Wintershall saga reaches logical $11 bln endgame 21 Dec 2023 After flirting with a listing and rival suitors, the BASF-owned German oil group is to merge with $3 bln Harbour Energy. The UK-listed buyer gets a relatively cheap way to bulk up in gas assets. The sellers get to stick around for the ride, courtesy of some funky financing.
US defense minnows will storm the barricades 20 Dec 2023 Even as conflict in Ukraine leads American arms makers to boost production, the political mood is turning against giants like Lockheed Martin. With half the $415 bln handed to American defense contractors not receiving a competitive bid, newcomers will make battlefield gains.
Chinese equities are ready for long march upwards 14 Dec 2023 Share prices and valuations in the world’s second-largest economy are near 2016 lows. Foreigners have retreated but any recovery will depend on Beijing and domestic buyers. Patient investors willing to stomach geopolitical tensions and other risks could earn big rewards.
General Atlantic laces IPO shoes with hook nearby 12 Dec 2023 A tech stock recovery coupled with consumer IPO successes bode well for a listing of the growth equity investor. But valuations could recoil as fast as they rose. While General Atlantic knows the value of pouncing quickly, TPG’s path to an IPO shows waiting has merit, too.
Muddy Waters sticks a pin in Blackstone’s rump 8 Dec 2023 The short-seller says a mortgage fund run by Steve Schwarzman’s firm is doomed by struggling office properties. The reality may be more nuanced. But Muddy Waters is challenging a fundamental Blackstone selling-point: its ability to outrun the market, in real estate or elsewhere.
Capital Calls: KKR’s green bargain 7 Dec 2023 Concise views on global finance: The buyout group is offering 1.4 bln pounds for battery and smart metering company SMS. It’s a cheap price. Yet the high rates that have pummelled the stock may soon ease.
Private equity double-dips are a tasty faux pas 4 Dec 2023 Cinven is buying testing firm Synlab for $2.5 bln, some 44% below the price it listed it at in 2021. Buying companies that you previously owned on the cheap looks appealing at a time when high rates are stifling buyouts. But it may make investors more wary of future floats.
Private-asset binge exposes insurance to new risks 30 Nov 2023 US insurers hoovered up private loans from buyout firms last year in a profitable game of pass-the-parcel. Their hoard of alternative assets has swelled 65% in five years, and regulators are struggling to keep up. The March banking panic shows what can happen when firewalls fail.
Capital Calls: Ferrovial/Heathrow 29 Nov 2023 Concise views on global finance: The Spanish infrastructure giant has offloaded its final 25% stake to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and private equity group Ardian for 2.4 bln pounds, but a chunky premium means the new owners should hope for a smoother ride.
Adevinta $13 bln bid puts minorities in a corner 22 Nov 2023 Permira and Blackstone are seeking to take the Norwegian classifieds group private. The offer price isn’t overly generous but the chance of activist investors stalling the deal is low. With top shareholders already supporting the bid, minority investors don’t have alternatives.
Carlyle’s next takeover target should be itself 16 Nov 2023 Boss Harvey Schwartz lacks the small-investor firehose or balance-sheet heft of listed rivals that public investors crave. A muddled handover by the firm’s founders slowed progress. They could help now by joining with outside capital to buy the private equity giant out.
More US-China take-privates could get feisty 14 Nov 2023 A bidding war has erupted for $1.4 bln Nasdaq-listed industrial automation solutions firm Hollysys. One would-be buyer even staged a dawn raid. If a deal succeeds, minority owners of undervalued peers could push for more value, too, as Chinese companies bid farewell to the US.
Private equity superstores overstock the shelves 8 Nov 2023 Blackstone and Apollo say diversification into credit, real estate and beyond makes them better investors. They have been outraised and often outperformed, however, by more focused buyout shops like CD&R. It will take consistently higher returns to justify the conglomerate model.
Canary Wharf may yet avoid once-a-decade upheaval 6 Nov 2023 The main landlord of London’s key office district has tended to have a new owner every 10 years. The 300 mln pounds of equity injected by incumbents Brookfield and Qatar suggests they may buck the trend. That gives Canary Wharf scope to address its issues in a stable manner.
Telecom Italia rival plan has too many pitfalls 3 Nov 2023 An ex-executive and a fund say the telco could raise 16 bln euros by offloading a Brazilian unit and other assets to slash its debt pile. That would spare it from selling its prized network to KKR. Yet bagging such valuations while executing a multi-step project looks tricky.
Capital Calls: CVC, Grocer wars, Atos 2 Nov 2023 Concise views on global finance: The European buyout group has postponed its plans to list in Amsterdam; British supermarket Sainsbury’s is thriving, which is bad news for rivals like CD&R-owned Morrisons; French IT firm Onepoint has grabbed a 10% stake in ailing peer Atos.
Apollo deal drought is swamped with success 1 Nov 2023 The $630 bln investment firm delivered disappointing profit and underscored plans to give shareholders less dealmaking lucre. Its market value jumped 8% on the bad news. Increasingly prized fee income helps boss Marc Rowan’s empire overcome higher interest rates squeezing alpha.
Tough dealmaking conditions dull Waystar’s shine 31 Oct 2023 The healthcare technology firm is angling for a stock-market listing on the back of rapid, acquisition-fueled growth. With a sale looking difficult and heavy debt bearing down, an IPO may be its private equity backers’ best option, but a mooted $8 bln valuation looks steep.
Hedge fund battle turns mountain into molehill 27 Oct 2023 Daniel Och is backing a $720 mln sale of Sculptor, the investment firm he founded, after buyer Rithm raised its bid again. The extra $15 mln he gets seems out of proportion to his rage against earlier terms. Maybe sweating the small stuff is what makes millionaires billionaires.
Music fund’s flat deal calls for major key change 25 Oct 2023 Shareholders are pushing Hipgnosis, run by industry veteran Merck Mercuriadis, to overhaul its board and cancel a $440 mln asset sale involving Blackstone. Poor governance and a discount value add weight to their case. A new management team could do better by selling the company.