Evergrande payment wins some restructuring credit 22 Oct 2021 The developer has wired an $84 mln coupon to bondholders just days before a potential default. It suggests goodwill ahead of an inevitable debt rejig. If boss Hui Ka Yan is prepared to actively work with creditors, he could set standards for other distressed situations in China.
Evergrande vultures swoop into moral hazard 20 Oct 2021 The Chinese developer’s deals to sell its headquarters and property management arm may have hit political snags. Overpay and it looks like a bailout; a lowball bid invites cries of opportunism. Quick deals preserve value in a crisis. Hesitant governments hurt more than they help.
Richard Li’s family baggage weighs on insurer IPO 11 Oct 2021 The Hong Kong tycoon is putting a limit on how long he can keep the supervoting stock he’ll get in the $2 bln float of Asia-focused FWD. But it can be extended while his nearest and dearest can for a time inherit the rights. That erodes the value of such sunset clauses.
Evergrande crisis inspires shrewd bottom-feeding 7 Oct 2021 Tycoon Joseph Lau offered just $250 mln for the 25% of Chinese Estates his family doesn’t own. Shares were hit by its long backing of its ailing peer, whose boss plays poker with Lau. As with a rival’s mooted deal for an Evergrande unit stake, current owners may have to fold.
Hong Kong tycoons laugh off Xi’s inequality push 7 Oct 2021 Real estate is overheating while residents get gouged at the grocery store. Leader Carrie Lam wants to increase housing supply but has propped up home prices and left elite monopolies alone. So far President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” drive is steering around the city.
Viewsroom: Basket-case Britain; Gambling in Macau 30 Sep 2021 Trucker shortages, partly thanks to Brexit, have been blamed for all manner of UK economic hardships, from toilet paper scarcities to long queues at petrol stations. Ed Cropley and Peter Thal Larsen explain. And our columnists in Hong Kong discuss casinos and investment banking.
Xi and Biden share common goal: bashing the rich 27 Sep 2021 Both leaders hope to tax the wealthy to help the middle class. The first bit is easier for one-party China. But it’s the United States that has low-hanging fruit when it comes to spending on education and infrastructure. The result: Each will get only part of what they want.
Pan-Asia insurers helpfully crowd onto bourses 24 Sep 2021 Just days after Prudential tapped Hong Kong for fresh funds, Richard Li’s FWD filed for a New York IPO valuing it at up to $15 bln. The upstart is smaller than its $50 bln rival or $137 bln AIA but at last the three offer a way of comparing performance in the fast-growing region.
Pru’s $3 bln Asia shift sets up new AIA battle 21 Sep 2021 The London-based insurer is completing its pivot to the fast-growing region by selling new shares in Hong Kong. The Fragrant Harbour is already home to the $137 bln rival that Prudential failed to buy a decade ago. Now they’re set to compete over punchy valuations.
Three’s a good crowd in Indonesia telecoms deal 17 Sep 2021 Combining CK Hutchison’s local 3 unit with Ooredoo’s Indosat produces a $6 bln No. 2 player and synergies of $400 mln. If past industry tie-ups in similar markets are a guide, the Hong Kong and Qatari groups’ deal will also lift rivals’ revenue and cut their costs too.
Goldman smartly snaps up McKinsey cast-off 9 Sep 2021 The Wall Street firm hired Kevin Sneader, the consultant’s former managing partner, as co-head in Asia. Installing the person who agreed a $573 mln opioid settlement looks odd for a bank still smarting from the Malaysian 1MDB scandal. In fact, it shows an openness to fresh ideas.
South Korea’s app-store sandbox is worth watching 1 Sep 2021 A new bill stops Apple and Google from forcing local developers to use their payment systems, which carry hefty commissions. It’s good for the country’s tech champions, like the $60 bln Kakao. But it’s only worth copying elsewhere if users end up with cheaper or better services.
Hong Kong bourse needs Beijing to calm down 11 Aug 2021 A bumper first-half profit thanks to record trading volumes and an IPO flood help justify the $84 bln group’s premium over rival exchanges, at 41 times forecast earnings. But such optimism won’t survive more regulatory mood swings, and HKEX has no way to hedge them.
Sunnier HSBC leaves something for rainy day 2 Aug 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.
Viewsroom: Olympic blunders and Robinhood’s IPO 22 Jul 2021 The Tokyo games are struggling with rising Covid-19 infections, corporations pulling out, an unenthused Japanese public and now a bad Holocaust joke. Pete Sweeney and Rob Cox discuss. Meantime, John Foley says Robinhood resembles E*Trade 20 years ago – in good and bad ways.
Chinese IPO detour benefits Hong Kong only so much 8 Jul 2021 Didi’s U.S. listing debacle has lifted expectations that more mainland companies will go public closer to home. New York’s star may be dimming, but Beijing’s crackdown on overseas market debuts sounds sweeping. Even the Asian financial hub’s $80 bln bourse faces fresh hurdles.
China uses Didi as data law test dummy 6 Jul 2021 Cybersecurity watchdogs are revamping regulations and readying new ones as they widen their crackdown. The $75 bln ride-hailing group’s data trove and foreign backers mean it's a good candidate to make an example of. Investors may hope for more legal clarity; they might not get it.
The Exchange: Niall Ferguson on human error 29 Jun 2021 The historian joins Pete Sweeney to discuss his latest book on disasters, natural and man-made, and why so many governments got Covid-19 so wrong. They debate which political model looked best after the pandemic and whether historians can make a difference at times like these.
HSBC’s weak investment bank softens China backlash 28 Jun 2021 State-owned firms have shunned the lender amid tensions with Beijing, Reuters reported. It’s a setback for HSBC’s push to build up its wholesale arm. Longer-term banking relationships are harder to dislodge, however. And Chinese multinationals have few domestic alternatives.
Hong Kong scion cedes hometown IPO premium 18 Jun 2021 Richard Li, the entrepreneurial son of tycoon Li Ka-shing, plans to list his pan-Asian insurer FWD in New York instead of the city where he’s a familiar face to investors. He is sacrificing both brand recognition and higher valuations. It’s a steep price for keeping more control.