Capital Calls: BlackRock/Exxon, Media deals, SPACs 25 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: The giant asset manager will vote for three dissident nominees for Exxon Mobil’s board; boutique adviser LionTree has benefited from a rash of media deals; Lordstown Motors show why blank-check merger projections can’t be relied upon.
Capital Calls: Apollo, Microsoft 20 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: The second of the asset manager’s three founders moves on; the software firm is pulling the plug on Internet Explorer.
UK shunts Trainline into financial slow track 20 May 2021 The 1.5 billion pound rail ticket website’s shares fell 30% on concerns that a state-backed app will topple its dominance. They are likely to fall further as greater competition squeezes profitability. KKR’s decision to IPO the business two years ago looks all the more timely.
KKR makes pricey punt on infrastructure frenzy 19 May 2021 The U.S. group is buying UK-based rail and roads investor John Laing for 2 bln pounds. A 35% premium to net asset value looks steep. But KKR can triple its target’s war chest to exploit a post-Covid spending boom, and holding on to the asset allows for more modest returns.
Capital Calls: JPMorgan, FirstGroup, Break fees 18 May 2021 Concise insights on global finance: Jamie Dimon is shuffling his deputies; the UK bus-to-rail group’s sale of its U.S. businesses to EQT has hit an investor revolt; deals involving AT&T and Canadian National Railway highlight the fees due for walking away.
Capital Calls: AT&T’s bankers, Blackstone in Italy 17 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: The U.S. telecom giant’s unwinding of its purchase of Time Warner is a gift for advisers on Wall Street; a court rules that the U.S. private equity firm’s 2013 purchase of Corriere della Sera’s HQ was valid.
BT pries open door to broadband stake sale 13 May 2021 The UK telecom group may bring in an outside investor to help fund an extra 3 bln pound expansion of its fibre network. Dutch peer KPN has done something similar. For CEO Philip Jansen it’s the first step towards a bigger prize: flogging off a chunk of BT’s main Openreach unit.
Capital Calls: KKR 6 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: The private equity firm is investing in Charter Next Generation in an employee-friendly deal.
The Exchange: The green transition’s financing gap 5 May 2021 Plenty of capital is focused on creating the next Tesla. Less is directed towards medium-sized players doing vital but less flashy stuff like insulating buildings. Tikehau Capital co-founder Mathieu Chabran tells George Hay how some asset managers are stepping into the breach.
Biden places $4 trln bet on outsmarting the rich 29 Apr 2021 The U.S. president’s education, childcare and infrastructure sprees are supposed to juice economic growth, while being paid for by taxing the wealthy and companies. How well that works depends on whether plutocrats behave as planned. They have a big incentive to act differently.
Michigan plows pragmatic path on infrastructure 21 Apr 2021 Governor Gretchen Whitmer has started rebuilding the U.S. state’s crumbling roads despite political opposition. Employment is up, and her popularity is solid. Infrastructure spend shouldn’t hinge on short-term political gains, but without them long-term gains won’t happen either.
Biden’s offshore tax push may undo a Trump success 15 Apr 2021 The U.S. president's predecessor discouraged companies from moving – and keeping – profit overseas. Biden's plan to boost corporate taxes includes a higher levy on foreign income. The package would help federal coffers but risks eroding incentives to bring money home.
French water fight ends in honourable $15 bln draw 12 Apr 2021 After months of feuding, Veolia is buying the 70% of rival Suez it doesn’t own for 20.5 euros a share. Target boss Bertrand Camus has squeezed a few extra euros from his suitor. Meanwhile Veolia gets to keep its big prize: 500 mln euros of cost savings in North and South America.
Viewsroom: Asia’s E-car mania, U.S. infrastructure 8 Apr 2021 Huawei makes telecoms, Haier dishwashers, Xiaomi phones, Evergrande condos. Now, these Chinese companies all want to make battery-powered vehicles too. And while on the subject of building, U.S. President Joe Biden is going big. Maybe too big for the bean counters in the Senate.
Capital Calls: Trucking IPO 7 Apr 2021 Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Startup TuSimple will be listing shares via a traditional initial public offering.
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.
Infrastructure profit takes many diverging paths 5 Apr 2021 America’s decrepit hardware needs an upgrade, but not all will create the kind of rewards that lure capital providers. Water treatment is one example. President Biden’s first task will be to separate the publicly desirable from the privately investable. There’s room for both.
Benettons avoid crash at end of Italian road feud 1 Apr 2021 Atlantia, part-owned by the clothing-to-infrastructure clan, looks set to sell its motorway unit for 9 bln euros to a group led by state investor CDP. The sale should end a row with Rome and cut debt. For the new owners, rising investment means the returns will hardly be racy.
Draghi’s corporate inbox will keep flashing red 31 Mar 2021 Rome’s to-do list, left over from the last government, includes selling dud bank MPS, resurrecting carrier Alitalia, expanding broadband and ending a motorway row. With vaccinations and recovery his legacy, these secondary tasks will slip to the bottom of Mario Draghi’s pile.
Messy Singapore deal strains to lay new foundation 24 Mar 2021 CapitaLand wants to sell its property development arm to backer Temasek and list the rest. Even if investors are willing to embrace a carve-up of the $15 bln company, achieving a desired valuation closer to peers such as Lendlease will be hard in a yield-focused market.