Ailing Indian hospitals warrant healthy bid action 16 Apr 2018 Buyout firm TPG is backing one of three rival offers valuing scandal-hit Fortis at up to $1.3 bln. Private services are in demand with rising incomes and an increase in lifestyle diseases set against New Delhi's failure to provide decent healthcare. Medical tourism helps, too.
Singapore ruling gives Uber deal yellow light 16 Apr 2018 Regulators have tapped the brakes on Southeast Asia's ride-hailing mega-merger. They won’t halt a deal with rival Grab but have limited data-sharing and driver exclusivity contracts, at least while they review. That’s an amber signal, and a sign of potholes ahead.
IAG picks good time to ride Norwegian jet stream 12 Apr 2018 The owner of British Airways may bid for budget carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle. The target’s plan to disrupt transatlantic travel is taking off, but its finances are stretched, and rival bidders may struggle to match an offer from IAG. Investors shouldn’t bet on too big a premium.
Toys R Us Asia deal will be far from child’s play 12 Apr 2018 The bankrupt retailer has drawn bids of over $1 bln for its Asian operations. The unit is growing in China and Southeast Asia but its biggest market is Japan, where the number of kids is shrinking. Any buyer will also need a clear idea of how to handle the threat from e-commerce.
Lawmakers’ puzzlement is hazard for Facebook 11 Apr 2018 In Congress, Mark Zuckerberg mostly faced confused questioning about his company’s use of data, not a focused grilling. Rather than a let-off, that’s a risk. When the average politician is baffled by something new but suspects pernicious behavior, regulation may not be far away.
Opacity makes U.S. sanctions on Russia more potent 11 Apr 2018 Rusal aluminium will be barred from London’s Metal Exchange, and the Russian group and parent En+ will be deleted from some stock indices. In theory, non-Americans should be able to deal with both. But fear of how rules will be enforced is compounding the pain of tough sanctions.
China’s financial market door only opens inward 11 Apr 2018 The People’s Republic pledged to raise ownership limits for foreign financiers by the end of the year, and quadrupled the daily stock trading quota with Hong Kong. The reforms are welcome. But the opening enables more money to flow into China, while keeping domestic cash at home.
Hadas: Even Trump can’t make graft great again 11 Apr 2018 Resistance to corruption is evident in cases against ex-leaders of South Korea, Brazil and South Africa. Old royal privileges make no sense in modern economies. U.S. officials and the corporate elite have strayed, but rising middle classes will keep straightening out the crooked.
Busting EU sport cartel lines already fat pockets 11 Apr 2018 Antitrust authorities raided groups including Fox in a TV-sports cartel probe. Usually, such moves help consumers. But if the cartel had helped hold down inflated media rights, the main beneficiaries from its end would be already loaded teams and athletes.
Fed puts price on simpler rules for big banks 10 Apr 2018 The central bank wants to use stress-test results to determine how much of a capital buffer the 30 largest U.S. lenders need. It would reward good risk management and streamline the annual exam while maintaining high reserves at the megabanks. That should spell relief all around.
Washington zeroes in on correct Facebook target 10 Apr 2018 At his first congressional hearing on data practices, Mark Zuckerberg got a grilling about the social network’s confusing terms of service. More clarity and user control would be a start. But Facebook with its ad-driven business model can’t be trusted to police itself.
Trump trade war risks European carmaker backfire 10 Apr 2018 BMW and Daimler sell a surprising number of American-made vehicles in China. Were the U.S. president’s tariff-war rhetoric to become reality, carmakers could shrink stateside production. If Trump wants to keep rather than lose jobs, he should seize Beijing’s latest olive branch.
Bayer investors get unwelcome antitrust present 10 Apr 2018 The German company has struck a deal with U.S. regulators to clear its $60 billion acquisition of seed group Monsanto, the Wall Street Journal reported. After EU approval in March, a two-year saga is almost over. Bayer’s sagging stock price means shareholders can hold the cheers.
Facebook not Zuckerberg is under fire in D.C. 9 Apr 2018 It will be tempting for U.S. lawmakers grilling Mark Zuckerberg to focus on his all-too-apparent flaws. That would miss the bigger question: whether Facebook is too complex to manage, whoever runs it. That is key to knowing whether the company ought to be regulated.
Glencore’s Rusal cloud has a silver lining 9 Apr 2018 The commodity trader is nursing a hit to its 9 percent stake in the Russian miner, whose shares have halved due to U.S. sanctions. But the loss is bearable and disruption to the aluminium market and growing protectionism may end up helping CEO Ivan Glasenberg’s trading business.
Breakdown: China’s gift to big technology 9 Apr 2018 Beijing has unveiled plans to allow Alibaba and other offshore-listed tech giants to sell stock using depositary receipts. The move should boost their valuations and benefit investors on both sides of the Pacific – but creates a few fresh headaches too.
U.S. companies in China prepare to be squeezed 6 Apr 2018 President Trump is aiming new tariffs at $100 bln of Chinese exports after Beijing threatened duties against U.S. products. American firms have invested over $250 bln into China in the past 25 years. Their assets are now exposed to regulatory harassment and shifting trade flows.
Viewsroom: Spotify leads Wall Street on IPO dance 5 Apr 2018 The music-streaming service enjoyed a mostly smooth stock-market debut despite largely bypassing investment banks. Ultimately, though, business success, not IPO hype, is what counts. Plus: Regulators and automakers are sparking up an altogether too cozy relationship.
Meituan deal sets pace in Chinese bicycle-sharing 4 Apr 2018 The food-delivering, ticket-booking, ride-sharing app is buying Mobike for $2.7 bln. Given the competitive and cash-burning realities, investors should be relieved at the sale. For rival Ofo, which just raised nearly $900 mln more from Alibaba and others, the riding gets tougher.
U.S. emissions watchdog hands keys to car industry 3 Apr 2018 EPA boss Scott Pruitt plans to ditch Obama-era rules mandating much greater fuel efficiency. He says the move will enhance affordability, but that’s a foil for putting industry concerns first. As finance has shown, regulators who kowtow to those they oversee can cause a crash.