Industrials

Has US anti-trust policy been relaxed?

30 Mar 2006

Given the Whirlpool/Maytag merger will have over 70% of the US washerdryer market its approval suggests a rethinking of antitrust policy. If regulators are making decisions by divining the future of a market, it opens many possibilities. Hey, why not a FordGM merger?

Alcatel should be wary of acquiring Lucent

24 Mar 2006

The last time the French and US telecom kit makers tried to merge in 2001, they failed because they couldn't agree who would run the group. This time it is more clear. It's easy to see why Lucent would sell itself. The question is should Alcatel buy a company that is still weak.

Blackberry addicts breathe easy

4 Mar 2006

The device s maker, RIM, is paying $613m to end its patent dispute with NTP. All things considered, this is not a big price. Sure, RIM might have won in court. But client concerns were getting serious enough to erode the addiction of the crackberry.

Utility consolidation catches RWE on the hop

1 Mar 2006

The German energy utility has been caught out by the sudden deal explosion. It's still cleaning itself up after its last burst of expansion. Sitting out a consolidation wave may dent RWE's pride. It wants to be among Europe's top players. But it may be a blessing for shareholders.

RadioShack head trips up on schooling

21 Feb 2006

David Edmondson was sacked as president because he made up two university degrees. It's easy to see the temptation in an MBAobsessed world. But he should have been proud to join the dropout tradition of Carnegie and Gates.

Maytag-Whirlpool trade looks treacherous

8 Feb 2006

Markets are already discounting the likelihood Whirlpool s $2.7bn offer will fail but not by nearly enough. If regulators scuttle the deal Maytag may sell for a lot less than the market seems to assume. Investors could be taken to the cleaners.

Philips takes welcome step toward chip division disposal

15 Dec 2005

The Dutch electronics conglomerate is exploring options for its E5bn chip division. Spinning off or selling the highly cyclical division would unlock value. Philips has a substantial conglomerate discount built in.

Smart card merger signals maturing industry

7 Dec 2005

Gemplus and Axalto, the two biggest smartcard makers, have agreed to a E2.4bn merger. The deal is financially and strategically clever. But it s also a recognition that smart cards are still a solution looking for a problem.

Blackberry maker may have to pay up or shut down

1 Dec 2005

RIM, the phone maker, could have ended its patent dispute with NTP for a negligible sum years ago. Instead, it has gratuitously and repeatedly insulted NTP. A $1bn bill for its behaviour may be on the way.

BPB right to settle for Saint Gobain’s £3.9bn offer

17 Nov 2005

The UK plasterboard maker was gunning for 800p a share. But with no other bid on the table, the 775p deal is pretty good. St Gobain, by contrast, will struggle to earn its cost of capital on the deal.

Infineon to lose its memory – at last

15 Nov 2005

The German chipmaker is close to selling or floating its troublesome E3.2bn memory chip business. Good riddance. Infineon is and will always be a highcost producer in this commodity market.

Siemens’ silence over strategy disappoints

10 Nov 2005

The German conglomerate s Q4 results were muted. And it stayed silent over its strategy for the communications and business services units. Guidance for 2006 is missing and a share buyback seems off the cards. A discount is justified.

Leica auction still carries risks

16 Aug 2005

The Swiss tech group s investors seem to be betting that a raised offer from Sweden s Hexagon will succeed. Either that, or that rival bidder Danaher will raise its lower allcash offer. But there s no assurance of either.

Nokia’s boss to step down

1 Aug 2005

Jorma Ollila turned a lossmaking conglomerate into a lucrative mobile phone giant. But Nokia's golden age is coming to an end. And its top managers may lack the stomach for another fight now that they are so fabulously wealthy.

Nokia shocks markets again

21 Jul 2005

The Finnish telecom group has warned that falling prices and increased competition will hit third quarter profits. Nokia s skyhigh margins depend on its market share. But to maintain that, it needs to keep cutting prices.

Ericsson’s excellent Q2 may be last hurrah

21 Jul 2005

The Swedish telecom equipment maker s inflated shares have been on a tear, up by more than a third in the past three months alone. This is odd. The group s gross margins are falling and management thinks revenue growth will slow later this year.

Philips points to European consumer slowdown

18 Jul 2005

The Dutch conglomerate's secondquarter results suggest demand is weakening in Europe. And this is no isolated sign: recent results from SonyEricsson and Samsung point the same way.

Westinghouse auction may be one to lose

13 Jul 2005

The sale of the nuclear plant builder is generating lots of excitement much of it predicated on a Chinese construction boom. But US politics may prohibit Westinghouse s involvement. And the profitability of building these plants is murky.

Competition bites into Blackberry maker

30 Jun 2005

Research in Motion, maker of the ubiquitous Blackberry phones, is finally seeing its phenomenal rates of growth slow. The group already faces formidable legal issues. But that's nothing compared to the headache of competition from Microsoft.

Infineon considers float of memory division – report

23 Jun 2005

How slow can decision making be at the German chip company's dual management board? More than a year after this idea was reportedly first considered, there is still no decision. Meanwhile valuations have plummeted.