Deals

Saudi’s sports M&A splurge will get smarter

18 Dec 2024

The kingdom has so far focused on mature markets like golf and men’s soccer, including spending $400 mln on English team Newcastle. Rugby and women’s soccer arguably have greater growth potential. Saudi will make the switch in 2025 and provide some much-needed investment.

Nissan-Honda merger would be far from cure-all

18 Dec 2024

Japan’s second- and third-largest carmakers may be mulling a tie-up which might also include Mitsubishi. Cost cuts could bolster dismal margins for the $50 bln trio ahead of US tariffs. But as rival Stellantis's woes show, M&A cannot produce vehicles customers want to buy.

BHP will try a club deal for Anglo American

17 Dec 2024

The Aussie miner is now free to make another takeover proposal for its smaller rival, whose copper assets still appeal to CEO Mike Henry. But paying a big premium looks harder to justify second time round. Partnering with a rival like Glencore or Vale may smooth the way.

Obesity giants will begin $80 bln M&A face-off

17 Dec 2024

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk will need to invest the war chests they are amassing from sales of weight-loss drugs. They could snap up rivals like Zealand Pharma, or forge into new areas, say by buying autoimmune player Argenx. Pressure to do deals raises the risk of overpaying.

Bausch + Lomb buyout gets blurry beyond $7 bln

13 Dec 2024

Private equity firm TPG is interested in the eye care company, whose parent’s $20 bln of debt makes it a willing seller. A new owner will struggle to find big costs to cut and to exit at a higher valuation multiple. Such constraints make it harder to see clear to a 20% return.

Private equity bids long goodbye to IPOs

13 Dec 2024

Buyout firms called $130 bln more from fund investors than they handed back between 2022 and early 2024, piling on pressure to return capital. Public markets are an increasingly impractical way to sell large investments quickly. Creative finance commands an ever greater premium.

Helicopter SPAC deserves another whirl

13 Dec 2024

Blank-check hype helped elevate Blade’s $825 mln valuation until the euphoria landed with a thud. Since then, the company has found more success transporting organs than Manhattan or Monaco jet-setters. The promise of quieter electric aircraft is another reason to go for a ride.

ESR take-private throws up Asia exit quandary

13 Dec 2024

A group led by US investors offered to privatise the Asian real estate fund manager for $7 bln. Hong Kong's dismal market and ESR's complex business merits the move, yet backers will find it hard to re-list. Asia offers slim pickings for regional groups with IPO dreams.

Warner Bros Discovery re-enters the spin zone

12 Dec 2024

Boss David Zaslav engorged his media empire by merging with a rival’s broken-off business. Corporate restructuring sets him up to reverse the trick. A full roster of bank advisers and moves by peers imply dying TV networks are due a reshuffle. Doing so could add $20 bln of value.

Walgreens invites a Rube Goldberg buyout plan

12 Dec 2024

The flailing $8 bln drugstore would be a cheap target were it not for a $36 bln morass of debt, long-term leases and opioid liabilities. Yet a ruthless buyer could lean on cutting rents, chairman Stefano Pessina’s 17% stake and sellable bits to excavate whatever is left to save.

India tightens its crude bear hug of Russia

12 Dec 2024

Reliance is set to buy Rosneft oil worth $13 bln a year for a decade in the biggest energy deal between the countries. It helps New Delhi cut its current account gap and buy goodwill ahead of Vladimir Putin’s visit. But Moscow’s struggle to manage a flood of rupees may intensify.

Sour grapes spill beans on squashed grocery deal

11 Dec 2024

After trying to unite for two years, Albertsons and Kroger each claimed the other broke their contract a day after US judges nixed the $25 bln merger. The blame game may well end in a stalemate. It also suggests trustbusters astutely divined a ruthlessness veiled in so much M&A.

Nippon Life plays up Japan Inc’s existential angst

11 Dec 2024

The insurer is buying smaller US rival Resolution for $8.2 bln. Returns look low, and the weak yen makes overseas purchases more expensive. But the deal diversifies earnings too reliant on a shrinking home market. Assuming Washington allows, such transactions will keep flowing.

Buyout barons’ Europe bargain hunt will intensify

11 Dec 2024

Preqin data shows that funds focusing on the region are outperforming North American ones, helped in part by a 10% valuation discount on local deals. The gap may grow as US stocks get more expensive. But for Europe it’s a sign of corporate weakness, rather than strength.

Blocked grocery mega-merger tips rolling M&A cart

10 Dec 2024

A US judge ruled Kroger’s $25 bln union with Albertsons is anticompetitive, siding with President Biden’s trustbusters. The decision further ingrains some of their bolder ideas. Dealmakers and CEOs planning shopping sprees under a new administration could use the reality check.

Hershey would be a bitter confection to swallow

10 Dec 2024

The Reese’s chocolatier may again be a takeover target for Cadbury owner Mondelez. Anti-obesity drugs and the recent Mars-Kellanova merger make the 2016 idea worth reconsidering. Financing a $50 bln deal will be tough, however, requiring dubiously huge synergies to justify.

A $13 bln cash sale breaks buyout doom loop

9 Dec 2024

In a tough market for M&A and IPOs, private equity shops have been recycling assets to sate anxious investors. GTCR’s deal to offload its insurance broker to Arthur J. Gallagher provides a sign that the tide may be turning. Whether animal spirits will persist is the question.

Madison Avenue’s $13 bln deal lacks creative spark

9 Dec 2024

Omnicom is buying rival Interpublic to create the largest ad network, with agencies including BBDO and McCann. Chunky savings worth nearly $6 bln help the merger stack up financially. As AI threatens to upend the industry, however, it’s hard to spin it as anything but defensive.

Gulf wealth funds and F1 is a union with mileage

5 Dec 2024

QIA’s acquisition of a 30% stake in the Audi team means Qatar has joined Bahrain in owning a Formula One outfit. With new F1 rules capping team costs, big pots of capital are increasingly interested in the space. That could see the likes of Saudi’s PIF strike similar deals.

Shell and Equinor make the best of UK oil decline

5 Dec 2024

The oil majors are combining their North Sea assets in a joint venture. Splicing the two together makes sense as it will allow them to share Equinor’s 6 bln pound tax losses and protect against rising windfall taxes. It could also pave the way for an easier future exit.