EMI shares have caught up with events 31 Mar 2004 The music group's shares have had a remarkable run, thanks to good news on piracy and aggressive cost cuts. But given EMI's valuation, the shares may not have much further to climb.
Deutsche Bank under fire over Vivendi buy-back 31 Mar 2004 The massive buyback undertaken after the September 11 attacks boosted Vivendi's stock but also contributed to its financial distress. Deutsche, Vivendi and the French market regulator which has astonishingly been raided by the French fraud squad must answer questions.
Seat bond a test case for European junk 30 Mar 2004 The Italian directories group is testing the depth of the market with Europe s biggest deal and a highly risky one to boot. The terms on which Seat can raise money may influence when Autostrade comes to market and when the Benettons sell Autogrill.
Bertelsmann back on the acquisition trail 30 Mar 2004 Faced with sluggish growth in its core businesses, the German media giant doesn t have a lot of choice. Bertelsmann wants to spend about E2bn. It probably has room for more. But given its experience in the last M&A boom, it should be cautious.
Tiscali sell-off looks overdone 26 Mar 2004 The Italian internet service provider has delayed results after the regulator probed changes in its goodwill accounting. This hardly counts as another Parmalat, but Tiscali still needs to give a convincing explanation for the change.
Berlusconi a double-edged sword for Mediaset 24 Mar 2004 Having a prime minister as owner has its advantages especially if he pushes through the media bill favouring the Italian broadcaster. The flipside is weak corporate governance, which might explain why Mediaset looks cheap.
Bidders get creative for Telegraph auction 23 Mar 2004 Tough competition for the newspaper group means bidders are concocting all sorts of schemes to increase chances of success. Price ought to be the deciding factor, but tax issues and expediency will matter too.
Vivendi tries to cash in on valuable tax assets 16 Mar 2004 The group s first scheme turning its mobile unit into a limited partnership has been vetoed by Vodafone, its fellow shareholder. But Vivendi may have other clever schemes up its sleeve.
Accelerated option vesting is a bad idea 4 Mar 2004 Michael Green's £13m astonishing options bonanza should prompt a review of the merits of accelerated vesting when a company merges. With a new M&A bubble inflating, investors should stamp on the practice quickly or they will see a lot of value flying out of the door.
Disney must drop its boss 3 Mar 2004 With 43% of its owners withholding support for chairman and chief executive Michael Eisner, the board cannot sit on its hands. But simply splitting Eisner s role would be a bandaid remedy. With Comcast hovering over the proceedings, it s time for Eisner to go.
What links Italian football to Parmalat and Cirio? 3 Mar 2004 For a start, they are all under investigation. What's more, two of the clubs that have been searched are none other than Parma and Lazio. The first is owned by Parmalat; the second used to be owned by Cirio before it went bust. The intriguing fact is that clubs swapped players with each other for extremely high prices. That may have flattered their accounts.
Battle for Telegraph kicks off in earnest 27 Feb 2004 A Delaware court has foiled Black s attempt to cut a sweetheart deal with the Barclay Brothers, blackening his name even further. That leaves Hollinger free to peddle its papers to the highest bidder. This is good for minority shareholders.
Broadcasters look expensive 26 Feb 2004 European broadcasters have roared ahead in the runup to the economic recovery. But investors should give the boring old publishers another look while they are still cheap.
Vivendi plans share buyback for 2005 24 Feb 2004 After very nearly going bust, the telecom and media conglomerate will soon start returning cash to shareholders. This year will still be a transitional one. But the stock looks a good bet in the medium term.
Reed shares may have further to run 19 Feb 2004 Investors have been bidding up racy media stocks, but they might give boring old Reed another look. The AngloDutch publisher isn t expensive, and its prospects for 2005 look good.
Comcast should sweeten Disney bid with votes 18 Feb 2004 The cable group is offering secondclass paper. The founding Roberts family cannot be diluted, however many shares they issue. The snag is that if the Robertses abandon their magic shares, they may start to wince at the price of the deal.
Reuters is on a roll 17 Feb 2004 Thanks to aggressive cost cuts, the information group delivered a full year profit despite an 11% drop in sales. More importantly, its European business is on the road to recovery. Reuters looks like it could start to give Bloomberg a run for its money.
Bid rumours make Man Utd a mouthful 16 Feb 2004 The UK football club is now trading on an extraordinary 44 times 2004 earnings. That s unsustainable. Unless a bid comes through soon, the shares could take a sharp tumble.
European media may get boost from Disney 13 Feb 2004 Not because there is going to be a wave of M&A deals suddenly sweeping the sector. But it should help to lift the cloud that has been hanging over branded content plays.
Disney should eliminate the Eisner factor 12 Feb 2004 Comcast s lowball bid aims to cash in Michael Eisner s unpopularity with investors. But if Eisner is the problem, they don't need the cable giant to solve it.