The Exchange: Travel disruption, SoftBank-style 20 Jul 2021 After a dizzying expansion from China to the United States, the pandemic forced a tough reset at Oyo Hotels and Homes. The plucky Indian startup’s 27-year-old founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal tells Una Galani about the lessons learnt, rightsizing challenges, and of his IPO plans.
Capital Calls: Online fashion retail 15 Jul 2021 Concise views on global finance: The return of old customer habits and muted demand as the pandemic lingers could reverse the recent stellar run of the likes of ASOS.
Soho House IPO sets high price for entry 7 Jul 2021 The operator of private members’ clubs is listing at a $3 bln valuation. That depends on CEO Nick Jones pulling off a bold global expansion while reversing years of losses. Competition from hotels, doubts about its exclusive status and still-high debt are potential party poopers.
Viewsroom: Wall Street is open again and booming 24 Jun 2021 From Morgan Stanley to BlackRock, the world’s top investment banks and money managers are back in their offices and super busy with mergers, IPOs, LBOs and other activities thumping. Plus, Soho House and Wise go public and green hydrogen megalomania on the Congo river.
Soho House depends on IPO to keep the party going 23 Jun 2021 The private club founded in London in 1995 now has 28 outlets and 119,000 members. It’s also highly leveraged and loss-making. A $3 bln New York listing will fund post-virus expansion, but delay addressing the key issue of whether scale, profit and exclusivity are compatible.
Star’s stack looks too short to win Crown deal 31 May 2021 The Aussie casino operator’s $7 bln offer interested its larger rival, unlike the Blackstone bid that was dubiously spurned. Star’s proposal is less than it’s cracked up to be, however, and there’s little wiggle room to improve it. Only gaming regulators can help its cause.
India’s Oyo Hotels tidies for new overseas guests 27 May 2021 The SoftBank-backed budget-lodging aggregator wants to borrow $600 mln to refinance debt. Using an offshore syndicated loan suggests a restructuring is working and courts potential IPO investors. For now, Oyo also dodges the issue of how far its peak $10 bln valuation has fallen.
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.
The Exchange: Trip.com CEO Jane Sun 18 May 2021 Where are Chinese travellers headed these days? How is the pandemic changing outbound tourism and business travel? Will China’s recent anti-monopoly regulations affect Trip’s approach to partnerships and deals? Sun shares her views in an exclusive discussion with Breakingviews.
Star tempts Crown with riskier game of chance 10 May 2021 The Aussie casino operator is proposing an all-stock merger valuing its larger rival at $7.1 bln, including synergies. The deal is loaded with iffy assumptions about benefits that would take time to materialise. Even so, Blackstone will be pressured to sweeten its cash bid again.
Capital Calls: U.S. jobs miss, Elon Musk goes live 7 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: Fed boss Jay Powell has his work to do as America adds far fewer jobs than anticipated; drawing an audience of crypto-nerds, Tesla gearheads and regulators won’t be hard for the electric-car maker boss when he hosts SNL. Drawing laughs will be.
SJM is only edging out of Stanley Ho’s shadow 5 May 2021 A year after the death of its founder, the $7.2 bln Macau casino company has yet to open a new flagship resort, its market share is the lowest among peers and the board needs a shake-up. Daughter and Chair Daisy Ho has her work cut out to make sure the house wins again.
Blackstone fights time more than Oaktree for Crown 3 May 2021 It’s hard to see value in Oaktree’s plan to fund a buyback of founder James Packer’s 37% stake in the Aussie casino operator. And yet Blackstone is willing to absorb more regulatory risk. That suggests concern that as Crown’s crisis ebbs, the $6 bln bid’s appeal may too.
Virgin Active gives landlords a post-virus sweat 14 Apr 2021 The pandemic-hit gym group founded by Richard Branson wants lower rents. It’s using a new restructuring tool to force the issue with support from other creditors. Faced with a wave of copycats, bruised property owners’ only option is to be more selective about future tenants.
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.
Blackstone’s Aussie gamble may tempt more players 22 Mar 2021 The buyout shop’s $6.2 bln offer for Crown is highly conditional, sensibly so given the casino operator’s regulatory nightmare. But the low-ball bid could encourage others like Sands to try their luck. A knockout price would give Blackstone a good exit on its existing 10% stake.
Blackstone checks in for another short hotel stay 15 Mar 2021 The buyout shop is going halves with Starwood Capital to buy mid-price operator Extended Stay in a deal worth $6 bln. Steve Schwarzman’s group has taken and then sold stakes in the company before. This time it could offload the business to another hotel chain after the pandemic.
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.
Unizo mess could make Japan M&A less hospitable 1 Mar 2021 Less than a year since the hotelier’s $2 bln takeover battle, it is under pressure from the massive debt used to repay buyout backer Lone Star. An aggressive deal structure exacerbated pandemic risks. The danger is that Japan Inc’s more open-minded approach to deals closes again.
Capital Calls: Pharma, Volvo delay, Hotels 24 Feb 2021 Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Big Pharma’s new popularity could give it leverage in Congress; China’s Geely can profit from Volvo IPO delay; and boutique hotels feel the heat.