Food & Beverages

Deliveroo’s main sustainability doubt is financial

25 Mar 2021

Some fund managers are shunning the food delivery group’s IPO over its treatment of workers. Unlike most ESG laggards, the $11 bln group is loss-making. Concern about labour rights and founder Will Shu’s super-voting stock are secondary to whether it can turn a consistent profit.

Carrefour makes most of French M&A exceptionalism

24 Mar 2021

After seeing its own takeover blocked by President Emmanuel Macron, the Paris-based retailer is buying Brazil’s third-largest grocery chain. The $1.3 bln price is reasonable, and the touted savings large. Foreign expansion is more appealing than bulking up in slow-growth France.

Danone’s purpose will survive chairman’s departure

22 Mar 2021

Emmanuel Faber’s sustainability credentials did not prevent the yoghurt maker from ousting him. But fears the group will disavow its ESG ideals are misplaced. The standards are embedded in the French company’s operations and legal status. Besides, investors still support them.

Capital Calls: Bank M&A, Wine trades

19 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Sabadell’s decision to keep its UK unit nixes hopes of a deal with BBVA; U.S. vintner Duckhorn’s IPO ups pressure on Treasury Wine.

Luckin may grow into its fraudulent numbers

18 Mar 2021

The bankrupt Chinese coffee chain has agreed a bondholder deal that implies both sides are upbeat about its future, a year after news of faked sales jolted investors out of a caffeine high. Breakingviews calculates Luckin may be percolating those figures for real by September.

Danone CEO exit gives France governance upgrade

15 Mar 2021

Boss Emmanuel Faber is leaving the 42 bln euro yoghurt maker after pressure from activist investors. It shows even French companies once declared strategic by the government are not safe from uppity shareholders. Underperformers whose chair is also CEO are now potential targets.

Capital Calls: Digital art

11 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: A blockchain-protected work by Beeple sold for $69 million at Christie's.

Capital Calls: McKinsey, Celebrity SPACs

10 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: McKinsey’s new boss isn’t new enough; the SEC tells investors to be careful of celebrities bearing SPACs.

JDE Peet’s spilt milk has lessons for IPO hopefuls

9 Mar 2021

Shares in the $19 bln JAB-backed coffee group dived after weak 2021 guidance. Rivals Illy and Unilever, which may spin off its tea arm, will shudder at the L’OR maker trading below its May IPO. More marketing spends and premium drinks could set them apart in any future listings.

White supremacy dies hard on the grocery shelf

5 Mar 2021

New Orleans craft beer Dixie will soon shed its name for a less racially divisive marque. It’s a big risk for a small company. But if a Southern staple can jettison a racially insensitive brand, what’s taking $60 bln giant Colgate, maker of “Black person toothpaste,” so long?

Bowing to activism may become too easy

5 Mar 2021

Danone and Exxon have revamped their boards after pressure from such investors. There’s less stigma these days in co-opting cage-rattlers. But the more easily activists get their way, the less rigorously demands will be vetted by other shareholders and in the public arena.

Danone’s governance fudge sours activist defence

2 Mar 2021

Under pressure from shareholders, the $47 bln French food and dairy group said that Emmanuel Faber will give up his CEO role, but stay on as chairman. Faber’s continued influence may deter potential successors. The board’s decision to back his strategy also makes change harder.

Pandemic speeds AB InBev’s necessary revamp

25 Feb 2021

More drinking at home and higher raw materials costs will pressure the $100 bln brewer’s margins in 2021. After years of zero-based budgets, it needs looser purse strings to revive sales. But with $83 bln of debt, its valuation discount to less profitable rivals will persist.

Oatly value ingests Beyond Meat’s bloat

24 Feb 2021

The Oprah-backed oat milk maker can hit a $9 bln valuation in an IPO based on its faux meat rival’s multiple. That’s an almost fivefold increase from last year. Big partnerships help justify growth. But using one inflated stock to validate another is too much of a good thing.

Capital Calls: Petrobras CEO, Kohl’s

22 Feb 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro nominates a former general to replace the oil group's market-friendly boss, tanking the shares; and U.S. department store Kohl’s has some unhappy shareholders.

Danone CEO upsets activist’s Nestlé-fication hopes

19 Feb 2021

Artisan wants the $47 bln yoghurt maker to dump food and water laggards and prioritise higher-margin lines. A focus on medical nutrition echoes the health science push of the Swiss giant, which has outperformed under pressure from Dan Loeb. But boss Emmanuel Faber is in the way.

Kerry Group’s short-seller defence lacks flavour

16 Feb 2021

A sleuth of bears has accused the Irish maker of Wall’s sausages of overstating the value of acquisitions. The 19 bln euro firm dismissed the criticism and powered ahead with its shopping. But to close the valuation gap with rival Givaudan, a more transparent rebuttal is needed.

Uber’s valuation requires both hands on the wheel

10 Feb 2021

Its food delivery unit helped keep it to a 16% drop in quarterly revenue but that service is losing money. Experience from rideshare could help. But its valuation is fully baked relative to peers that operate in one market or the other. That leaves Uber little room for error.

Capital Calls: Jay vs. Larry

10 Feb 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Jerome Powell takes on Larry Summers in the inflation debate.

Corona Capital: McKinsey/opioids, Bumble IPO

4 Feb 2021

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Consulting firm McKinsey settles over its role in the U.S. opioids scandal; and dating site Bumble boss Whitney Wolfe Herd looks smart to be holding back in the company’s initial public offering.