Media & Entertainment

China’s Topsports takes eye off e-commerce ball

17 July 2019

Two years after a $6.8 bln buyout of Belle, the shoe retailer has unveiled IPO plans for its athletic-wear chain. A Beijing-backed fitness push should help sustain sales growth. A dependence on Nike and Adidas is a worry, though, as is the lack of emphasis on its online strategy.

Naspers’ double discount

15 July 2019

The South African group is spinning off its stake in China’s Tencent into an Amsterdam-listed subsidiary. Will this narrow the persistent valuation gap between the two?

Naspers hopes two discounts are less than one

15 July 2019

The South African group is persistently worth less than its $135 bln stake in Chinese web giant Tencent. Listing assets in Amsterdam might shrink the gap, but the parent will still suffer a markdown. Investors should only click “accept” if the combined shortfall is much smaller.

CBS and Viacom could be media’s own Switzerland

11 July 2019

A merger of the two media firms backed by the Redstone family is likely. But what then? CBS-Viacom will still be no match for rivals Disney and Netflix. Its best move may be to stay neutral, make content and leave streaming wars to rivals – provided it can keep ambition in check.

Netflix gets the last laugh in HBO “Friends” deal

10 July 2019

WarnerMedia’s new video service HBO Max will exclusively air the comedy series for a mooted $425 mln – snatching it back from its online rival. A blow to Netflix? Not quite. The streaming giant has effectively made sure the next buyer has to shell out a high price to win it back.

Offloading Univision

9 July 2019

The Spanish-language broadcaster is up for sale. Will the buyers in the stretched 2007 leveraged buyout even recoup their original $4 bln investment?

Univision owners may be in for a downer ending

9 July 2019

Backers TPG, Saban Capital and others are looking to sell the Spanish-language broadcaster. The $14 bln buyout may have seemed sound 12 years ago. But after a failed IPO, questionable digital moves and a brutal TV environment, the investors could get back less than they put in.

The Exchange: Surviving the digital-media meltdown

8 July 2019

Venture capitalist Ben Lerer, whose firm backed BuzzFeed and Axios, drops by Breakingviews to discuss why startups in the news industry have been suffering. Unlike some of his peers, Lerer reckons these minnows can have mutually beneficial relationships with giants like Facebook.

Indian media mogul’s buyout buries the tech lead

8 July 2019

Minority shareholders are challenging a valuation of Vineet Jain’s empire. Stakes in Uber and other startups, some acquired in exchange for newspaper ad space, may not be fully reflected in the offer price. It’s a twist on holding company discounts faced by the likes of SoftBank.

WPP disposal offers cautionary tale for Publicis

2 July 2019

The UK ad group is selling the debris from a debt-driven acquisition spree under former boss Martin Sorrell. Its $12.3 bln French rival is borrowing to splurge on a data business. Publicis’ lowly valuation shows investors fear that CEO Arthur Sadoun may repeat Sorrell’s mistakes.

Blackstone opens child-friendly Legoland LBO ride

28 June 2019

The private equity firm will help Denmark’s founding Lego family take Merlin Entertainments private for $6 bln. Rather than slashing costs and flipping the theme park owner, they’ll invest in growth. The trade-off is that returns may be much lower than a typical leveraged buyout.

John Malone’s M&A nous gets short shrift in Europe

28 June 2019

The cable cowboy’s Liberty Global should get $15 bln of cash from Swiss and German asset sales. A lowly share price means investors are worried Malone will waste the money. That’s unmerited: share buybacks and further selloffs seem likelier than a risky acquisition.

Could Taylor Swift be a strategic American asset?

25 June 2019

The answer is obvious to her devoted fans. But they don’t get to decide. If Vivendi’s sale of a stake in $30 bln-plus Universal Music attracts China’s Tencent, the deal may need CFIUS approval. And President Trump could easily muster a reason, however thin, to shake it off.

Eldorado bets the farm on Caesars turnaround

24 June 2019

The serial acquirer of casinos is buying its big-name rival for $8.5 bln, more than twice its own market cap. Eldorado will now share Caesars’ heavy debt load. The smaller company is on a roll with a record of achieving promised synergies. It’ll need all that skill, and more.

Second front opens in Vivendi’s Italian campaign

19 June 2019

Silvio Berlusconi’s plan to create a 4 bln euro pan-EU broadcaster from Mediaset could mute the influence of its French media rival in the new group. Vincent Bolloré’s firm, which may also be diluted by Rome in Telecom Italia, is getting a taste of its own cooking in Italy.

Pricey German auction interferes with 5G signal

13 June 2019

The country’s telco operators spent 6.6 bln euros on radio frequencies for next-generation mobile networks. That makes it harder for the likes of Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone to make money from 5G connections. Fierce competition means shareholders, not consumers, bear the brunt.

KKR finds risky media bargain with Axel Springer

12 June 2019

The private equity group is partnering with the German company’s founding family to buy out minority investors for 3 bln euros. It gets a racy digital listings business at the price of a sluggish newspaper publisher. Yet the lack of control limits KKR’s options if growth slows.

Review: Rockonomics nicely reflects the real world

7 June 2019

Alan Krueger’s posthumous work on the finances of rock and roll functions in equal parts as a basic industry primer, a textbook on broader economic concepts and a guidebook for musicians wanting to start a band. It’s also a window, if an imperfect one, into the author’s soul.

Timing may at last be right for CBS-Viacom reunion

30 May 2019

The U.S. media groups are again talking about recombining after two failed attempts. The logic of the possible $29 bln merger has changed little. But with CBS under new management and Viacom neither thriving nor floundering, conflicting egos and valuations are no longer problems.

Macau mogul picks up Crown jewels for a song

30 May 2019

Lawrence Ho is buying 20% of his former partner’s Australian casino operator for $1.2 bln, less than rival Wynn earlier indicated it might pay. A bet Down Under could play well for the New York-listed group but James Packer’s partial exit is a raw deal for other shareholders.