ESG

Big transitions are better embraced than resisted

4 Jan 2022

The extraordinary actions required to make epochal shifts, like eradicating hydrocarbons or vanquishing Covid-19, are being taken now. Central banks are removing punch-bowl money. Digital is crushing everything. And without social inclusion, it all falls apart. Welcome to 2022.

LG revs up Asia’s green-car capital engine

11 Jan 2022

The South Korean company’s $11 bln battery spinoff is just the start of a regional deal frenzy that also includes CATL’s $7 bln share sale. Unlike in Chinese tech, government policies are lifting growth and valuations. For now at least, investors will go along for the ride.

EU’s anti-greenwashing crusade takes a risky turn

5 Jan 2022

The bloc’s new draft of its green taxonomy includes gas and nuclear power. The risk is a tool intended to make sustainable financing less prone to greenwashing does the opposite. A lot hinges on whether investors properly differentiate between clean and “transition” activities.

Capital Calls: Beyond Meat’s faux chicken

5 Jan 2021

Concise views on global finance: The plant-based meat company’s shares jumped 5% on news KFC will offer its product. The extra value assumes benefits beyond selling buckets of substitute fried chicken.

Capital Calls: BlackBerry’s demise is a warning

4 Jan 2021

Concise views on global finance: Life support ends on Tuesday for the once ubiquitous phone's operating system. When cult gadgets lose their edge to devices that do much more, the descent can be inexorable.

Review: A cautionary tale of bad climate investing

31 Dec 2021

“Don’t Look Up” has several flaws. But the satire about a giant comet heading for earth makes heroes of scientists, wallops politicians and the media and is often funny. Its warning not to put faith in flashy moonshots is also spot-on for companies grappling with global warming.

Viewsroom: More 2022 predictions and prescriptions

30 Dec 2021

M&A bankers will need to think small, in size, but big when it comes to helping clients meet net-zero climate targets. Watch for Big Pharma to tool up in the data arms race. And the Great Resignation will hit executive suites because running companies remotely is no fun.

Climate M&A will shift from risk to opportunity

29 Dec 2021

Defensive and green-signalling plays dominate ESG-touted deals, like BHP’s coal sales and Santos’ Oil Search swoop. SPACs are active, too. Next will be more ambitious, impactful tie-ups, from banks upping their skills to firms like Autodesk and Ecolab being predator or prey.

Mammoth re-engineering project begins: Germany

28 Dec 2021

Its manufacturing-led, carbon intensive economy is ill-suited to the 21st century. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and firms like Volkswagen will spend more on green and digital investment. The trick will be to plough on despite short-term supply chain problems and rising labour costs.

The Exchange: Environmentalist on Exxon’s board

28 Dec 2021

Kaisa Hietala was one of the directors elected by shareholders in May through activist Engine No. 1’s successful campaign to green up the $250 bln oil giant. The former Neste executive from Finland sat down with Rob Cox to explain her vision for creating sustainable businesses.

Climate-change money will flow freely to Plan B

24 Dec 2021

COP26’s so-so outcome makes damaging temperature rises more likely. At some point, optimal portfolios may require guns and canned food. Until then investors will lean towards shares in Syngenta, Veolia and other companies that aid adaptation to global warming not just mitigation.

ESG acronym is due for a spin-off of its initials

24 Dec 2021

Lumping environmental sustainability, social justice and corporate governance into a single bucket is a clumsy way to address three complex and distantly related challenges. Savvy executives and investors want to separate them. E, S and G will be more valuable after a breakup.

Viewsroom: Some of our 2022 predictions, Part One

23 Dec 2021

Look for an end to the cult of revenue and another milestone for Microsoft. As net-zero efforts falter, investors ready a Plan B. Riyadh becomes strangely appealing. The World Cup pays dividends for the Gulf. And chips become Taiwan’s green calling card. Our columnists explain.

Capital Calls: Intel in China, Covid-testing M&A

23 Dec 2021

Concise views on global finance: The chipmaker apologizes over Xinjiang to protect its business in the People's Republic; Quidel's deal to buy Ortho Clinical Diagnostics for $6 bln provides some future-proofing – and a windfall for private equity firm Carlyle.

Consumer giants will be in “plastivist” crosshairs

22 Dec 2021

Expected to double by 2030, plastic pollution will create financial risks for companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo as countries introduce more single-use bans and taxes. Emboldened by the defeat of Exxon over reducing its carbon footprint, activists will target consumer giants.

Combustion engines are carmakers’ toxic assets

22 Dec 2021

The likes of Volkswagen and GM are shifting to battery vehicles while petrol-powered rides die out. Engine units are a drag on valuations, like lenders’ ropey assets after the 2008 crisis. Hiving them off into a “bad bank” would please investors and generate much-needed savings.

Rio and BHP wrestle with green M&A conundrum

22 Dec 2021

The two rivals are fighting over access to battery metals, including stakes in volatile startups. BHP just withdrew from a pricey battle for a wannabe nickel maker, but Rio is pressing on with an $825 mln bid for a nascent lithium firm. Investors are wise to be wary.

Capital Calls: Nikola’s SEC collision damage

21 Dec 2021

Concise views on global finance: The electric-truck maker is paying the U.S. securities watchdog $125 million. It’s a big dent but, given the stakes for SPACs and their targets, may only mildly discourage cheerleaders from taking the step from hype into fraud.

The Exchange: Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg

21 Dec 2021

With an election looming early next year, the Liberal Party’s deputy leader discusses everything from booster shots to Big Tech, climate change to China, immigration to inflation, and more. He tells Jeffrey Goldfarb how his country can overcome the many economic challenges ahead.

Big Meat will channel VW-Tesla in alt-protein war

20 Dec 2021

Elon Musk stole a march on automakers, forcing them to play catchup on electric cars. A similar dynamic could play out in real and plant-based meat. The likes of Impossible Foods have a Tesla-like lead, but old hands like Tyson and JBS can use M&A to play tortoise to their hare.