Food & Beverages

Uber-Grubhub’s big obstacle is delivery not price

18 May 2020

Some to-and-fro over value is normal in a potential merger. But for two money-losing companies with volatile stocks, financial tweaks are a second-order issue. The more critical question about combining their meal-delivery operations is whether antitrust watchdogs would block it.

JAB can go further to ease caffeine addiction

18 May 2020

At-home drinking has helped the group’s 25 bln euro coffee arm, JDE Peet’s, hold its value despite Covid-19. Listing a chunk will help pay down the unit’s debt. Still, JAB could sell further equity and use the money to build a portfolio less reliant on three big companies.

Delivery app dares Shanghai-to-New York IPO route

15 May 2020

Dada Nexus, backed by JD and Walmart, aims to raise $500 mln on the Nasdaq even as U.S. political backlash against Chinese companies intensifies. Luckin’s scandal raises fresh doubts, as do stock performances of recent debuts. And yet rival bourses are struggling to capitalise.

Uber-Grubhub may get stomachache from deal fuss

14 May 2020

A tie-up would create the top meal-delivery firm in major markets like New York, Boston and Chicago. Uber’s beefed up lobbying efforts might help federal approval, but even then state antitrust watchdogs may be concerned. It’s a tough taste test for the $57 bln ride-hailing app.

Corona Capital: Air travel, Starbucks

14 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Airlines’ experienced hands offer warning; Starbucks begins dance with landlords.

Uber is Grubhub CEO’s answer

12 May 2020

Matt Maloney bemoaned excessive competition among food-delivery startups. The lockdown has helped, but it's still cut-throat. Now the $55 bln ride-hailing giant may buy Grubhub. That’s one way to solve Maloney's problem, provided price and antitrust thinking go his way.

Corona Capital: Payments M&A brawl, Endeavor

7 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Payments firm Wex’s attempt to ditch a double deal for two UK rivals will face legal pushback and perhaps Elliott Management’s ire. Talent agency Endeavor’s 2018 Epic Games investment is starting to come in handy.

Indian tax hikes are perverse economic necessity

6 May 2020

Governments worldwide are handing out cash to prop up demand as lockdowns crush revenue. New Delhi, however, is raising taxes to contain deficits, upping levies on petrol as states slap charges on booze. India’s fiscal anxiety is acute, but others may follow after the crisis.

Tyson races to fix just one of two long-term woes

4 May 2020

The $20 bln meat processor is finally doing more for workers after Covid-19 infections shut down plants. It may mark the end of cheap labor as a crutch for U.S. food-industry titans. But their other big problem is the concentrated, environmentally unfriendly supply chain itself.

China’s tough Luckin line faces deaf U.S. ears

29 Apr 2020

Authorities raided the embattled coffee chain’s office, partly to limit collateral damage from the accounting scandal. Beijing also may be trying to placate impatient U.S. regulators. It will take far more, though, to satisfy hawks demanding China Inc delistings and divestments.

Groceries are gluttony for India’s takeaway giants

28 Apr 2020

Couriers of prepared food are increasingly pushing into dried and fresh fare. It’s a bigger prize in a market dominated by home cooking. That could make SoftBank-backed Grofers, last valued at $650 mln, appealing to Zomato. Such meal combos are unlikely to deliver value, however.

Keeping it local gives Nestlé a temporary lift

24 Apr 2020

Sales grew 4.3% in the first quarter as consumers in Europe and the U.S. stockpiled products like coffee and pet food. The $320 bln Swiss giant’s localised production and inventory helped it meet increased demand. But lower sales in Asia suggest the bounce will not last.

Just Eat puts convertibles at top of bankers’ menu

23 Apr 2020

Dutch food delivery group Just Eat Takeaway.com sold 300 million euros of funky debt that converts into equity. It’s a cheap way to raise funds when stock markets are volatile. The products’ stable performance during the coronavirus crisis means investors should stay hungry.

Corona Capital: HCA Healthcare, Kering

21 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The virus helps one part of the U.S. healthcare industry, but harms another; and luxury group Kering's Chinese fortunes may depend on an end to Italy's lockdown.

Corona Capital: Pemex, Bond liquidity

20 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Pemex becomes world’s chunkiest fallen angel, and bond liquidity gets a needed boost.

Anti-Amazon antitrust is UK’s latest crisis victim

17 Apr 2020

Britain cleared a $575 mln investment in Deliveroo led by the U.S. giant because the food delivery startup would go bust otherwise. The pandemic has weakened the regulator’s scrutiny of big tech firms. As in the financial crisis, authorities may regret deals they hastily allow.

Hoarding to extend sell-by date of tired brands

17 Apr 2020

Consumers stockpiled pantries and freezers with long-life grub, boosting dowdy products like frozen Hot Pockets. Unilever and Nestlé had been tilting towards higher-end brands. Lockdowns will force CEOs and investors to reconsider the value of what’s in their cupboards.

Corona Capital: Airbnb

15 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Airbnb’s new $1 bln loan doesn’t come cheap, especially when compared to Booking Holdings. But the home-renting unicorn has troubles, from few assets to offer as security to how to ensure properties are virus-free.

Corona Capital: Oil cheerleading, Mortgaging Ford

13 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. and Saudi energy ministers agree on pumping up oil, Ford may use an old trick to raise new capital.

Viewsroom: Vices and more

9 Apr 2020

Breakingviews columnists in Ireland, New York and Lantau check in with Editor Rob Cox to discuss Jamie Dimon’s annual letter and coming earnings onslaught, fraud at Luckin Coffee and, everybody’s favorite coronavirus obsession: a boom in sales of porn, weed, booze and junk food.