Data

Thomson Reuters beats Blackstone in Refinitiv deal

1 Aug 2019

If the financial data provider clinches a $27 bln takeover by the London Stock Exchange, the buyout firm will make a handsome return. Yet an insurance policy designed to protect its downside works in its Canadian co-investor’s favour. Thomson Reuters may almost triple its money.

LSE’s data download needs growth to add up

1 Aug 2019

The stock exchange operator confirmed its $27 bln takeover of financial information provider Refinitiv. To earn an adequate return on investment, CEO David Schwimmer will have to cut costs, but also find new sources of revenue. LSE shareholders’ expectations are already high.

Capital One provides one more reason for data laws

30 Jul 2019

A hack at the $46 bln credit-card firm exposed more than 100 mln customers’ information. Puny U.S. deals, like Equifax’s $700 mln or Facebook’s $5 bln, aren’t enough to produce tighter protocols elsewhere. Legislation protecting data is a surer way to get companies’ attention.

Breakdown: Silicon Valley privacy caught in a jam

29 Jul 2019

IBM is the latest to call for changes to a 23-year-old law that exempts the likes of YouTube and Facebook from lawsuits over content on their sites. The provision no longer encourages the kind of policing their platforms need. Yet scrapping it wouldn’t solve that, either.

Blackstone’s quick data flip is a paper two bagger

27 Jul 2019

Less than 12 months after buying Thomson Reuters’ financial data unit, the buyout firm is in talks to sell Refinitiv to London Stock Exchange in a $27 bln deal. There are risks, notably what Brexit could do to LSE shares, but an implied money doubling provides plenty of cushion.

Equifax shows how little it values consumers

22 Jul 2019

The credit-scoring firm gathers troves of sensitive financial information, making it systemically important. Yet it’s paying less than $3 in compensation for each of the nearly 150 mln Americans affected by its 2017 data breach. That provides little incentive to tighten security.

Review: Blaming big data is political diversion

19 Jul 2019

The documentary “The Great Hack” shows how Cambridge Analytica targeted voters in the 2016 U.S. election and Brexit referendum, partly using Facebook. It’s chilling but ignores how economic forces swayed those polls. Focusing on tech’s threat to democracy oversimplifies politics.

Amazon’s data deal invites D.C. scrutiny

16 Jul 2019

As its executives appeared at an antitrust hearing in Congress, the e-commerce giant offered customers $10 to track their web browsing. It’s a smart way to grab business from rivals, and the price low-balls the value of user data. It’s also a demonstration of how dominance works.

Cisco’s latest deal is an optical illusion

9 Jul 2019

The networking giant is paying $2.8 bln for Acacia, one of its suppliers. Booming bandwidth use is driving demand for its high-speed optical components, but a lofty 46% premium virtually guarantees subpar returns. It’s an odd choice when software is driving Cisco’s margin growth.

WPP disposal offers cautionary tale for Publicis

2 Jul 2019

The UK ad group is selling the debris from a debt-driven acquisition spree under former boss Martin Sorrell. Its $12.3 bln French rival is borrowing to splurge on a data business. Publicis’ lowly valuation shows investors fear that CEO Arthur Sadoun may repeat Sorrell’s mistakes.

Creepy data practices go beyond Silicon Valley

26 Jun 2019

A U.S. Senate plan requires big tech firms like Facebook to disclose the value of user information. Large merchants such as Walmart are included; financial firms like JPMorgan aren’t. Yet they all monetize data in ways not clear to consumers. There’s a case for widening the net.

CrowdStrike shows IPO window is open for buzzwords

12 Jun 2019

The cloud-based data-security outfit saw its stock nearly double in its market debut, giving it a $12 bln market cap. The money-losing firm is growing fast. But valued at 40 times revenue it’s a case study in investors’ willingness to suspend disbelief for appealing stories.

Experian has as much credit as it deserves

15 May 2019

The data goliath’s revenue benefited from a cyberattack on rival Equifax, healthy U.S. growth, and its Brazilian push. An economic downturn would reverse the tide and lower profit margins may be the price of boosting sales. Its valuation premium over peers is big enough already.

Mergermarket’s fourth owner faces the toughest job

13 May 2019

BC Partners is selling the M&A-news service to Ion Group for $1.8 bln. The Irish software and data group is paying by far the highest multiple yet, and buying from private equity brings added risk. It’s putting a lot of faith in sticky clients and cross-selling products.

Facebook will join Wall St in fine-and-forget club

25 Apr 2019

The social network’s market value surged as much as $40 bln after first-quarter earnings despite a likely U.S. data-privacy fine of up to $5 bln. Mark Zuckerberg’s giant can easily absorb multiple hits that size and, just like banks after the financial crisis, move on.

Publicis’ biggest buy distracts from deeper issues

15 Apr 2019

Chief Executive Arthur Sadoun is spending $4.4 bln on Alliance Data Systems’ Epsilon digital marketing unit. It’s a bold bet on more targeted advertising, but does little to help the French group hit next year’s 4 pct organic revenue growth target, or lure back lost clients.

Zuckerberg’s plea for regulation is a siren call

1 Apr 2019

The Facebook founder wants governments to develop more standardized rules for the internet to combat problems from harmful content to data security. The idea has merit. But it also smacks of a way for tech firms to keep profits private while socializing responsibility and costs.

Publicis’ $5 bln deal would push data fad to limit

1 Apr 2019

The French group may buy Alliance Data’s digital-marketing unit. The mooted price tag is manageable given Publicis’ pristine balance sheet. But the low returns on offer suggest that CEO Arthur Sadoun is worried about keeping up with data-rich ad rivals and tech giants.

Equifax and FICO give hackers a bigger target

27 Mar 2019

The U.S. credit-scoring firms are teaming up to offer banks new ways to judge borrowers’ soundness. Fresh metrics could help some get credit more easily. But a wider trove of data collected without its subjects’ consent, and Equifax’s record of breaches, suggest plenty of risk.

Grindr stokes bad blood in U.S.-China relationship

27 Mar 2019

The dating app’s Chinese ownership has been flagged as a U.S. security risk, Reuters reports. That ought not be a surprise given the potential to use hook-up data for Kompromat. But amid a trade war, this jilting move is likely to make U.S.-China relations even rockier.