Viewsroom: SoftBank deal frenzy lacks hard logic 2 Mar 2017 The giant Japanese tech firm has been on a global M&A tear, but shareholders aren’t buying it. President Trump's mix of details-free policy pledges and jingoistic militarism looks dazed, confused and dangerous. Plus: Silvio Berlusconi's AC Milan sale puts Chinese buyers offside.
Harry Potter conjures Japanese growth for Comcast 1 Mar 2017 The U.S. cable giant is paying $2.3 bln to buy out Goldman Sachs and other partners in Universal Studios Japan. The theme-park operator's success highlights a part of the Japanese economy where growing domestic consumption is no chimera. A boom in tourism helps too.
SoftBank satellite bid orbits optimistic creditors 28 Feb 2017 The Japanese telecom group wants to merge its OneWeb startup with industry titan Intelsat. A combination depends on bondholders accepting haircuts on much of the $14 bln in debt. There's a juicy quid pro quo: long-term backing from Masayoshi Son’s giant tech fund.
Takata’s future is full of moving parts 28 Feb 2017 The Japanese auto supplier has concluded a $1 bln U.S. plea deal over deadly airbag inflators. That opens the door to a sale, probably to a Chinese buyer. Yet unanswered questions span legal risks, deal structure, commercial prospects and the fate of existing shareholders.
Masayoshi Son could make easy work of $100 bln job 27 Feb 2017 His SoftBank may plunk $4 bln into office-space upstart WeWork. Son blanched at two earlier opportunities to invest at valuations lower than the $20 bln now on offer. One big difference is the Vision mega-fund. Perspectives can change when other people's money gets in the mix.
Ceding Nissan CEO role is a good start for Ghosn 23 Feb 2017 Four chairmanships and three CEO roles spanning Nissan, Renault, the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Mitsubishi Motors is too much even for a boss as indefatigable as Carlos Ghosn. Stepping back from the day-to-day at Nissan is laudable; losing a few more titles would be even better.
Japan’s small banks face merge-or-die moment 21 Feb 2017 SMFG and Resona could combine three regional units. That's a small step in the right direction. With more than 100 lenders, Japan is wildly overbanked for a mature economy with a shrinking population. Negative interest rates could finally prod others into action.
Hadas: Trump’s FX truthiness misses the big points 20 Feb 2017 The U.S. president’s complaint that cheap overseas currencies hurt U.S. jobs contains a little truth, but his proposed cure is far worse than the disease. The main problem in foreign exchange is excess volatility. Fixing that requires better global coordination – a distant dream.
Viewsroom: Trump’s management failures 16 Feb 2017 The president's vacillating over firing national security adviser Michael Flynn is the kind of mistake that gets corporate chiefs fired. Toshiba deals its way to a $6.3 bln loss. California's water woes are a national wake-up call. And Wall Street parties like its 2007.
Wall St veterans help SoftBank party like it’s ’07 15 Feb 2017 The Japanese group is nearly as much fun for financiers now as Wall St was precrisis. So, for example, an ex-Deutsche credit trader is masterminding a $100 bln tech fund. Hopefully this new mix of big money, ambition and complexity will end better than those heady years did.
SoftBank’s bet on Fortress is a smart acqui-hire 15 Feb 2017 SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son is following through - in a big, unexpected way - on his investment pledge to Donald Trump. Buying Fortress for $3.3 bln won't add any tech luster to SoftBank, but the $70 bln alternative-investment firm provides a platform for acquisition-led growth.
Toshiba memory-chip selloff is drastic medicine 14 Feb 2017 The Japanese group unveiled a $6.3 bln writedown, forecast negative equity and parted company with its chairman. The delivery was chaotic but the message well-telegraphed. The possible sale of a majority of its most valuable unit is new, and reveals the depth of its crisis.
Japan’s M&A hunger turns to acid reflux 15 Feb 2017 Toshiba took a $6 bln writedown after terrible dealmaking. Brewer Kirin has ended a disastrous foray into Brazil. And NTT just took a big impairment charge. These past mishaps, though, don't seem to deter Japanese bosses – like SoftBank's Masayoshi Son – from shopping abroad.
North Korea defies Trump’s art of the deal 13 Feb 2017 The U.S. president has softened potential conflicts with Japan and China. Pyongyang, which fired a missile on Sunday, is more troublesome. Unlike its neighbours the hermit state offers little room for common ground on jobs or trade. Trump's business savvy will be of little use.
Tokyo is no economic enemy for Trump 6 Feb 2017 Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe is preparing a big package of U.S. investment and job creation to placate the president. Trump's claims of deliberate yen devaluation are wide of the mark. But Tokyo has little choice but to respond, even though it is already an important U.S. ally.
Luck, and design, help Nomura near foreign goal 1 Feb 2017 The Japanese bank is nearing an important milestone: its first annual pre-tax profit overseas since buying bits of Lehman Brothers. The success is due partly to choppy bond and forex markets. Nomura's own cost cutting also helped – and puts it on a sounder long-term footing.
Toshiba can salvage some value for shareholders 27 Jan 2017 The stricken Japanese group will sell a stake in its prized memory-chip business. Then it needs to take further steps to counter the fallout from a huge impending writedown. Today's $10 billion market cap seems a reasonable assessment of what will remain.
Line delivers a disappointing status update 26 Jan 2017 Unexpectedly weak results from Japan's top chat app sent its shares crashing. Line outdoes WhatsApp in making money from selling games, stickers and services to users. But sales growth is slowing - and it now looks more reliant on advertising than previously thought.
Panasonic joins ranks of Japan’s buyout bullies 24 Jan 2017 The electronics group has offered to buy out the remaining 45.5 pct of subsidiary PanaHome for about $515 mln. The stingy deal ignores the target's big cash pile. For all that corporate Japan has reformed, minority investors remain vulnerable to bullying like this.
How much could Yahoo gain from tax cuts? 23 Jan 2017 Breakingviews calculates Altaba, the Asian investment rump, could surge in value.