Mergers & Acquisitions

Viewsroom: Not the same as it ever was

4 June 2020

After the Covid-19 pandemic has passed, will we still shake hands, ride elevators, go to sports matches and go on dates? Will taxes surge to pay for massive government budget deficits? Breakingviews editors chew over some highlights from their new e-book on what will change.

Make-up artist’s star power tested by $1 bln tag

4 June 2020

That’s how much Puig is close to paying for Charlotte Tilbury’s cosmetics company, Bloomberg reports. Famous friends and e-commerce helped the entrepreneur boost sales. To justify the price, the Spanish perfumer needs to lift margins after Covid-19, without smudging the brand.

Tiffany share drop offers LVMH a bargaining chip

3 June 2020

Fears that Bernard Arnault may pull his $16.2 bln bid amid U.S. unrest have hit the jeweler’s shares. The French billionaire may see an opportunity to renegotiate, but it’s not without risk. Buying Tiffany shares on the market would be a less aggressive way to meet a similar end.

Tech giants dare antitrust deal watchdogs

1 June 2020

Facebook, Microsoft and Apple have been on a buying spree of small companies. U.S. regulators are examining such deals but their work has been hindered by Covid-19. Big Tech can argue some firms would fail otherwise. But the effect on consumers is a mixed bag.

Zynga puts overvalued shares to risky use

1 June 2020

The $9 bln video-game company is buying the Turkish maker of Toon Blast and Toy Blast for $1.8 bln, its biggest deal ever. Zynga is partly financing it with stock puffed up by the pandemic. But the high price and its mixed acquisition record should give investors pause.

Kylie Jenner teaches Coty celeb value is cosmetic

1 June 2020

The perfume maker’s stock fell after Forbes suggested the TV star, who sold 51% of her makeup brand to Coty last year, had exaggerated her wealth. Coty had overpaid either way. But the drama exposes the folly of companies buying brands whose value they can’t really control.

West End foray breathes life into UK property M&A

1 June 2020

Capco, owner of much of London’s upmarket Covent Garden district, has bought a 26% stake in $2.4 bln Shaftesbury, which manages large swathes of the trendy Soho area. A merger could follow. The risky punt shows UK landlords are starting to think about life after the pandemic.

German carmakers step on Chinese electric pedal

29 May 2020

VW is taking big stakes in two Chinese EV firms, while Daimler may invest in battery-maker Farasis Energy’s $480 mln IPO. Demand remains tepid, oil is too cheap, and the targets look richly priced. But these deals lock in supply, and position both to compete with Tesla in China.

Amazon steers towards self-driving leverage

28 May 2020

Jeff Bezos’s $1.2 trln behemoth is one of the obvious big buyers of autonomous vehicles. Acquiring startup Zoox would give it an even bigger say in how the technology gets rolled out. That would also help deepen its customers’ dependence on Amazon’s fast and cheap shipping.

Corona Capital: Hockey, HBO, Minority businesses

27 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: A plan to get pucks back on the ice offers a sporting template. Meanwhile, HBO’s streaming service may have missed its moment, and a survey shows minority-owned businesses have mixed feelings about life after Covid.

A Ford-VW tie-up would solve a ton of problems

22 May 2020

The two rivals’ souped-up electric and autonomous collaboration won’t solve their respective geographic weaknesses. A merger would. It’d also create value and give Ford’s underperforming boss a graceful exit. The biggest sticking point is the firms’ convoluted ownership.

Morgan Stanley gets closer to real Reliance prize

22 May 2020

Deals are flowing fast as Mukesh Ambani rejigs his empire. The U.S. bank has helped raise $10 bln for the tech unit from Facebook, KKR and others. It wasn’t on a bigger deal inked with Aramco but that’s less important, especially with the $70 bln Jio unit’s IPO on the horizon.

Uber-Grubhub’s big obstacle is delivery not price

18 May 2020

Some to-and-fro over value is normal in a potential merger. But for two money-losing companies with volatile stocks, financial tweaks are a second-order issue. The more critical question about combining their meal-delivery operations is whether antitrust watchdogs would block it.

Corona Capital: Travel companies, Oil

18 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Travel companies have sunnier days; oil traders have triumph of hope over experience.

BT’s misery puts new gloss on old selloff idea

15 May 2020

The UK phone giant is considering offloading part of its $24 bln Openreach network unit, the FT says. CEO Philip Jansen and his predecessors resisted a split. But he urgently needs cash to boost fibre broadband, and a sale could lift BT’s shares from this week’s decade lows.

Uber-Grubhub may get stomachache from deal fuss

14 May 2020

A tie-up would create the top meal-delivery firm in major markets like New York, Boston and Chicago. Uber’s beefed up lobbying efforts might help federal approval, but even then state antitrust watchdogs may be concerned. It’s a tough taste test for the $57 bln ride-hailing app.

The Agnellis move from hunting to hunkering down

13 May 2020

With a planned $9 bln cash windfall from selling PartnerRe and fat dividends from merging Fiat with Peugeot, the Italian billionaire family was set just months ago for a global, diversification shopping spree. Exor is a case study in how quickly the pandemic shifts fortunes.

Uber is Grubhub CEO’s answer

12 May 2020

Matt Maloney bemoaned excessive competition among food-delivery startups. The lockdown has helped, but it's still cut-throat. Now the $55 bln ride-hailing giant may buy Grubhub. That’s one way to solve Maloney's problem, provided price and antitrust thinking go his way.

PNC picks Covid moment to cash in BlackRock chips

12 May 2020

The regional bank is selling its 22% stake in the asset manager, worth $17 bln. PNC has had a great ride, but new rules could have become a headache for both companies. The timing means boss Bill Demchak will have a big war chest to go looking for bargain acquisitions.

Coty applies KKR’s cash to cover deal scars

11 May 2020

The private-equity firm will pay $3 bln for a majority stake in brands Coty bought from P&G for $12.5 bln. A direct investment of $1 bln in Coty will further tone down its crushing debt load. It's a loss of face – but not quite of control – for parent JAB.