Consumer wallets are top risk to chip titan TSMC 14 Jan 2020 A heady valuation multiple for Taiwan's $295 bln supplier to Apple, Huawei and others reflects its relentless march on rivals. Rising retail prices for ever-fancier smartphones, though, may curb demand. That’s possibly the biggest risk for the tech supply chain’s sturdiest player.
Silicon Valley wakes up to financial independence 13 Jan 2020 Scooter-sharing outfit Lime is exiting cities and letting staff go in the hope of turning a profit. After WeWork’s nightmarish IPO failure, it’s not the only startup whose vision now includes making money. What’s old has become new for tech newbies, but growing up isn’t easy.
Private equity tries for the tech patriot premium 9 Jan 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.
China’s Ucommune may have missed WeWork IPO memo 9 Jan 2019 The country's biggest shared-office outfit is gearing up to go public after its U.S. peer flamed out. A $2.6 bln private valuation implies a similarly punchy 13 times estimated sales. And like WeWork, Ucommune rents from its entrenched founder. A down-round or worse probably awaits.
Elliott doubles down on Capgemini game of chicken 8 Jan 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.
Investors fuel unicorns’ belief in their own magic 7 Jan 2020 Private tech startups can control their valuations by only raising money when their worth is rising. Valuing businesses based on a fraction of their capital and the latest preferred-share terms also creates problems. Even WeWork may not be enough of a reality check.
Mark Zuckerberg can be his own activist investor 6 Jan 2020 Keeping shareholders happy isn’t necessarily compatible with cleaning up data abuses and toxic content. But Facebook’s CEO needn’t change his professed ideals. He could change the company’s legal form so it can better serve society – and put his supervoting power to good use.
Hong Kong poised to reclaim IPO crown 6 Jan 2020 It has been a decade since the Asian financial hub beat the Big Apple in new equity issuance. Violent protests are a challenge, but Alibaba provided some reassurance. The U.S. backlash against China and a stable of mainland unicorns will help make Hong Kong No. 1 again in 2020.
Big Tech will be both friend and foe to Big Pharma 3 Jan 2020 A programme developed by Google has beaten doctors in detecting malignant tumours. Artificial intelligence could save patients’ lives and help drugmakers develop more sophisticated treatments. Yet better screening could also help governments and insurers rein in drug spending.
HR nous will make or break CEOs’ tech ambitions 31 Dec 2019 Bosses from fashion to financial services love talking about big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence. They list Alphabet and Amazon as rivals for talent. That makes for an extremely tight tech-job market, bringing creative hiring and retention skills to the fore.
Direct listings will move nearer IPOs – and Europe 27 Dec 2019 After Spotify and Slack’s non-standard floats in 2018 and 2019, respectively, expect more direct listings in the United States in the year ahead. The method could start borrowing more features from traditional IPOs, and the whole notion may jump across the Atlantic too.
Team Trump will steal Warren’s tech thunder 26 Dec 2019 The Democratic presidential candidate has made breaking up Silicon Valley giants like Facebook and Amazon a key part of her campaign. But the White House could use a recent antitrust probe to make the case first, and effectively mute much of Warren’s roar.
SoftBank’s softly, softly approach will spur M&A 24 Dec 2019 Masayoshi Son will take a more cautious approach to backing multibillion-dollar startups next year. Those with a long path to profitability can only last so long without funds. Asia’s food delivery, ride-hailing and e-commerce stars could be first to cut their losses and merge.
Jack Dorsey adds third job as anti-Facebook hero 20 Dec 2019 The awkward Twitter boss banned political ads and did more than Mark Zuckerberg’s social network to prevent the silencing of Hong Kong protesters. Dorsey, also CEO of Square, fared surprisingly well in D.C. hearings, too. His style will put heat on rivals as U.S. elections loom.
UK $7 bln food fight’s final course: indigestion 20 Dec 2019 Takeaway.com’s Jitse Groen upped his all-share bid for Just Eat, almost certainly seeing off rival cash bidder Prosus. Yet the likely return on his splurge looks low. And investors accepting his offer are betting that the new group will trade on an overcooked valuation multiple.
Payments M&A is timely bet on Italy’s cash purge 20 Dec 2019 Months after listing, Italian leader Nexi has spent 1 bln euros on Intesa’s merchant acquiring business. Buying state-backed peer SIA to forge a 13 bln euro European champion could be next. Bulking up while Rome is pushing measures to curb the use of banknotes makes sense.
Margrethe Vestager will open tech’s walled garden 20 Dec 2019 The European antitrust chief’s multibillion-dollar fines had little impact on the 12-digit market values of Google, Facebook and others. She will weaken their grip on the internet more effectively in 2020 by imposing common standards that allow seamless use of rival platforms.
Tencent is next in Western cross-hairs 20 Dec 2019 The WeChat app, indispensable to life and business in the People's Republic, is due unwanted foreign attention. Beijing uses the Tencent tool to influence and monitor users at home and abroad. Debate over restraining it will test democracies’ commitment to free information flow.
Divorce will test Seoul chaebol’s reform stripes 20 Dec 2019 Chey Tae-won’s wife wants nearly half his $3 bln stake in SK Holdings. That would leave him more reliant on outside support for a mooted corporate rejig to get a tighter grip on a $58 bln chip unit. It’s a potential check on how fast Korea Inc is mending its own awkward past.
Africa’s Alibaba looks more lemon than unicorn 19 Dec 2019 Jumia’s post-IPO limp could be life-threatening. The continent’s first billion-dollar tech firm has just enough cash to make it to 2021. But with losses widening due to high delivery costs and short-sellers questioning online transaction numbers, raising more money will be tough.