movies arms, though, make for a better kind of conglomerate.
India’s richest man closes in on Jeff Bezos 30 Jul 2019 Mukesh Ambani’s Jio has defied expectations. Three years in, the upstart has become the country’s top mobile telco. That puts $111 bln parent Reliance Industries, an oil giant with retail ambitions, on track to conquer consumers with its heady blend of AT&T and Amazon.
LSE’s $27 bln data deal is bold independence bid 29 Jul 2019 The London exchange owner has long been a takeover target. Now CEO David Schwimmer is looking to buy financial information outfit Refinitiv. That would tap new growth and business lines and diversify outside the UK. It’s a big, complex and highly leveraged attempt to go it alone.