Divestment

Holcim’s US sure thing is now a wait-and-see

25 Mar 2025

The $62 bln Swiss materials group reckons its soon to be New York-listed North American arm can grow strongly up to 2028. Assuming it hits its targets, 'Amrize' may yet get the re-rating that underpins the split’s logic. But the newly wobbly US economy makes that less certain.

Panama deal puts CK Hutchison in a sea change

6 Mar 2025

How the Hong Kong conglomerate uses the $19 bln in proceeds from the sale of its global ports will be a key test for Chair Victor Li. His flagship group has been deleveraging and increasing payouts. If geopolitics don't get in the way, the Li empire is overdue a big purchase.

Austrians dodge Gulf squeeze in plastics megadeal

4 Mar 2025

OMV and ADNOC will merge two plastics units. The Vienna-based $14 bln group had a weak hand because of exposure to high-cost Europe and the fact that the UAE-based giant is a key shareholder. But CEO Alfred Stern emerged with big dividends, decent governance and dignity intact.

WPP woe advertises scope for shiny buyout

28 Feb 2025

The $9 bln UK group’s shares fell 16% after it warned sales may flatline in 2025. A shaky backdrop for deals means industry rivals are unlikely to pounce on their discount rival. But if a private equity shop can copy the success of rival Publicis it can make a neat return.

BP reincarnates as more vulnerable Shell

26 Feb 2025

The $89 bln oil major is following its rival’s playbook in abandoning renewable targets and shrinking green investments. It could have gone further in selling assets and returning capital. A lowly share price could give activist investor Elliott support to push for bolder action.

Anglo’s self-help plan is working deceptively well

20 Feb 2025

The $41 bln miner’s shares are well below the value of a rejected share-based offer from BHP last year, and CEO Duncan Wanblad is mired in writedowns. But diamond woes are old. And Anglo American’s valuation multiple has at least improved even as its suitor’s stock has dropped.

L&G’s US exit is lucrative way to flip the script

7 Feb 2025

The UK insurer is selling its American protection unit to Meiji Yasuda for $2.3 bln in cash. As EU companies scramble to gain share in the world’s largest economy, the timing is odd. But L&G boss Antonio Simoes is also exploiting Japanese demand for US assets to get a good price.

BP now stands for ‘Best Partitioned’

6 Feb 2025

The $85 bln UK oil major that once repositioned itself as ‘Beyond Petroleum’ trades at a discount to its rivals. Merging the whole company might short-change its investors. But if CEO Murray Auchincloss instead broke up his empire, the sum of its parts might be nearly 60% higher.

Corporate division generates problematic quotients

4 Feb 2025

Just as one plus one supposedly makes three in M&A, bankers and bosses also tout multiplier effects from subtracting units. As DuPont breaks up again, $150 bln Honeywell faces pressure to split and Comcast crafts a spinoff, it’s worth checking the math. Often, it doesn’t add up.

Smiths’ long-awaited split shows promise

31 Jan 2025

The $8.8 bln British engineer plans to either sell or spin off two of its four units. If all goes to plan, there’s more value for investors including activist Engine Capital. In the absence of a big uplift, the remaining high-margin divisions will be a more attractive target.

Smiths’ overdue split requires more patience

17 Jan 2025

Activist Engine Capital has called for the breakup of the $7.4 bln British engineering group. Improving financial performance, and a depressed valuation makes a separation plausible. But prising apart the units ranging from metal detectors to cable kit isn’t a simple task.

Ping An’s tech dreams may yet exit intensive care

16 Jan 2025

The $110 bln insurer’s days of spinning off web-based ventures to help boost its value are long over. But a quirky special dividend is giving it back majority control of beaten-down but cash-rich Ping An Healthcare just as the online medical firm’s fortunes look set to improve.

Art of the 2025 deal will be postBidenism

30 Dec 2024

A new US president probably means laxer trustbusters, adding fuel to lower borrowing costs and corporate quests for growth. Exxon, Comcast, Rivian and Google are primed to dust off older M&A plans or craft new ones. Even the White House is positioned to orchestrate a merger.

Buyout barons will find ways to douse fire sale

27 Dec 2024

Groups like KKR and EQT have $3 trln of assets, after years of slow sales. In 2025, pressure to offload companies will grow, putting paper valuations at risk. To soften the blow, firms will rely on innovative disposal tricks, like continuation funds and private share placements.

India’s green power producers will get a shakeout

24 Dec 2024

More than a dozen renewable energy assets are on the block as both private equity firms like Brookfield and GIC and industry owners like Siemens look for an exit. Rivals and flush public markets will welcome large players. Smaller ones will have fewer options.

Vivendi’s discount haunts Bollorés post-breakup

17 Dec 2024

The media group split in four to shed a conglomerate valuation penalty. The bits are now collectively worth just 8 bln euros, implying no upside from the move. One lesson is that the discount was always down to the controlling Bolloré clan’s influence rather than the structure.

AstraZeneca lacks good medicine for Chinese limbo

13 Dec 2024

Executives at the $205 bln drugmaker have been detained by Beijing, hitting its shares. One way for CEO Pascal Soriot to ringfence China risk from the rest of AstraZeneca might be to list or spin off the unit. Yet that might just highlight fresh reasons to mark down the stock.

Comcast rescripts its stale convergence plotline

20 Nov 2024

The $160 bln cable operator is spinning off CNBC and other networks while heralding integration. In truth, it’s a concession that the logic behind its bold NBC Universal deal has changed. At $12 bln, per Breakingviews estimates, the unit is small but nevertheless significant.

Trump 2.0 will see more European firms do a Holcim

18 Nov 2024

The $56 bln Swiss building materials group is splitting off its US unit and listing it separately. Some CEOs may think President-elect Donald Trump will spur a growth spurt. Fear of missing out, and a huge valuation gap, will make other European companies ponder similar moves.

Vodafone M&A spree leaves German problem untouched

12 Nov 2024

CEO Margherita Della Valle has spent the past 18 months remodelling the $23 bln telco by striking deals in Britain, Spain and Italy. But the shares have trailed European rivals’. To change that, the former finance chief will have to tell a better Teutonic growth story.