Capital Calls: Aussie oil deal, Fund services M&A 2 Aug 2021 Concise views on global finance: Santos’ improved and agreed offer for Oil Search comes at a discount to its rejected first attempt; Sanne’s dealmaking poker face looks set to be vindicated.
Capital Calls: China, Disney, Banks, P&G, Fintech 30 Jul 2021 Concise views on global finance: The SEC wants more disclosures on IPO risks related to Beijing regulators; plus Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit, EU stress tests, consumer prices, and Qatar’s investment in an African fintech.
Capital Calls: U.S. GDP 29 Jul 2021 Concise views on global finance: Supply chain woes are tripping up solid U.S. economic growth. GDP grew 6.5% in the second quarter, a big miss from estimates of 8.5%.
Capital Calls: Bank mergers, GlaxoSmithKline 28 Jul 2021 Concise views on global finance: U.S. lender Citizens helps make the case for consolidation with its $3.5 billion acquisition of New Jersey-based Investors Bancorp. A pandemic drug bounty may help the UK pharma group’s CEO Emma Walmsley see off activist Elliott.
IMF skims over non-viral risks to global economy 27 Jul 2021 The emergence of new highly infectious Covid-19 variants could wipe about $4.5 trln off global GDP by 2025, the international lender warned. Its economic update pays less attention to policy missteps, market ructions, or more bankruptcies. Yet these also pose a threat to growth.
Capital Calls: Duolingo IPO valuation 26 Jul 2021 Concise views on global finance: The language learning app has increased its price by almost 20%.
Capital Calls: Volvo, Moderna, Mediobanca 21 Jul 2021 Concise views on global finance: The Swedish automaker boosts its appeal ahead of a possible IPO by buying out its Chinese joint venture partner; joining the S&P 500 will cut both ways for the vaccine maker; another Italian tycoon ups his stake in the Italian investment bank.
UK healthcare M&A revolt leaves sickly prognosis 20 Jul 2021 Investors in hospital operator Spire blocked a $1.4 bln takeover by an Australian rival, in the latest sign of pushback to takeovers. Yet reaching a similar value on its own looks tricky given lingering virus effects. Tensions with rebel shareholders are an added complication.
Capital Calls: BBQGuys go easy on the hot sauce 20 Jul 2021 Concise views on global finance: An e-commerce company for grill connoisseurs is going public via a blank-check company with a valuation that befits its side-dish status.
UK virus cost-benefit discounts human psychology 19 Jul 2021 Britain lifted Covid-19 restrictions, diverging from states like Israel. On the face of it, the financial benefits of reopening outweigh the ongoing costs from living with the virus. But as with previous false dawns, if consumers remain fearful the recovery won’t motor.
Zoom kicks off expensive call centre M&A contest 19 Jul 2021 The videoconferencing star will pay $14.7 bln for software group Five9. Diversifying makes sense as economies reopen, but a thin 13% premium may invite counterbids, or prod rivals like Microsoft to partner up too. Rich prices and fuzzy synergies promise an uncertain payoff.
Europe’s Zoom finds home-working boom has downside 8 Jul 2021 TeamViewer lost $1 bln of market value after it said customers who panic-bought last year are now paying less. The remote-software group’s shares have retraced to pre-Covid levels. The whole episode distracted from its real goal: connecting machines, rather than people.
Chancellor: Paying the piper for pandemic recovery 2 Jul 2021 The war on Covid-19 proved remarkably expensive. The U.S. federal deficit ran to $3.4 trillion last year. As the crisis eases, policymakers are thinking about how to foot the bill. Past wars have brought forth new taxes. Consider some fresh sources for raising government revenue.
Capital Calls: It sure feels good to be a banker 1 Jul 2021 Concise views on global finance: Global deals in the first half of the year broke all records.
Vaccine passports are a patchy travel fix 1 Jul 2021 European Union passes went live on Thursday. But even within the bloc there are quibbles over standards and risks from viral variants. At a global level, rifts are amplified. Even with a central authority and consensus on approved jabs, governments can impose their own curbs.
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.
Why 2021 is a sweet spot for economic policymakers 29 Jun 2021 Economies are rebounding, low interest rates mean debt service costs are at historical troughs, and finance ministers and central bankers are pulling in the same direction. But “Pandexit”, as a new BIS report calls it, will make officials’ jobs harder again after this year.
Getlink’s Brexit blues may have happier M&A ending 25 Jun 2021 The $9 bln Channel Tunnel operator has been hit by travel curbs and reduced UK-France trade. Shares a fifth below pre-Covid peaks don’t reflect recovering traffic flows or duty-free sales. A decades-long concession increases the appeal to yield-hungry infrastructure funds.
Amusement parks inch to top of the market cyclone 23 Jun 2021 Companies like SeaWorld have seen a resurgence in customers paying full price to enter their parks. They’re spending more, too. With costs cut during the pandemic, it’s a sweet spot. But discounting and competition will return. Flush days will end. Valuations reflect neither.
Morgan Stanley vaccine edict is leverage at work 23 Jun 2021 CEO James Gorman’s decree that only the inoculated can enter his firm’s New York offices reflects reality – most employees are already vaccinated – but also clout. Wall Street is pretty well placed to dictate terms to staff. The return to work may be a rude awakening for some.