Capital Calls: China’s data centre sale 24 Nov 2021 Concise views on global finance: Global Switch is attracting big-name private equity interest, but its quirky setup might justify suitors asking for a discount.
Plastic-surgery app MBO aggravates governance scar 23 Nov 2021 Boss Xing Jin wants to buy the 85% he doesn’t own of New York-listed So-Young, which matches users with beauty services. Shares have slumped since its IPO and China may regulate ads. But Xing’s supervoting stock means investors have themselves to blame for any forced face-lift.
Capital Calls: Google, Twitter, Swedish grocer 10 Nov 2021 Concise views on global finance: The search giant’s defeat in appealing a $2.8 bln EU fine is tolerable if American judges don’t follow; the social media network hopes to charge hardcore U.S. users a monthly fee; ICA Gruppen’s top shareholder takes the $12 bln retailer private.
IPO could be the next spin for WPP’s PR combo 13 Oct 2021 The $16 bln ad firm’s Finsbury Glover Hering is merging with Sard Verbinnen to make a $917 mln group. The latter’s owners get a partial exit and option to sell out later on. But, by dangling a potential float, WPP gives the company’s spinners an incentive to make the merger work.
Intuit bites off a lot with $12 bln Mailchimp deal 14 Sep 2021 The TurboTax maker is paying 15 times 2020 sales for the digital marketing firm to better crack the big market for small business services. Mailchimp’s record suggests it has a shot. The trick will be to avoid indigestion as Intuit is still integrating an earlier $7 bln purchase.
Tencent’s Disney-like ambitions will enchant Xi 18 Aug 2021 Games, movies and web shows did well in the quarter, showcasing the $540 bln group’s entertainment prowess. Unlike the U.S. giant, censors dictate what Tencent can do. Yet a Chinese answer to the Magic Kingdom at least fits into Beijing’s vision of a prosperous middle class.
Capital Calls: U.S. inflation, Big Tech’s ad gains 10 Jun 2021 Concise views on global finance: A 5% annual jump in U.S. consumer prices reflects warped comparisons; the prospects for U.S. advertising are getting hotter, and the largest Silicon Valley firms will be the beneficiaries.
Netflix’s biggest threat lurks behind the curtain 14 May 2021 YouTube is lavishing money on creators and lapping up revenue from brands at a scorching pace. If the trend continues, the video network behind “MrBeast” could soon be worth as much as Netflix. The fact its value is hidden within that of parent Alphabet increases the danger.
Capital Calls: Pfizer, ConocoPhillips 4 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: About $6 bln of additional earnings from Covid vaccines at the U.S. drug giant should mean more capital returned to investors; the independent oil group is offloading stock in Canada-based Cenovus it collected as part of a deal four years ago.
Tech lions circle fattened-up U.S. consumer 27 Apr 2021 Google and Facebook stand to rake in ad revenue as consumer-facing businesses jostle for Americans’ pent-up savings. Amazon should benefit as a retailer and a rising power in advertising. The result could be Silicon Valley predators gobbling up an ever-bigger share of the market.
Big Tech’s data virtue-signalling has casualties 16 Mar 2021 Apple and Google are making it harder for marketers to track individual users. It’s a no-brainer: the changes will cement their dominance and please privacy-focused regulators. But mobile-game developers and the rest of the $330 bln online advertising sector will feel the pain.
Publicis turnaround remains a work in progress 3 Feb 2021 The 11 bln euro ad agency’s fourth-quarter revenue rose more than expected thanks to its U.S. arm. Cost cuts protected operating margins, too. But a lack of detail on data group Epsilon, acquired in 2019, makes it premature to salute Publicis’ desired digital pivot.
Martin Sorrell’s new ad group benefits from youth 18 Jan 2021 Less than three years after WPP ousted the 75-year-old his S4 Capital is worth 3 bln pounds. A digital boom means its shares trade on a multiple more than three times his former employer’s. The challenges remain much the same: integrating new deals and sustaining growth.
Corona Capital: Tesla’s Apple snub 23 Dec 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Tesla boss Elon Musk asked to meet with Apple back in the day, and got rebuffed. Musk’s company has been the better investment recently, especially during the Covid-19 period. That doesn’t mean Tim Cook missed out.
Corona Capital: Private jet deal 17 Dec 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Blackstone bets that plutocrats will be back in the air before the rest of us.
Corona Capital: Movie releases, Ads, Running 4 Dec 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: HBO Max uses its muscle on movie releases; advertising wins some and loses some; Brooks’ beast year.
Ad market recovery is all about Amazon 2 Sep 2020 Jeff Bezos’ firm was the top U.S. spender last year, splashing out some $7 bln in advertising. If it allocates the same share of revenue in 2020, it could more than offset slumps at other big advertisers. That may leave media firms even more reliant on the e-commerce colossus.
Alphabet’s moonshots are falling back to earth 30 Jul 2020 The $1 trln Google parent is struggling more than rivals. Second-quarter revenue fell by 2% while Facebook's sales increased. The maturing business faces more ad competition. And the non-core projects that were once intriguing these days look more like dead weights.
Ad problem shifts from newspapers to Facebook 29 Jul 2020 News organizations struggled as ads shifted to digital platforms like Facebook – which benefits from journalism but doesn’t pay for it. A new law could change that, helping newspapers but leaving the social network with a growing dependence on the one source proving tenuous.
Bezos’s D.C. delivery hangs on lawmaker wish lists 28 Jul 2020 Amazon’s CEO faces his first congressional hearing, joining peers from Apple, Google and Facebook who have sat in the hot seat before. Those grillings were mostly grandstanding by ill-prepared politicians. If they have upped their game, Bezos and Co face more of a challenge.