Bankruptcy

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.

Nikola crash bookends capital market morality tale

19 Feb 2025

The electric-truck maker once worth $26 bln has joined a clutch of rivals in bankruptcy. The battery powered vehicle startups combined hard-to-gauge promise with big-up-front costs, yet nevertheless became SPAC darlings. The slower route to an IPO might serve a purpose after all.

Crabs on a plane pinch budget US airline deal

12 Feb 2025

Spirit rejected rival Frontier’s latest takeover bid and shared synergies worth some $5 bln in favor of a post-bankruptcy standalone future. The suitor, previously thwarted by shareholders, is now at odds with creditors. Crustacean mentality has sabotaged the sanest outcome.

Capital woes are no rebuttal to merger foes

4 Oct 2024

Budget airline Spirit may file for bankruptcy after competition cops grounded a merger with rival JetBlue. A judge ignored pleas that the firm is failing – but even now, Spirit doesn’t meet a legal test that’s strict for good reason. The market has ways to fix bad businesses.

Thames Water fix is a stretch, but possible

6 Aug 2024

The indebted UK utility’s struggles to raise the 3 bln pounds it needs imply impending doom. But while the details are tricky, there remains scope for the UK to offer guarantees or find a way to haircut creditors. A new investor armed with these could yet make a decent return.

China banks walk narrow path past property crisis

14 Jun 2024

The country's lenders have $22 trln, or 38% of their assets, in real estate-linked loans. But bad debt disposals and low exposure to developers have protected balance sheets. The bigger headache now may be falling net interest margins. Beijing's latest property fix won't help.

Japan’s value push will turn into a shove

16 May 2024

Shareholder meetings next month will help gauge progress in the official campaign to boost corporate performance. Toyota, SoftBank and Fast Retailing have not signed up. Given the importance of ensuring resilience in the $4.2 trln economy, Tokyo is likely to apply more pressure.

Republic First is the good kind of bank failure

29 Apr 2024

The shuttered lender was low on equity and high on drama, home to years of lawsuits and board fights. Even with familiar balance-sheet issues, there’s little risk of knock-on effects elsewhere. Bank windups are working - though judging by placid depositors, maybe a bit too well.

How one firm made child’s play of tricky M&A games

24 Apr 2024

Imagine buying a company without tedious negotiations, rival bids or pricey premiums. A Saudi investor pulled it off by snapping up enough shares to gain control of US retailer The Children’s Place. The feat will be hard to replicate, but there’s now a model for deal masterminds.

World economy’s star athlete may run out of puff

23 Apr 2024

The IMF crowned the United States as the champion of global growth at last week's summit. A predicted rise in GDP of 2.7% this year is welcome as Europe and China struggle. But high debt and hard-to-repeat gains in productivity and the workforce will limit American staying power.

Guess what: Boeing can be spelled without G and E

17 Apr 2024

Instead of investing in a new model, the 737-maker embraced the gospel of Jack Welch and returned $60 bln to shareholders over a decade. McDonnell Douglas suffered a similar fate before infusing Boeing with GE’s toxic ethos. It’s not too late to excise it and build another plane.

GameStop saga ends. Winner: capital markets

3 Apr 2024

The game retailer cashed in on meme stock mania, revamped management, but failed to reinvent itself. Reddit-fueled investors, eager to fight shortsellers, may just lose their shirts. It would be a costly lesson that, some broken pockets aside, the market was working all along.

Stolen razors are least of US drugstores’ concerns

1 Mar 2024

Walgreens and CVS have locked up items from deodorant to toothpaste. But a hyper-focus on theft is a reflection of drugstores’ more dire straits. Online competition, labor issues, and inflation are cutting into margins. Larceny is just the thing that pharmacies can control.

WeWork needs an Adam Neumann, not the Adam Neumann

6 Feb 2024

The founder of the office-sharing firm is trying to drum up support to buy his former firm out of bankruptcy. With momentum in its favor, WeWork, at the right value, has prospects, and an insider could be useful. But Neumann’s credibility is forever shot.

Fourth is with Jana in communications-space wars

8 Dec 2023

The pushy hedge fund wants $5 bln fiber-network builder Frontier to auction itself. Three of its other recent campaigns in the industry – at CyrusOne, Vonage and Zayo – all led to deals. This one’s a tougher sell, but there’s probably a buyer willing to pay a modest premium.

Purdue mess pits drug victims against due process

5 Dec 2023

The $10 bln settlement ending opioid lawsuits is done and dusted, except for a case being reviewed by the Supreme Court. Justices’ discomfort over bankruptcy protection for the Sackler family has merit. But throwing out a deal means aggrieved parties just have to wait longer.

Capital Calls: Roche, Brookfield/Origin

4 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The $224 bln Swiss drugmaker is splurging $2.7 bln on obesity drug developer Carmot; the Canadian investment firm’s joint $13 bln bid for Origin Energy has failed. The trick now is to show what lessons it’s learned from its 16-month-plus campaign.

Capital Calls: Saks and Neiman Marcus

1 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The two luxury retailers are once again contemplating a merger. Fickle consumers, even for high end items, make the marriage ideal.

WeWork’s big splash ends as a drop in the bucket

7 Nov 2023

The shared-office company once valued at $47 bln has collapsed, with lenders taking over in bankruptcy. SoftBank and its fund backers will be licking $16 bln of wounds, but communal workspaces are here to stay. And commercial real estate investors have far bigger worries.

Rite Aid can do more wrong in bankruptcy

17 Oct 2023

Ill-advised acquisitions, mismanagement, and the growth of more diversified rivals contributed to the drugstore chain’s demise. But its role in the US opioid epidemic was the real killer. Rite Aid wants to restructure, but an eventual sale may be the end game.