Deals

Apple supplier’s rescue leaves Japan red-faced

15 April 2019

An investor group is buying two thirds of Japan Display for $714 mln, an embarrassingly low price for a former national champion. The company will fall into foreign hands, some of them Chinese, which could raise red flags. Managers have little choice but to pray the deal closes.

Cathay’s budget-airline deal may add HNA surcharge

28 March 2019

Buying Hong Kong Express from the ailing Chinese conglomerate for $630 mln is a sensible defensive move. One investor – maybe the target’s own chairman – has threatened to fight the sale, however. That could raise the price for Cathay, and is a warning to suitors for HNA assets.

KKR left to recount beans in Australian deal

7 March 2019

The $1.4 bln buyout of accounting software developer MYOB was all but in the books. Now a hedge fund owning 10 pct is unexpectedly demanding a much higher price. With KKR sitting on a one-fifth stake and the broader stock market turning up, the numbers may be harder to reconcile.

Gold miners bury a good deal under two shiny ones

4 March 2019

Newmont has rejected an $18 bln stock offer from Barrick, saying shareholders fare better in its agreed purchase of Goldcorp. But Barrick’s arguments – and bigger benefits for Newmont’s owners – hinge on the two joining forces in Nevada. Neither merger is required for that.

Hostile gold merger has only glimmer of appeal

25 February 2019

Barrick Gold's $18 bln all-share bid for U.S. rival Newmont has a shred of financial logic from putting together neighbouring mines in Nevada. That's buried, though, beneath opportunism and hubris. The slim uplift for Newmont shareholders further dulls the deal's prospects.

TPG’s Asia fundraising is a sign of buyout times

14 February 2019

The U.S. private equity firm has earned poor returns in the region but it managed to exceed a $4.5 bln target for its new fund. New leadership in Australia and China provides some reassurance. Still, outsize success after relative failure is a telltale mark of a frothy market.

Evergrande’s desperation to drive could find road

24 January 2019

The Chinese conglomerate’s health unit is making another quirky bet on electric vehicles as the property market at its core stalls. Yet a $900 mln move for NEVS might make more sense than earlier purchases if Evergrande can use it to help startups overcome production problems.

Toyota JV recharges Panasonic’s battery business

23 January 2019

The two Japanese companies are uniting to power electric vehicles. It should provide a technological step forward for the $200 bln automaker, but also reduce Panasonic’s dependence on Elon Musk’s Tesla. Toyota’s control, though, may yet limit plans to sell to other manufacturers.

Disruption will be the mother of M&A in 2019

26 December 2018

Technological change will bring creative dealmaking – think Altria’s $13 bln investment in vaping outfit Juul. U.S. companies have cash, and buying into the new economy may beat building. The risk is the advertising problem: at least half the money may be wasted.

Mike Bloomberg can learn from Thomson Reuters

6 December 2018

The former New York mayor says he’ll try to sell his financial-data empire if he wins the 2020 presidential race. Lucky for him, money is plentiful for a buyout that could be valued at $40 bln. And there’s a blueprint he can use: Thomson Reuters’ sale of Refinitiv to Blackstone.

AT&T fails to grasp the true value of “Friends”

5 December 2018

It may let Netflix keep the TV show for around $100 mln, more than triple the price last time round. Given AT&T plans to launch its own video service, depriving a rival of a blockbuster could have been smarter. Maybe Time Warner’s new owner isn’t cut out for the media shark-tank

Blackstone’s Baltic push can defy sketchy optics

13 September 2018

A consortium led by the buyout group is buying 60 pct of Baltic bank Luminor for 1 bln euros. It’s oddly timed, given high-profile money-laundering cases have tainted the local market. But Luminor looks cleaner than most and offers some cost-cutting opportunities.

Vodafone’s new CEO has sticks to repel activists

5 September 2018

The $57 bln telecom group’s sagging shares may have attracted Elliott’s attention. Newly-promoted Nick Read needs to show he can afford the pricey Liberty Global deal and still pay a fat dividend. Cost cuts and mobile-towers sales would soothe investors’ worries.

Revamped U.S. deal reviews are skid risk for Tesla

16 August 2018

Saudi help in a buyout could spur national-security scrutiny under new powers. Tesla’s tech might be deemed critical, while D.C. also worries about China's ambitions. Rules and pilot programs are works in progress, but it's another uncertainty for CEO Elon Musk’s convoluted plans.

KKR’s Taipei deal hints at Asian daring

23 July 2018

The buyout firm led by Henry Kravis is leading a $1.6 bln takeover of chemicals maker LCY. Taiwan has been a tough market for private equity, including KKR. Slow growth and tensions with China add concerns. As dry powder in the region grows, the risk calculus may be changing.

Vedanta digs just deep enough to leave London

2 July 2018

Chairman Anil Agarwal’s offer of a 28 pct premium for the mining group’s 2.3 bln pound UK unit is probably enough for investors spooked by deadly protests. They can invest directly in the Indian operations anyway. And a simpler structure paves the way for more dealmaking.

AT&T and Comcast alike in debt, not in risk

18 June 2018

Big acquisitions will leave the telco and cable firm with more than $170 billion of debt each. At first, Comcast’s bid for bits of Fox would create the heavier relative leverage load. But it’s AT&T’s recently closed merger with Time Warner that looks more vulnerable.

Smurfit Kappa loses a suitor, may gain an activist

6 June 2018

The Irish paper group irritated shareholders by stonewalling a 9 billion euro offer from International Paper. And it trades at a discount to rivals. Hitting ambitious targets would help close the gap, but an impatient investor could push for a breakup.

CBS, Shari Redstone litigate selves off M&A rails

17 May 2018

A judge denied the $20 bln media firm’s restraining-order request against its controlling shareholder. But CBS may be able to argue Redstone is breaching her fiduciary duty. It almost ensures a long legal drama that’ll shunt deals with Viacom or other companies onto the sidings.

Vodafone’s $22 bln deal is worth financial strain

9 May 2018

The UK mobile group is buying Liberty Global’s German and eastern European assets. Boss Vittorio Colao is funding the deal with debt and funky convertible bonds. He can point to juicy cost savings to quell any concerns about Vodafone’s creaky balance sheet.