Delivery Hero’s $4 bln order corners kimchi market 13 Dec 2019 The German company is buying South Korean food delivery rival Woowa. The price is a big increase from a $2.6 billion valuation a year ago, but the target enjoys hearty growth and healthy profitability. Joining forces in the country makes sense – provided regulators allow it.
Uber and labor groups could share retirement ride 12 Dec 2019 Usually at odds, the car-hailing app and workers' rights advocates might both get behind legislation that helps provide a safety net for gig-economy workers. Making pension plans easier to provide and to access would chip away at the quarter of U.S. adults who lack such savings.
Air seeps quickly out of SoftBank bubbles 12 Dec 2019 Ping An’s bank-software vendor OneConnect slashed its IPO valuation to half the $7.5 bln imputed when Masayoshi Son’s Vision Fund backed it last year. SoftBank also just took a loss on dog-walking outfit Wag. Dozens of startups from Didi to Oyo may soon be feeling deflated, too.
Wanted: bold activist to take on Masayoshi Son 10 Dec 2019 The Japanese tycoon’s $82 bln SoftBank might be worth twice that if broken up. Son, who owns 22% of the tech conglomerate, won’t do that without a pushy investor at his back. For an activist with plenty of cash and the stomach for a fight, it could be the trade of a lifetime.
Xerox overplays a weak hand with HP 9 Dec 2019 The photocopier maker has laid out its detailed case for buying HP for $33 bln, but ambitious cost-saving goals are of little use if its much larger rival isn’t interested. A genuinely hostile bid would be illogical even if it were possible. Xerox risks looking desperate.
Just Eat offer is taster for Christmas food fight 9 Dec 2019 Internet investor Prosus sweetened its cash bid for the UK food delivery company to $6.5 bln. That’s tastier than rival Takeaway.com’s all-share proposal, but still well below Just Eat’s market value. Shareholders are expecting a few more helpings before the end of the year.
Osram hedge-fund latecomers face a rude awakening 9 Dec 2019 Austria’s AMS has won its battle for the German lighting group, after receiving sufficient backing from the latter’s army of speculators. Even more hedge funds are betting that quirky domestic M&A rules will help them secure a higher exit price. But that wager could yet go wrong.
Ugly Uber data is first step tackling ugly problem 6 Dec 2019 The ride-sharing firm said over 3,000 sexual assaults and nine fatal attacks were reported during 1.3 bln U.S. trips last year. The numbers are small in context, but still shocking. By publishing the data, boss Dara Khosrowshahi is at least showing he wants Uber to become safer.
SoftBank WeWork debacle is dot-com bubble déjà vu 4 Dec 2019 Boss Masayoshi Son’s first Silicon Valley foray in the 1990s saw busts around now-notorious online grocer Webvan and others. After the WeWork rescue and Uber’s post-IPO slide, a third shot in the form of a second $100 bln-plus Vision Fund will encounter more investor skepticism.
Expedia’s double boot is swift, harsh and helpful 4 Dec 2019 The travel site’s CEO and CFO are both out after a disagreement with the board over strategy and a brutal profit warning last month. The tumult is bad but the message is good: Chairman Barry Diller thinks the company can do better. His track record elsewhere bolsters his case.
Hadas: Autocrats learning “just-enough” economics 4 Dec 2019 Growth may be faster and fairer in democracies, but oppressive governments aren’t threatened. Globalisation and ever-cheaper technology have made it easier to scrape out enough gains to preserve their popularity. It takes Venezuelan-scale mismanagement to foment massive unrest.
Google CEO move is solution in search of a problem 3 Dec 2019 Sundar Pichai will now also lead $890 bln parent Alphabet, replacing Larry Page. Co-founder Sergey Brin will step back too. Pichai was already the firm’s public face in Washington, where it faces scrutiny. A big reason for the shuffle is elusive, but there may be many small ones.
Ping An’s fintech halo is losing its glow 4 Dec 2019 China's top insurer may list its OneConnect banking software business at a $5 bln valuation. That would be a third lower than its last funding round, which included SoftBank’s Vision Fund. Other cutting-edge ventures have hit bumps, too. Ping An is falling short of the hype.
Osram M&A traps hedge funds in prisoner’s dilemma 3 Dec 2019 Speculators now own up to 45% of the German lighting group. If they can be enlightened enough to work together, there’s a way to make would-be acquirer AMS pay more than $5 bln. But if they revert to self-interested type, the deal will fall through and they will all lose money.
Online loans party leaves Seoul set for a hangover 3 Dec 2019 Peer-to-peer lending is flourishing in South Korea, despite trouble elsewhere. That’s thanks to government support and dysfunctional banks. But with the economy slowing and households already carrying $1.3 trln of debt, there is credit pain ahead. Web upstarts will feel it first.
Review: India can reimagine tech and jobs, again 29 Nov 2019 Tata shook up the way people and technology work. Now artificial intelligence can help create employment, the Indian group’s Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran argues in “Bridgital Nation”. It’s a refreshingly contrarian view on the problem, even if many questions go unanswered.
Hardware glitch exposes Xiaomi’s missing software 28 Nov 2019 Handset sales at the Chinese group slumped 8% from a year earlier, to $5 bln, due to shrinking demand at home. Growth in internet services has also stalled. Absent a turnaround led by 5G devices, investors deserve a clearer idea of where Xiaomi's "new species" model is headed.
Alibaba listing opens new front in Tencent rivalry 27 Nov 2019 Hong Kong investors can own both Chinese tech giants after the e-commerce firm’s $11 bln local offering. If regulators permit, the pair will soon be fighting over mainland shareholders, as well as digital payments and cloud computing. Tencent’s scarcity value has been downgraded.
Uber love-hate cycle becoming tech’s new norm 26 Nov 2019 Success has brought the ride-hailing app loyal customers, but also bitter enemies. Car-sharing startup Turo, which has attracted the ire of U.S. auto rental firm Enterprise, shows it’s a problem for other disruptors too. Turo has a good case, but that’s not always enough.
Guest view: Europe beating U.S. in antitrust race 26 Nov 2019 American regulators are getting ready to put big tech companies through their paces. But it’s Europe that has been keeping big companies in check for years – and other countries are starting to look to the EU for leadership. A new study shows the U.S. is falling badly behind.