Deals

Revolut-SoftBank fight exposes VC share artifice

22 May 2023

The fintech group may only win a UK banking licence if it gets rid of preference stock held by the Japanese investor. Similar structures are common in startup land, and help justify puffed-up valuations like Revolut’s $33 bln price tag. The fracas shows they also have a downside.

SPAC addict finds a healthier formula in London

18 May 2023

Serial dealmaker Martin Franklin was into blank-check vehicles before it was cool. His new $550 mln buyout-inspired group dispenses with the egregious free shares insiders get in special purpose acquisition companies. The downside is that investors can’t stop Franklin if he errs.

Capital Calls: BT, Mediobanca

18 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: The 14 bln pound UK telco’s vague guidance is a concern for its two big shareholders seeking to recoup losses; the 8.5 bln euro Italian bank buys its biggest boutique yet.

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.

Drug M&A comes down with case of antitrust fever

17 May 2023

Amgen’s $28 bln purchase of rival Horizon could unfairly boost the target’s treatments, the merger watchdog says. The FTC’s focus on so-called bundling could be troublesome for the pharma industry, but is also hard to prove. Investors may be too pessimistic about the deal.

Activision is victim of clashing trustbuster whims

16 May 2023

Microsoft’s bid for the “Call of Duty” maker won Europe’s approval, with concessions, after UK and US regulators pushed back. International enforcers’ divergence on whether companies can offer fixes for deals they don’t like could be an impossible hurdle for big-ticket M&A.

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.

Gautam Adani’s fundraisings offer multiple tests

16 May 2023

His companies are preparing to tap capital markets for some $3 bln, three months after a short attack succeeded in obliterating $120 bln and 50% off his group’s value. It will test the Indian conglomerate’s reputation, his attitude to public equity, and the besieged regulator.

TPG returns to credit party fashionably late

15 May 2023

The buyout firm’s $3 bln purchase of direct-lending firm Angelo Gordon takes it back into a business it split off in 2020, and will make it look more like bigger peers like KKR. Missing the last private-credit wave is no bad thing, since TPG could catch the crest of the next one.

Capital Calls: Wood Group

15 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: Apollo’s aborted bid for the $1 bln UK infrastructure firm prompted a 35% share price fall.

Vietnam’s Tesla debuts with wrong kind of power

15 May 2023

VinFast is going public at a sales multiple seven times its rival. Merging at a $27 bln valuation with casino mogul Lawrence Ho’s SPAC secures it a listing in the US where the electric-vehicle maker is expanding. But it needs funding and an inflated 2021-style deal doesn’t help.

Mattress M&A is stuffed with sweet dreams

10 May 2023

Tempur Sealy’s $4 bln deal to buy retailer Mattress Firm could be a nightmare to get past trustbusters. Financially speaking, there’s cushion for error. Plus, after the industry struggled with both brick-and-mortar and direct-to-consumer strategies, they make logical bedfellows.

KKR’s $10 bln medical deal overlooked risk factors

10 May 2023

Since the 2018 buyout that larded Envision Healthcare with debt, it has struggled with Covid-19, hypertension induced by feisty insurers and rehab on its billing practices. Bankruptcy is now the prescription. It’s a reminder to beware combining operational and financial leverage.

Lithium miners unearth shovel-ready $11 bln deal

10 May 2023

Australia’s Allkem and US peer Livent are uniting to create an energy-transition titan. EV makers scrambling for battery materials should like a combined explorer and processor with no Chilean exposure. Bigger is strategically better, and helps the merger stack up financially.

Capital Calls: Walt Disney

10 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: Bob Iger’s first full quarter since returning as CEO opened a window onto multiplying challenges across the Magic Kingdom.

German software buyout battle hits investor glitch

10 May 2023

Bain Capital has launched a 2.5 bln euro knockout offer for IT group Software AG. But the target seems oddly happy to stick with a lower bid from existing backer Silver Lake. Shareholders can either take an inferior price or risk a messy stalemate.

Capital Calls: Amazon, Aramco

9 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: Rising costs and cautious consumers are driving the e-commerce giant to sell goods through mobile games and push incentives; the $2 trillion Saudi oil company’s new dividend policy is one way to interest investors in future share sales. 

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.

First Republic’s rescue cements ‘too big to fail’

4 May 2023

JPMorgan rode to the rescue of the mid-sized lender, which recently became the latest US bank to keel over. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss the impact of lending giants bulking up further, and whether that itself stores up future risks.