Cybersecurity

Drahi-for-Bharti swap gives BT partial relief

12 Aug 2024

French mogul Patrick Drahi is offloading a 25% stake in the British telco worth about $4 bln to India’s Bharti. BT CEO Allison Kirkby can stop worrying about her indebted shareholder. Alongside Deutsche Telekom and Mexico’s Carlos Slim, her share register still looks crowded.

CrowdStrike in cursed grip of corporate klutz club

24 Jul 2024

The cybersecurity company’s 20%, or $17 bln, loss in value after a botched software update echoes those of bumblers from Chipotle to Citigroup. Many factors determine how long the stain lasts. Foremost among them is a CEO’s ability to persuade shareholders the slip was a one-off.

Cyber meltdown points to downsides of efficiency

19 Jul 2024

A software update by $83 bln CrowdStrike grounded flights and disrupted financial markets. That’s possible because businesses work with a small number of providers, seeking lower costs. It supports rich tech valuations, but also heightens the risks of a catastrophic failure.

Buyout barons’ IPO castoffs trade may be repeated

16 Jul 2024

Clayton Dubilier & Rice’s $2.6 bln offer for software firm Exclusive Networks would see it scoop up a stock that has drifted since a 2021 listing. Majority-owner Permira would get a handy way to cut exposure. A long list of struggling initial offerings mean more deals may follow.

Wiz deal could help Alphabet nail down the cloud

15 Jul 2024

At $23 bln, the cybersecurity firm would be the Google parent’s biggest acquisition, one antitrust regulators are likely to hate. It’s expensive too. But Alphabet is an underdog in cloud, where security is a big differentiator. Even with the risk of failure, the deal makes sense.

Olympic Games can withstand Atos farce

26 Jun 2024

The French firm managing the Paris sporting event’s IT backbone is close to bankruptcy. It may find 800 mln euros of short-term financing from President Macron’s government and loans even after creditors ditched restructuring talks. But its future after the Games is less certain.

The ragged end of private equity is unspooling

21 Jun 2024

Carlyle’s $7 bln purchase of Veritas was part of a multi-year software buyout frenzy, reaching over $100 bln in deals in 2022. Fueled by cheap debt, the bill is now due with rates up and results down, sparking a fight with creditors including feisty Elliott. It won’t be the last.

Thoma Bravo UK cyber deal looks a little too good

26 Apr 2024

The buyout firm finally agreed a takeover of long-term target Darktrace, an IT security specialist. Despite the generous-looking 44% premium on offer, the buyer’s returns seem juicy given a nascent US push. That may raise the chance of shareholders asking for more money.

UnitedHealth shows market power is double-edged

16 Apr 2024

The insurer’s reach in the US healthcare system drew an antitrust probe – and a ransomware attack that could cost $1.6 bln. It’s grist for trustbusters: dominance may let firms take their eye off the ball on cybersecurity, and make the systems that depend on them more fragile.

Microsoft-backed IPO breaks rule of 40 at bad time

16 Apr 2024

Cybersecurity firm Rubrik is going public despite failing the sector’s metric to judge success. Sure, the company backed by the $3 trln giant is starting to rely on stable subscriptions. But it’s burning cash. Based on others that flout the rule, a low valuation is in store.

American healthcare is a perfect cyber-hostage

7 Mar 2024

A hack at the biggest processor of insurance claims snarled billions of dollars of payments to US hospitals. The healthcare system’s interdependent web of middlemen means none can be allowed to fail, making it an ever-more-obvious target for the growing onslaught of ransomware.

Cloudflare risks a lesson in giants’ AI advantage

16 Feb 2024

At 23 times expected sales, the $34 bln cybersecurity firm is one of the most richly valued software companies. Using its network to power AI holds promise, but enormous spending and the risk of being overshadowed by titans like Microsoft makes investors look overambitious.

Peter Thiel’s latest bitcoin bet is a coronation

13 Feb 2024

The billionaire’s Founders Fund pocketed $1.8 bln in 2022 on crypto investments before dipping back in last fall. Bitcoin has since been anointed with an ETF and technology that furthers its use. The currency isn’t yet legitimate, but Thiel’s return marks its growing status.

Capital Calls: Microsoft’s Russian hacker

22 Jan 2024

Concise views on global finance: The $3 trln tech firm disclosed that a nation-state hack accessed leaders’ email, saying it showed the need for potentially “disruptive” measures. It’s a worrying acknowledgement of the still-vague costs of geopolitical tensions for tech giants.

Atos plea to creditor banks could backfire

3 Jan 2024

The 780 mln euro French IT group wants lenders to roll over its large debt pile. Plans to raise cash by selling Atos’s cybersecurity arm to Airbus suggest they should. But the company’s threats to seek legal protection if they don’t may give banks pause for thought.

Cyber-paperwork blizzard will soon blind markets

14 Dec 2023

New SEC rules force companies to divulge a hack within days of deeming it serious. CEOs wary of falling foul are apt to overshare. Such stock-swinging decisions, like ones from Clorox and Johnson Controls, will test investors’ analytical skills as much as corporate tech defenses.

Ransomware targets will pay one way or another

17 Nov 2023

Just saying no to extortionists – as the White House wants US firms to do – might stamp out ransom attacks. But the hack of Chinese bank ICBC shows why it’s not always realistic. Companies who won’t pay up need ever-better defenses. Either way, it’s an extra cost to be borne.

Stolen genetic data points to mutating cyber risk

17 Oct 2023

Biotech firm 23andMe may have fallen victim to hackers, joining other sabotage targets Clorox and MGM. Companies can strengthen their systems, but human error plays a role too – with customers and employees as potential vulnerabilities. That adds a new front to an ongoing battle.

Capital Calls: Starboard vs. Murdoch

16 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: The investment fund wants the publisher of the Wall Street Journal to spin off its real estate assets a year after another activist agitated for a similar move.

Retailer ‘shrink’ becomes too big to box up

3 Oct 2023

American stores lost $73 bln to theft last year, a nearly 20% rise from 2021, while Target just blamed crime for nine closures. Few chains report specifics, however, stirring doubts about anecdotal evidence. Consistent disclosure would help keep investors from getting fleeced.