Green muck could fuel your car 13 Dec 2007 The ethanol industry turns cheap food into expensive fuel. It isn t particularly effective at fighting global warming either. Icky algae is far more effective at turning sunlight into energy. All it needs is some power plant emissions and a bit of technological progress.
Italian motorway fiasco descends into farce 28 Nov 2007 The Italian government behaved disgracefully last year when it blocked a merger between Autostrade and Spain's Abertis by throwing the tariffs up in the air. After pressure from Brussels, the Prodi government has finally agreed new tariffs with Autostrade only for them to be damned by its own advisory body.
Get to Paris faster. Then get stuck there. 14 Nov 2007 The Eurostar is inaugurating its new, faster LondontoParis line the day French transport workers are going on a massive strike against Sarkozy s pension reform plans. British engineering has finally caught up with gallic highspeed train technology, but the French railway operator s unions are still looking backward.
Piech may sacrifice MAN in monster truck merger 18 Oct 2007 The Volkswagen chairman might let Swedish truckmaker Scania buy German rival MAN. VW is the biggest shareholder in both. Abandoning MAN might offend German sensibilities. But since Piech's own car empire is shaping up, he no longer needs to care very much.
RBS sale of Angel Trains will test infrastructure market 24 Sep 2007 The bank needs cash and is putting its trainleasing division on the block. It is hoping to get £4bn from the sale. But with a Competition Commission inquiry looming and privateequity players more cautious, it might have to revise the price downwards.
US railway investors need a long-term outlook 7 Sep 2007 Warren Buffett has been building an investment in US railroads. The sector s stocks have enjoyed something of a renaissance. But recent operational advances are already priced in. Other trends may be positive, but investors need patience and realistic expectations.
Tube strike teaches credit crunch lessons 4 Sep 2007 The London transport system and the short term money markets are both gummed up. There are strikes by tube workers and by lenders. Despite adverse conditions, the two markets clear. But there is a shortterm cost and longterm risks, whichever way the authorities turn.
Germans head towards reluctant rail privatisation 31 Jul 2007 After months of hesitation, the Merkel government has decided to go ahead with Deutsche Bahn s partial privatisation. But the plan so far looks halfhearted. If unions and politicians prevail, the company won t attract much interest from serious investors.
Cummins guns its engine 30 Jul 2007 In the midst of last week s bloodbath, shares of enginemaker Cummins surged nearly 6% on knockout results and an upbeat earnings outlook. While the credit crunch and subprime mess still haunt equity markets, bulls can take comfort that the old economy is still chugging along.
TomTom directs its attention to map supplier 23 Jul 2007 The Dutch navigation device maker is offering E1.8bn for Tele Atlas. The rapidly growing industry is getting more rational. At 28 times ebitda, the offer is hardly cheap. The stock rose even higher. But a high price can be justified for this scarce asset.
Potholed road attracts infrastructure swarm 2 Jan 2007 Four dozen firms are pursuing the Pennsylvania Turnpike. That s 42 more than were interested in an Indiana toll road earlier this year. So far, most infrastructure action has been in Europe. But interest in the Pennsylvania road shows the infatuation has come to the US. Four dozen firms are pursuing the Pennsylvania Turnpike. That s 42 more than were interested in an Indiana toll road last year.
Scania CEO goes over the top with blitzkrieg remark 7 Dec 2006 The most astonishing thing about his outburst? That MAN, like Scania, is run by a Swede. Likening Germany s MAN to the Nazis, and himself to Churchill, suggests Ostling is ill suited to run a tieup between the two truckmakers.
Infrastructure bubble may not be wholly irrational 30 Nov 2006 At least as far as the fund managers who are sucking in money, pushing up valuations and piling on leverage are concerned. S&P warns of a dotcomstyle bubble. But heads I win, tails you lose incentives mean the behaviour could, in a narrow sense, be rational. At least so far as the fund managers who are sucking in money, pushing up valuations and piling on leverage are concerned.
Eurotunnel will test new French bankruptcy law 28 Nov 2006 Two investors think they have been crammed down by Eurotunnel and the courts. They may have a point. It seems unfair that creditors with different economic interests should be forced to vote together. The law could use a tweak.
French law rides to rescue of Eurotunnel plan 21 Nov 2006 The vote of the senior creditors next week is what really matters. And while there are angry dissidents among them, they are in a minority. The French safeguard bankruptcy process marginalises potential opponents. Bondholders can kick up a fuss, but they ve done relatively well.
Eurotunnel’s chief plays chicken with creditors 25 Oct 2006 The gap between Eurotunnel and its creditors doesn t seem to be closing. Yet liquidation may be just a week or so away. As in chicken, both sides are aiming to make the other blink first. Both can't be right. Many games of chicken end in a car wreck.
AWG bid may be first of many for UK water firms 14 Sep 2006 A mooted £2.2bn bid for the owner of Anglian Water by an infrastructure fund has sent all UK water stocks soaring. Expected returns from water deals may not be huge. But they are steady, long term and match pension liabilities. More may well come.
MAN-Scania takeover would have strong logic 13 Sep 2006 A merger between the two truck makers and the truck operations of VW would create a European champion, with about E500m of synergies. If MAN then sells its nontruck side, as expected, the German conglomerate will be a pure play in trucks and buses and release more value.
Italy shoots down E25bn motorway deal 6 Aug 2006 The Italian government has come up with some pretty flimsy excuses to block the takeover of Autostrade by Spanish group Abertis. This decision smacks of blatant protectionism and if Autostrade and Albertis fight it, they look sure to have EU law on their side.
Eurotunnel management hides behind courts 17 Jul 2006 It s a clever tactic for Eurotunnel to ask the French courts for help by filing for safeguard bankruptcy protection. It takes the pressure off management to hammer out a deal. If negotiations fail, at least Eurotunnel can say it wasn t entirely its fault.