Capital Calls: LVMH surges back to full health 13 Apr 2021 Concise views on global finance: The 300 billion euro luxury conglomerate’s first-quarter sales surpass pre-Covid-19 levels.
Capital Calls: Netflix, GameStop 9 Apr 2021 Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The video-streaming service sprays webs of money to secure movies; GameStop’s “Chewy of Gaming” strategy.
Gaming weakness puts Ubisoft on M&A last life 9 Apr 2021 Shares in the “Assassin’s Creed” publisher have languished since a failed takeover by Vivendi in 2018. Despite a pandemic boost, CEO Yves Guillemot’s $10 bln group suffers from dour profitability. That leaves him open to attack by rivals like Activision Blizzard or Tencent.
Applovin IPO is magic money chest for KKR 7 Apr 2021 The private equity giant invested $400 million in the mobile app and gaming company in 2018 and helped it expand. Now that the firm is seeking a valuation of up to $30 billion, the buyout baron is going to turn a tidy profit. Relations with Apple could be the only small hitch.
Capital Calls: Bling deal 6 Apr 2021 Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Signet, the owner of jewelers Zales and Kay, is buying rental firm Rocksbox.
Transatlantic gaming deal may have bigger jackpot 24 Mar 2021 U.S. casino operator Bally’s agreed to buy Britain’s Gamesys for $3 bln. Some aspects of the deal make it look like a reverse takeover. Yet the terms for UK shareholders being asked to cash out seem stingy. Investors hoping for a higher price have a strong argument.
Review: When “Ocean’s Eleven” meets Chapter 11 19 Mar 2021 “The Caesars Palace Coup” rolls a casino caper and legal thriller into one edifying book. Dense bankruptcy lingo sometimes bogs down the ruthless scrap over $18 bln of distressed debt. And it’s hard to find a Danny Ocean in a Wall Street dramatis personae full of Terry Benedicts.
Capital Calls: Elon Musk, AstraZeneca 15 Mar 2021 Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The electric-vehicle maker’s jocular new title of “Technoking of Tesla” tests the theory that deeds matter more than words; fears over the drugmaker’s vaccine risk further delaying the re-opening of Europe’s economy.
Sands’ Sin City sale might fund pivot to Australia 4 Mar 2021 The $50 bln casino company has filled its war chest after negotiating a rich price for Las Vegas assets. Crown Resorts would be an affordable addition to their Asia-Pacific empire, and the group founded by the late Sheldon Adelson would be welcomed by watchdogs Down Under.
Swelling Sea mostly flows in sound new direction 2 Mar 2021 Worth quintuple what it was a year ago, the $127 bln tech outfit is buying an Indonesian lender and won a digital bank licence in Singapore. Expanding in finance brings new risks but sensibly deploys capital to diversify. Venturing into Mexico, though, is a nouveau-riche misstep.
Crown Resorts raises Aussie governance stakes 19 Feb 2021 The $5 bln casino operator just lost one gaming licence and another is now threatened by a new regulatory probe. A board shakeup should help its case, but director candidates are in short supply. The usual suspects fill too many seats: Crown Chair Helen Coonan is a prime example.
Viewsroom: Tesla/bitcoin, Hydrogen, French finance 11 Feb 2021 Elon Musk has gone full cryptocurrency. Tesla’s $1.5 bln bitcoin buy is a wink to virtual-investment, anti-establishment fervor, if a challenge to accounting rules, Richard Beales argues. Meantime, Japanese carmakers are going gaga for hydrogen, and Parisian finance is in tumult.
Capital Calls: KKR, the investment bank 9 Feb 2021 Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The private equity firm run by Henry Kravis is building a useful capital-markets business, with almost half its deals last year for outside clients.
Humbled Crown Resorts faces rough reinvention 9 Feb 2021 The company is not fit to operate its $1.7 bln casino in Sydney, according to a report prepared for regulators. An ownership change could solve some, but not all, of the issues. China’s row with Canberra, plus a crackdown on overseas gaming, renders the business model obsolete.
Corona Capital: Davos relocation, Kraft 3 Feb 2021 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Davos plans its annual meeting in Singapore; Kraft ditches Mr. Peanut.
Digital coins could dull Macau’s bling 3 Feb 2020 Mobile payments quintupled in the gambling hub in 2020, and digital currency might be introduced soon, helping watchdogs monitor money flows. Players might not like that idea, especially wealthy clients and tax dodgers. VIP haunts like Galaxy and Wynn are particularly exposed.
MGM wears best poker face in British M&A standoff 19 Jan 2021 The casino operator won’t raise its $11 bln bid for bookie Entain, which rejected an earlier approach. It leaves both sides stuck in an awkward U.S. joint venture. That should bring CEO Bill Hornbuckle back to the table, but his hand may be helped by a UK gambling clampdown.
Sheldon Adelson’s biggest bet keeps paying out 12 Jan 2021 The casino tycoon, dead at 87, parlayed a trade show into a new Las Vegas business model by acquiring the storied Sands in 1989. A bold punt on Macau secured his fortune. Part of Adelson’s legacy will be backing Donald Trump, but his gambling ideas are spreading in Asia.
Sea can pass on Southeast Asian deal frenzy 12 Jan 2021 The region’s hot tech companies, Tokopedia, Grab and Gojek, are mulling consolidation. Any of them could be swallowed by Singapore’s $106 bln gaming-to-shopping giant Sea which has a war chest of cash and rich stock. But boss Forrest Li has good reason to sit back.
Roblox float seeks to share public-listing love 7 Jan 2021 The gaming platform scrapped its IPO for a direct listing of its shares. That’s an easier financial decision with $520 mln of new funds raised at a valuation of nearly $30 bln – more than 7 times its worth a year ago. But it also offers more stakeholders a chance to participate.