Mergers & Acquisitions

Xerox’s HP bid walks, quacks like Carl Icahn

22 January 2020

The printer maker may try to oust most of HP’s directors to win support for its $33 bln merger proposal. HP’s intransigence isn’t constructive, but its board is stronger. A proxy fight could leave Xerox activist Icahn in control, with only a small share of the company.

Alstom-Bombardier rail M&A would face faulty track

22 January 2020

The $11 bln French train maker and its Canadian rival are discussing a deal, Bloomberg reported. The former’s failed deal with Siemens posed more obvious EU antitrust issues, but Brussels may still balk. And synergies that rely on big job cuts in France will be politically toxic.

BAE’s U.S. pivot can help defuse Saudi discount

20 January 2020

The $27 bln UK defence firm has bought satellite navigation and radio businesses from merger partners Raytheon and United Technologies. The $2.2 bln price looks fair. Greater sales in America, and a lesser reliance on Riyadh, should boost the Typhoon-maker’s depressed stock.

Capgemini blinks first in Elliott face-off

14 January 2020

The French IT services group has raised its offer to buy $4 bln Altran despite previously insisting it wouldn’t. CEO Paul Hermelin is hoping that swallowing his pride will get him what he wants. But a modest $140 million bump up is unlikely to placate the holdout U.S. activist.

Visa learns sellers have upper hand in fintech M&A

14 January 2020

The $421 bln group is shelling out $5.3 bln for Plaid, which enables payments that bypass the card network. For a rich acquisition multiple, it gets a hedge against a potential threat. The U.S. startup’s owners can cash out and let others worry about challenges such as Big Tech.

U.S. regulators toss another wrench into M&A

13 January 2020

Washington’s deal enforcers are rethinking four decades of antitrust oversight by proposing a new set of guidelines. The refresh is overdue and needed following the meddling in AT&T’s deal for Time Warner. But it adds questions to a market already fraught with uncertainty.

Climate is a good reason for U.S. aerospace merger

13 January 2020

It’s tempting to see the $13.7 bln combo of Woodward and Hexcel as a response to the 737 MAX woes of Boeing, a mutual major customer. Sure, combining creates more heft with Boeing and Airbus. But a focus on making aircraft lighter and less polluting has better long-term logic.

Private equity tries for the tech patriot premium

9 January 2020

Insight Partners is buying a Swiss cloud company for $5 bln, relocating it to the United States and replacing its Russian co-founders on the board. Veeam wants U.S. growth, and Insight will eventually want to sell or float the business. Making it more American can only help.

Hospital M&A adds to U.S. healthcare absurdity

9 January 2020

A merger wave has made highly-concentrated local markets for hospitals more so, while raising prices and lowering quality, according to a new study. With antitrust cops having only limited powers, hospitals – already 6% of U.S. GDP – will keep sucking more blood from the economy.

Infrastructure investors catch the tech bug

9 January 2020

Macquarie may be in talks to buy AirTrunk for over $2 bln. It follows a record year for data centre M&A which saw volumes triple. Growing consumption of the new oil is fuelling demands for storage warehouses. And the hunger for yield is building up towering multiples.

Anglo’s tricky fertiliser bet has political hedge

8 January 2020

The miner is sinking $500 mln to buy Sirius’ troubled potash project in northern England. It will need to stump up an extra $3 bln to extract the mineral, whose price is murky. At least PM Boris Johnson, keen to revive poorer UK regions, should support Anglo American’s plan.

Elliott doubles down on Capgemini game of chicken

8 January 2020

The U.S. activist will not tender its 14% stake in Altran, which the French consultancy wants to buy for $4 bln. Buoyant markets should limit Elliott’s downside if the deal fails. And if Capgemini secures a majority, a legal trial may yet give investors a shot at a higher price.

Aussie petrol station bidding war lacks fuel

8 January 2020

UK-based EG Group is interested in buying pump operator Caltex Australia, raising pressure on Canada’s Couche-Tard to up its $6 bln offer. Its costs could already far exceed returns, however. For the target, it’s only a possible relief from a fraught go-it-alone IPO plan.

Xerox colors in its avant-garde HP outline

6 January 2020

The copier group now has bank commitments for $24 bln of debt for its Carl Icahn-backed $33 bln bid to buy larger rival HP. That removes one big question about a proposed deal that still seems the wrong way around. It puts pressure on HP to talk, or come up with something better.

Europe will emulate Japan’s foreign takeover binge

6 January 2020

A shrinking domestic market and cheap money prompted Japanese firms to ramp up abroad. Their EU counterparts already have greater international exposure but face similar stagnation and demographics at home. Watch the shopping habits of Siemens, Eni, Roche, ING, SocGen and others.

Deutsche, Commerz get 30-year reunification bonus

3 January 2020

New businesses flourished after East Germany rejoined the West in 1990. Their founders are now approaching retirement, and heirs may have no interest in running the family firm. That’ll spark a Mittelstand M&A boom, bringing much-needed fees for the country’s embattled banks.

Viewsroom: Green M&A in 2020

2 January 2020

CEOs increasingly talk a good game on climate change, but the financial implications of global warming have played a small role in dealmaking so far. That will change in the year ahead. Also: why the video-game industry should be bracing for a political backlash.

Trade wars are holding cross-border M&A hostage

31 December 2019

Global deals exceeded $3.8 trln in 2019, but takeovers where buyer and seller are in different countries fell by a quarter. Geopolitical tensions make any big transaction a potential target. Spats between the United States, China and the EU look set to keep weighing on activity.

BlackRock is Wall Street’s object of fantasy M&A

23 December 2019

Investment banks are paid to be creative by concocting deals that help clients meet their strategic imperatives. But financiers like Goldman Sachs and Blackstone, too, could use some of their own advice. The $76 bln investment behemoth might one day play into their pitchbooks.

Asia Pacific is primed for its next 11-digit LBO

23 December 2019

Over $250 bln of private equity money is sloshing around the region, as a new KKR fund looks set to exceed its flagship U.S. one. Cheap debt helps put another Toshiba-like deal in the frame. Dentsu and Haier fit the buyout profile. Even whoppers like Woolworths could be targeted.