Asset management

Capital Calls: UBS Russia risk

27 Sep 2023

Concise views on global finance: The Swiss bank’s value fell by $3 bln after Bloomberg reported that the US Department of Justice is investigating the recent acquisition of Credit Suisse over possible compliance failures.

Capital Calls: Shein/Forever 21

24 Aug 2023

Concise views on global finance: The Chinese retailer is partnering with Sparc, the operator behind Forever 21. That helps validate Shein before a public listing without the messiness of a merger. Forever 21 gets a new omnichannel and potentially a way to an IPO.

Capital Calls: Italian bank levy flip-flop

9 Aug 2023

Concise views on global finance: Rome has only partially soothed investors panicking over its windfall tax on lenders.

Capital Calls: Dish and EchoStar

8 Aug 2023

Concise views on global finance: Billionaire Charlie Ergen is reuniting the two satellite businesses he controls, beefing up the $4.5 billion Dish Network’s strained balance sheet as it tries to expand its wireless strategy.

Europe’s listless IPOs are red flag for big floats

31 Jul 2023

The region’s string of mostly mid-sized initial public offerings this year are now just 3% above their listing price on average. Such poor performance will make investors wary of backing new ones. That will give larger float candidates, like CVC and Galderma, pause for thought.

BlackRock makes a sharp bargain with Mukesh Ambani

27 Jul 2023

The world’s largest money manager, run by Larry Fink, is teaming up with India’s richest man to re-enter the country’s asset management business. The duo can grow fast in the cutthroat $540 bln sector riding on Reliance’s network. It justifies the US firm giving up on control.

Glencore deal epitomises net zero’s reduced status

27 Jul 2023

The $75 bln miner used to argue it was better to wind down its coal assets than sell them to a less responsible owner. Now CEO Gary Nagle wants to buy a rival and spin off the enlarged coal unit. Investors, distracted by energy security and fat profits, are unlikely to stop him.

Carlyle beats deal arbitrageurs at their own game

26 Jul 2023

The buyout shop’s loan to Roomba-maker iRobot should give the company time to sew up its $1.7 bln sale to Amazon. The lifeline, which also triggered a 15% cut to the purchase price, doesn’t come free. Heads-I-win-tails-you-lose terms extract value from existing shareholders.

Blackstone’s $1 trln target needs a sequel

20 Jul 2023

The Wall Street giant is the first of its kind to reach the client-asset milestone, if later than promised. It did so by elbowing aside old-school financial firms and de-emphasizing leveraged buyouts. Now that growth is slowing, Steve Schwarzman’s firm could use a new north star.

BlackRock’s Aramco embrace makes sense in a vacuum

18 Jul 2023

The $109 bln asset manager added the state-owned Saudi oil giant’s CEO Amin Nasser to its board. BlackRock boss Larry Fink may invite a political firestorm at home, but he needs a competitive advantage. Diversity of opinion helps, as does the ability to unlock new investments.

Research U-turn is poor fix for vanishing stocks

18 Jul 2023

The UK and EU may let investors pay for equity analysis through trade commissions again. The hope is that this will lead to more research and help small firms list. Yet asset managers will fear higher costs, and the IPO market faces bigger headwinds than a writeup shortage.

Capital Calls: AMC’s meme investor backlash

18 Jul 2023

Concise views on global finance: A new lawsuit looking to force a shareholder meeting adds to growing antagonism between $2 bln movie theater chain AMC and the retail investors who buoyed its business during the pandemic. For boss Adam Aron, meme stock stardom comes at a cost.

Capital Calls: Blackstone’s bright property sale

26 Jun 2023

Concise views on global finance: The investment firm led by Steve Schwarzman is selling a group of warehouses to Prologis for $3 bln, demonstrating that some parts of the troubled commercial real estate industry are holding up.

Capital Calls: GAM

8 Jun 2023

Concise views on global finance: An investor group led by telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel is attempting a tricky boardroom coup at the ailing fund manager.

A $6 bln server deal is template for a mini-boom

1 Jun 2023

Buyers raced to pay sky-high prices for data centers feeding the cloud - until a market turn brought bankruptcies and tumbling shares. A bidding war involving Brookfield suggests the race is on again, as buyers try to exploit the last cycle’s exuberance and the next one’s hype.

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: 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.

Capital Calls: Man Group

11 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: The 2.5 bln pound hedge fund manager has appointed insider Robyn Grew as its first female chief executive, replacing retiring boss Luke Ellis.

Credit Suisse debacle raises oversight question

9 May 2023

Swiss authorities hailed the state-backed rescue of the stricken lender by UBS as a commercial solution that will be light on domestic taxpayers. Banking professor and former SNB official Urs Birchler tells The Exchange podcast why the quick fix is far from ideal.