United States of America

Washington texting snafu sends alert to boardrooms

25 Mar 2025

A top-secret group chat accidentally shared with a journalist adds to Team Trump’s list of sloppily handled sensitive information. Confidential financial data, drug trials and more also lurk inside government agencies. Corporate readiness for exposure should now be at DEFCON 3.

Ignoring US white-collar crime will run up big tab

25 Mar 2025

The Trump administration is vowing to turn a blind eye to bribery, money laundering, tax avoidance and other fraud. CEOs will be wary of flouting laws left on the books, but there’s scope for backsliding. Lower standards will test investor faith and keep future prosecutors busy.

What investment firms can teach us about AI

25 Mar 2025

Though artificial intelligence seems new, fund managers have used it to spot patterns for years. In this episode of The Big View podcast, Gary Collier, chief technology officer of Man Group, talks about the surprising lessons he’s learned and debunks some common AI tropes.

Dun & Bradstreet crystallizes buyout-shop woes

24 Mar 2025

The business-data cruncher, whose roots go back to 1841, is being bought again, this time by private equity firm Clearlake. At $8 bln, the price is about the same as its pre-IPO sale five years ago. A lower multiple and knottier funding typify the stress in such deals nowadays.

Donald Trump’s boomerang will hit the US hard

24 Mar 2025

The president’s bullying of allies is damaging international trust. Friendly countries no longer want to depend on a wayward superpower and will seek greater autonomy in defence, technology, energy and finance. Though they will still do deals with the US, the backlash will hurt.

Cross-border home renovation deal is full of gaps

24 Mar 2025

On paper, Chicago-based decks and railings maker Azek complements its buyer, Aussie- and NYSE-listed cladding manufacturer James Hardie. But cost cuts don't cover the 41% premium on the $9bln deal and other synergies look dubious, not least as tariffs are set to hit US consumers.

Paul Weiss rewrites art of the deal under duress

21 Mar 2025

A US president vindictively targeting an eminent corporate law firm with $2.6 bln in revenue would typically run into resistance. Instead, Chair Brad Karp settled matters with a $40 mln promise. Clients fearing their own retribution will probably be more impressed than outraged.

Nike’s boss is on a runaway turnaround treadmill

21 Mar 2025

CEO Elliott Hill issued a disappointing sales forecast, sending shares down 7%. A sneaker glut may require deep discounting and the tired brand needs a jumpstart. Investors’ benefit of the doubt is stretched to breaking point as earnings plunge, threatening yet more pain.

Capital One’s deal disquiet puts rage in arbitrage

21 Mar 2025

Hedge funds bet heavily that a new administration would allow the credit card issuer’s $35 bln purchase of Discover. A plunge in the seller’s shares proves that Wall Street is struggling to heed what Republicans actually say about scrutinizing industry, threatening more blow-ups.

Physiotherapy app has some heavy IPO lifting to do

21 Mar 2025

Hinge Health, last valued at $6.2 bln, is trying to shape up how patients recover from injuries. Its finances are getting stronger, with corporate clients and insurers footing bills. User churn is a risk, however, and the company is ill-equipped to fix a limping stock market.

Big state backlash may pay biggest dividends in UK

20 Mar 2025

Elected leaders from Argentina to the US are pledging to cut spending, shrink the state, and cut red tape. Despite similar rhetoric their priorities are very different, as are the potential rewards. In the developed world, Britain’s approach has the best chance of success.

SoftBank chip splurge is not as crazy as it looks

20 Mar 2025

The Japanese investor is paying $6.5 bln in cash to buy Ampere, a maker of power-saving semiconductors for data centres. Buying a loss-making target with declining sales may seem reckless. But if SoftBank’s other businesses can use the valuable chips it could be worth it.

An $11 bln deal devalues ‘undervalued’ defense

20 Mar 2025

Beacon Roofing argued for months that bidder QXO’s cash offer slighted its real worth, only to acquiesce after a 0.08% bump. The knee-jerk rejoinder is a transparent ploy to squeeze more from suitors. It would have more power if CEOs and investment bankers invoked it less often.

Citi bonuses provide helpful how-not-to guide

20 Mar 2025

The US mega-bank is doling out the last portion of three-year, $5 mln awards aimed at helping improve persistent risk and control lapses. The top brass fell short, slashing the final payout ratio to 68%. Even that is too much in a sign of how badly the plan was designed.

US markets’ exceptionalism goes into reverse

20 Mar 2025

After years of setting the global pace, the S&P 500 Index has dropped 9% from its peak while Hong Kong and Europe benchmarks rise. In this week’s Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss whether trade wars and threats to the rule of law portend a durable shift.

Oval Office attacks on US law come at a price

19 Mar 2025

The Trump administration’s blitz on judges, independent agencies and contracts destabilizes the governance that underpins investors’ confidence. Even if courts mute some of the tumult, the country’s risk-free status is quickly eroding. A 0% debt premium is no longer warranted.

New $7.4 bln opioids deal eases some legal pain

19 Mar 2025

After courts rejected Purdue Pharma’s earlier proposal, the Sackler family is kicking in $1 bln more and dropping a litigation shield. It improves on overly lax bankruptcy proceedings. Painkiller peer Mallinckrodt shows the lingering effects of bad settlements.

China has spicy menu of US trade war reprisals

19 Mar 2025

Donald Trump has yet to impose the levies he threatened on the $19 trln economy. Yet the People’s Republic has a banquet of options, from non-tariff barriers and squeezing firms like Tesla to devaluing the yuan and banning rare earth exports. Escalation means indigestion for all.

Google’s $32 bln Wiz deal lumbers on down the road

18 Mar 2025

The search giant is buying the cybersecurity platform for 39% more than the price mooted during talks in 2024. It may aid Google’s struggles in the cloud market, but hostile regulators, a commitment to sell to rivals and the spiraling cost set a dizzyingly high bar for success.

UK will struggle to sit out Trump’s tariff war

18 Mar 2025

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has eschewed Brussels-style retaliation after the president put import levies on steel. That’s logical, but neutrality will get harder as EU-US tensions rise. His best hope is that tariff damage forces a US U-turn before he has to side with Europe.