Asia-Pacific

Midea listing promises Hong Kong a shot in the arm

12 Sep 2024

The electronics maker’s $3.5 bln offering stands to raise more in one deal than the city has seen all year. With solid earnings, diversified revenue sources and strong investor interest, the share sale could provide a boost to sentiment in the deal-starved market.

Diaspora gives wings to India luxury housing boom

12 Sep 2024

New launches of pricey properties jumped 48% in financial year 2024. Real estate is hotting up as an investment choice, especially for non-resident Indians. Their purchases prop up growth in the world's fifth-largest economy. It's a new spin on the power of its global citizenry.

China’s banks have a nasty case of indigestion

11 Sep 2024

For decades, Beijing leaned on lenders to fuel growth in the $17 trln economy. But it will take years for them to digest problem IOUs from firms and local governments. Officials will have to find new ways to boost GDP, or the financial dyspepsia could turn into something worse.

Big Pharma lacks motive to prep for new pandemics

10 Sep 2024

The WHO warned the next outbreak may be 20 times more deadly than Covid-19. Moderna’s Corona surge should encourage drugmakers to build up vaccine units for the next virus. But with investors giving little credit for one-off jabs, there’s not much incentive to invest.

Norwegian dreams fuel China’s electric-car bulls

10 Sep 2024

Nio boss William Li says the country could soon resemble Norway, where pure battery-powered models accounted for 94% of sales last month. Though the People’s Republic does share some similarities, a price war and a fad for hybrids mean not all roads lead to Oslo.

US Nippon Steel rebuff would be cruel and kind

10 Sep 2024

Washington may block the Japanese company's $15 bln takeover of US Steel. It'd be a blow to Nippon's plans to offset growth challenges at home and overcapacity from China. But it has other options that may eventually yield better returns than it could extract from its US target.

China brokerage deal has more bark than bite

9 Sep 2024

The merger of Guotai Junan and embattled rival Haitong will create the country’s largest brokerage with assets of $225 bln. The overcrowded sector needs consolidation, but this deal probably won’t aid Beijing’s goal to foster a squad of world-beating investment banks.

Fuji Soft’s $4 bln sale needs a rethink

9 Sep 2024

Shares of the IT software specialist are trading 7% above the price of an agreed takeover offer from buyout firm KKR, and above a higher price its rival sponsor Bain is dangling at the target. After wrestling with a sale, the Japanese company has left too much value on the table.

Central banks lay liquidity trap for stock markets

6 Sep 2024

The US Federal Reserve and its major peers took $200 bln out of the financial system in early August, likely deepening a global equity slump. Ratesetters control the money supply for good reasons. But their huge presence and investors’ herdlike behaviour add new layers of risk.

Couche-Tard gives 7-Eleven owner easy defence path

6 Sep 2024

The Japanese company's board unanimously rejected its Canadian suitor's $39 bln takeover offer. The 21% premium is well short of Seven & i's breakup value. For this deal to be a real test of Japan's receptiveness to foreign M&A, Couche-Tard needs to work a whole lot harder.

China’s global battery ram will be hard to stop

6 Sep 2024

The US and EU have erected tariffs to limit imports of electric vehicles. The People’s Republic has an even bigger lead in batteries. New tech gives rivals a chance to muscle in, but Chinese cellmakers’ head start means resisting giants like $115 bln CATL will come at a cost.

Blackstone $16 bln AI deal borrows from SPAC boom

5 Sep 2024

A group led by Steve Schwarzman’s firm is paying a large sum to buy data centre operator AirTrunk from Macquarie. By tinkering with EBITDA, the buyer can present a low valuation multiple for a purchase in a hot sector. It's unnecessarily reminiscent of the blank-cheque froth.

Seven & i deal will test Japan’s financial renewal

5 Sep 2024

Couche-Tard’s takeover interest in the 7-Eleven owner is a pivotal moment for the country’s efficiency drive. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists explain why Tokyo ought to wait to see how the target reacts before opining, and how a deal could easily turn hostile.

Clouds gather over China’s needed solar mergers

4 Sep 2024

Earnings from $12 bln cell giant Tongwei underscore the industry's harmful overcapacity. Its deal to acquire a smaller rival may not provide relief, however. The target's local government investors may complicate any right-sizing. Offshore assets look like the real draw.

Trade War II will be easy to lose for China

4 Sep 2024

The hit to its exports from higher US tariffs threatened by Presidential nominee Donald Trump would be severe. Beijing’s failure to abide by the terms of past truces will make de-escalation hard to achieve, so will its determination to export its way out of a growth slump.

7-Eleven owner faces an inconvenient value truth

3 Sep 2024

Seven & i shares leapt on Couche-Tard's approach but trade at a big discount to the sum of its parts. Boss Ryuichi Isaka can speed up his existing strategy but has failed for years to unlock value. New owners have a better shot at helping the $38 bln retailer reach its potential.

Murdoch’s UK property gambit has a price ceiling

2 Sep 2024

Australian property listings site REA Group is eyeing $6 bln UK peer Rightmove. The News Corp-backed suitor can use cash and higher-valued shares to pay a 30% premium. Beyond that, Rupert Murdoch’s outfit might struggle to combine a successful bid with keeping him in control.

China GDP hiccup would have long-term aftershocks

2 Sep 2024

This year’s growth target of “around 5%” faces headwinds. It’s now more a planning tool, so a miss might not seem as consequential as when the goal was all but compulsory. But a slowdown would probably prompt new policies to keep alive 2035 plans like doubling per-capita income.

Raw economics will trump migration’s sour politics

2 Sep 2024

Nearly 900 mln people would like to live in another country, but most can’t move due to political and social opposition to foreigners. These attitudes are hard to shift. But deepening demographic crises mean a migration-fuelled boost to labour supply is critical for growth.

India’s food inflation debate will get spicier

2 Sep 2024

Governor Shaktikanta Das shot down an idea from New Delhi to strip food costs from the central bank's price target. Ignoring the item would allow the RBI to trim rates and combat slowing GDP growth. It would also hurt the poor. As inequality rises, so will pressure to bend.