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SPAC addict finds a healthier formula in London

18 May 2023

Serial dealmaker Martin Franklin was into blank-check vehicles before it was cool. His new $550 mln buyout-inspired group dispenses with the egregious free shares insiders get in special purpose acquisition companies. The downside is that investors can’t stop Franklin if he errs.

Erdogan part three would be worse and the same

18 May 2023

The Turkish president is in a heated battle to lead the battered country. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss the risks Turkey faces if he stays in office, his rival’s offering and how the outcome of the election will impact the rest of the world.

Debt conundrum gives Italy weak hand in EU talks

18 May 2023

The pandemic and the war have taken the country’s indebtedness off investors’ radar. Yet high interest rates, slower growth and a budget deficit mean Rome will struggle to cut its fiscal burden. That makes it harder for PM Giorgia Meloni to ask for lenient European rules.

Capital Calls: BT, Mediobanca

18 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: The 14 bln pound UK telco’s vague guidance is a concern for its two big shareholders seeking to recoup losses; the 8.5 bln euro Italian bank buys its biggest boutique yet.

EU can afford to extend UK car sector’s pit stop

17 May 2023

Stellantis wants Britain to tweak its trade deal with Europe to avoid tariffs on electric vehicles. Delaying rules on where carmakers source material would help both EU and British manufacturers. Moreover, a reprieve would still leave the bloc streets ahead in the EV race.

UBS kitchen sink has protection from further leaks

17 May 2023

The bank reckons it might write down the assets on Credit Suisse’s balance sheet by $10 bln, inflate its liabilities by $3 bln, and take a $4 bln litigation hit. Those numbers could get bigger over time. But a low purchase price gives CEO Sergio Ermotti a chunky margin of error.

Center Parcs buyout would offer low thrills stay

17 May 2023

Brookfield plans to sell the British holiday park operator for up to 5 bln pounds. The company’s unique assets and brand loyalty have made it an appealing asset for private equity. But its own limits on expansion and Britain’s cost-of-living crisis may now dent returns.

Capital Calls: Sea

17 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: Founder Forrest Li is trying to shore up faith in the company’s newfound profitable status but a miss on earnings and 18% drop in its shares is a reality check.

Activision is victim of clashing trustbuster whims

16 May 2023

Microsoft’s bid for the “Call of Duty” maker won Europe’s approval, with concessions, after UK and US regulators pushed back. International enforcers’ divergence on whether companies can offer fixes for deals they don’t like could be an impossible hurdle for big-ticket M&A.

Why the jobs market could brush off AI threat

16 May 2023

Hiring seems to be waning in the US and Europe. Yet in this Exchange podcast, recruitment boss Sander van ’t Noordende strikes a hopeful note. The Randstad CEO explains why artificial intelligence and a possible economic slump are doing nothing to dampen demand for talent.

Guy Hands’ misery offers bondholders a free lunch

16 May 2023

The Terra Firma owner lost a legal fight with the UK, which wants to end a controversial housing privatisation. That could force Hands to sell properties and repay 4 bln pounds of debt at a premium to its market price. It’s the kind of bet the former bond trader might have loved.

Capital Calls: GAM takeover saga

16 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: The stricken fund group is an unlikely target for activists led by billionaire telecoms tycoon Xavier Niel.

Vodafone CEO’s strategy hangs on missing M&A

16 May 2023

New boss Margherita Della Valle wants to cut 11,000 jobs. But there’s no fixing the $30 bln telecoms giant without striking mergers or sales in Britain, Italy, Spain and elsewhere. Even imperfect deals may be preferable to the wavering under Della Valle’s predecessor Nick Read.

Ukraine rebuilding would be small wager for Europe

16 May 2023

The Ukrainian economy shrank by 30% last year but the war didn’t break it. Reconstruction will cost $410 bln over a decade, according to the World Bank. The European Union could fund the bulk of those efforts by spending just 0.1% of annual GDP. That would be a shrewd investment.

Oil’s feuding forecasters may both be wrong

15 May 2023

The International Energy Agency, which represents developed-world crude buyers, recently slammed producer club OPEC’s output cuts. Yet the pair share the same demand estimates for 2023. If they’re wrong, IEA fears and OPEC hopes of surging oil prices may prove wide of the mark.

Turkey votes for long-term market instability

15 May 2023

With President Erdogan and his rival set for a May 28 runoff, uncertainty is the main upshot of the country’s elections. That prolongs the agony for a $900 bln economy plagued by 44% inflation and wild fiscal policies. An even weaker lira and warier foreign investors will ensue.

Rich world has three ways to win over global South

15 May 2023

Leaders from the Group of Seven, who gather this week, need to develop a stronger pitch to poorer non-aligned nations. A strategy based on peace, prosperity and protecting the planet could work. It’s more effective than delivering lectures on democracy, says Hugo Dixon.

Capital Calls: Wood Group

15 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: Apollo’s aborted bid for the $1 bln UK infrastructure firm prompted a 35% share price fall.

Big Tech’s AI victims will fall fast

12 May 2023

Online education company Chegg is suffering as students lean on artificial intelligence to help with homework. Hollywood writers are paranoid. While AI is accruing value to Big Tech, smaller companies will quickly – and once again – be annihilated by well-capitalized tech firms.

AI offers leisure, if not happiness

12 May 2023

Technology has outpaced economic growth for 50 years, while workers have long traded higher productivity for more leisure. These trends will continue as artificial intelligence automates more jobs. The salient question is how to distribute the gains – and the free time.