Guest view: A big dividend from investing in data 1 Oct 2015 U.S. officials haven’t collected employer training information in two decades. It’s one example of a larger problem. Peter Scher, JPMorgan’s head of corporate responsibility, says more public and private funding of data gathering and analysis would help the U.S. economy grow.
Abu Dhabi pullback shows shifting sovereign sands 1 Oct 2015 Emirati fund Mubadala has sold a $3.6 bln loan portfolio jointly held with GE. It may be driven by the U.S. conglomerate’s turn away from finance. But the decision by its Gulf partner to follow is a sign of how sovereign investors have lost their risk appetite.
Insider trading is distraction in Fed leak saga 1 Oct 2015 If the U.S. central bank let something secret slip in 2012, that’s trouble for Janet Yellen’s team. But a Financial Times-owned service suspected of receiving the tip may fairly argue it was doing journalism. Unless the leaker benefited, enforcers are on a wild goose chase.
Record-slow U.S. bank deal offers cautionary tale 30 Sep 2015 The Fed took three years to OK the $16 bln M&T’s takeover of smaller Hudson City, having demanded fixes to the buyer’s back office. CEO Bob Wilmers now looks like he’s paying over the odds for a struggling rival. Others in the industry with problems won’t find M&A a quick fix.
Western Digital deal may thread U.S.-China needle 30 Sep 2015 The data storage company’s sale of $3.8 bln of stock to China’s Tsinghua exchanges a minority interest at a premium price for a seat on the board. Politics make selling control tough, but this kind of arrangement may help smooth Western Digital’s path in Chinese markets.
Fining conflicted bankers doesn’t excuse directors 30 Sep 2015 RBC should probably lose its appeal against a $76 mln penalty for working both sides of a deal. Yet its client’s board had its own skewed loyalties, didn’t question its adviser, and escaped almost unscathed. It’s often poor corporate governance that enables Wall Street mischief.
M&A running out of road on Easy Street 30 Sep 2015 Since July, only four out of 10 U.S. buyers’ stocks have risen after a deal announcement. That’s a big drop from 80 pct in early 2014. Blaming volatility misses the point. Investors just aren’t convinced by increasingly bold and messy deals. The end of a merger boom may be nigh.
Ralph Lauren’s new CEO saddled with high hopes 30 Sep 2015 The fashion icon passed over his son to hire Gap’s Stefan Larsson to run the family-controlled clothier. Corporate America is increasingly open to outside bosses, despite notable failures. Expectations also can be excessive. After all, investors have valued Larsson at $1.6 bln.
VW’s dodgy diesel gains: a measly 4.3 bln euros 30 Sep 2015 That’s what the German carmaker appears to have saved by skimping on state-of-the-art emissions technology. Look only at the U.S. cars that got VW in trouble and it falls to 200 mln euros. Investors have so far lost 140 times that as the shares have plunged. Cheating doesn’t pay.
ValueAct in Fox henhouse may goose pace of change 29 Sep 2015 Rupert Murdoch’s pick of fund founder Jeffrey Ubben for the board may have both feeling comfortable. But the friendly activist’s lack of a public agenda doesn’t mean a shakeup is off the table. He’s already ruffling feathers with a call to arms against on-demand service Netflix.
Henry Blodget makes most of Wall Street ban 29 Sep 2015 Selling most of Business Insider to Axel Springer for $343 mln is another step in the disgraced former dot-com analyst’s rehab. Blodget’s media outlet has made money and created jobs – despite the distorted market for talent that Wall Street created and Silicon Valley is aping.
Yahoo’s Alibaba spinoff troubles may outlast boss 29 Sep 2015 Marissa Mayer plans to complete the internet firm’s separation from the Chinese e-commerce company. Resolving tax issues may take years, though, if authorities challenge the deal. With Yahoo’s business stagnant and competition rising, the CEO may be gone before wrangling ends.
Business Insider picks deep German pockets 29 Sep 2015 Axel Springer is buying the business and tech news website at a $442 mln valuation. Nine times sales implies a long run of fast growth. It evokes Dresdner’s acquisition of Wasserstein Perella, a deal from the days when Business Insider boss Henry Blodget worked on Wall Street.
Japan Tobacco gives Reynolds breath of fresh air 29 Sep 2015 The buyer is paying $5 bln for the overseas rights to the U.S. cigarette group’s American Spirit brand - a whopping 250 times earnings. It’ll allow Reynolds to exhale a cloud of debt as it focuses on U.S. sales. Its strategy is a handy guide for similarly challenged sectors.
Pure Storage unicorn shivers in cooling market 29 Sep 2015 The computer-storage maker was valued at over $3 bln last year, as backers latched onto its fast growth selling flash memory that’s cheaper and more efficient than rival offerings. But losses and competition are mounting, and the risks threaten a lower valuation at IPO.
Alcoa split is canny move – not least for its CEO 28 Sep 2015 The $12 bln aluminum producer is cleaving sluggish smelting from healthier aerospace. Based on rival valuations, Alcoa shareholders can expect a modest uplift. Boss Klaus Kleinfeld, however, gets a new gig atop a more promising business, one he has been building by acquisition.
Valeant’s back-foot problem flares up in Congress 28 Sep 2015 The pharmaceuticals company keeps fighting through chronic skepticism about its acquisitive ways and the related borrowing. Now, U.S. lawmakers’ questions about drug prices have cost Valeant $11 bln in market value. Always being on the defensive could eventually take its toll.
Donald Trump’s tax plan is true to form 28 Sep 2015 The boisterous billionaire says 75 mln Americans won’t pay taxes if he’s U.S. president and business rates will be halved. Missing is how to pay for these cuts and more. Fuzzy numbers are the hallmark of a man whose wealth can’t be verified and is linked to four bankruptcies.
VW’s emissions scandal needn’t break its own bank 28 Sep 2015 The carmaker’s financial services arm is being sucked into its current crisis. The group’s funding costs are rising and the ECB won’t buy its asset-backed debt. The $164 bln-by-assets lender is vulnerable to a brand implosion - but should cope with more realistic scenarios.
VW tests U.S. enforcers’ fairness to foreign firms 28 Sep 2015 The German carmaker skidded into a legal system that extracts bigger fines and more guilty pleas from overseas companies than American peers. Differences in the cases may explain the discrepancy. But any prosecutor bias may get as much scrutiny as Volkswagen’s emissions tricks.