Industrials

Danish hydrogen adds hygge to market green malaise

7 Jun 2021

Green Hydrogen Systems is planning a Copenhagen float that will value the electrolyser maker at $500 mln. Of late, pulled IPOs reflect investor scepticism about so-so renewable energy listings. The green gas’s key role in cutting EU carbon emissions may make this a comfier fit.

Capital Calls: Airbus signals liftoff, Bill Gates

27 May 2021

Concise views on global finance: The global aircraft industrial complex got a boost after the European plane maker said it hopes to churn out more of its A320 short-haul workhorses per month than expected; Microsoft founder’s huge private investment vehicle under scrutiny.

Capital Calls: AT&T’s bankers, Blackstone in Italy

17 May 2021

Concise views on global finance: The U.S. telecom giant’s unwinding of its purchase of Time Warner is a gift for advisers on Wall Street; a court rules that the U.S. private equity firm’s 2013 purchase of Corriere della Sera’s HQ was valid.

Long-suffering GE shareholders flex muscle on pay

4 May 2021

Most of the U.S. conglomerate's owners voted against top bosses' 2020 packages. That included $73 mln for CEO Larry Culp whose incentives the board repriced last August, showing the hollowness of giving up some of his base pay and bonus. It's a rare rebuke, richly deserved.

Capital Calls: Jerome Powell, Shopify

28 Apr 2021

Concise views on global finance: The clock is ticking on the Fed boss’s taper timeline; the e-commerce firm grew even as it warns of a post-pandemic lull.

Self-help is still the best support GE can expect

27 Apr 2021

The $119 bln industrial group is hacking away at inefficiencies and lumps to create something more predictable and cash generative. What’s missing are customers, especially for jet engines. The recovering share price banks on CEO Larry Culp being as good at offense as defense.

Melrose disposal puts spring back in M&A step

19 Apr 2021

The UK turnaround specialist is selling most of its air conditioning unit for $3.6 bln. Though the implied annual return of 14% is not stellar, further disposals may lift it. Cutting net debt will allow CEO Simon Peckham to hit the acquisition trail again with vigour.

UK’s Gupta merits net zero rescue in all senses

1 Apr 2021

The steel entrepreneur’s tottering industrial empire is a tricky candidate for a state bailout. But it could give the government a chance to decarbonise a major source of emissions. Done smartly, it may help Britain hit green goals and stabilise a perennially flaky sector.

Hitachi’s $9.6 bln buy defies some global logic

31 Mar 2021

The Japanese group is paying a huge 38 times forecast EBITDA for U.S.-software firm GlobalLogic. That’s only partly justified by the target’s superfast growth in a hot “digital transformation” market. Boss Toshiaki Higashihara will need serious synergies to eke a decent return.

Capital Calls: BlackRock’s Archegos angle, SPACs

30 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The fallout from the collapse of Bill Hwang’s family office gives regulators reasons to focus on funds, not fund managers; and bosses of blank-check companies don’t take investor questions.

The Exchange: The old GE is gone and that’s ok

23 Mar 2021

Jeff Immelt ran GE for 16 years, during which time its market value roughly halved. His new book “Hot Seat” attempts to put that rocky period into context. The former GE boss chatted with John Foley about his part in the decline of an American industrial icon.

Viewsroom: Greensill/Credit Suisse, GE, Diversity

11 Mar 2021

Big names in finance, like Credit Suisse and tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, are suffering collateral damage from the UK supply chain lender’s collapse. The sale of aircraft leasing brings GE closer to CEO Larry Culp’s light-bulb moment. And working from home risks a diversity disaster.

Boris Johnson will feel Gupta steel jitters too

10 Mar 2021

GFG Alliance says it has adequate funding, but key financing partner Greensill is collapsing. If Sanjeev Gupta’s industrial empire were to struggle, the UK leader has little economic reason to save its British operations. Yet domestic politics may still force him to step in.

GE’s aircraft deal is another long goodbye

10 Mar 2021

The conglomerate is merging its plane-leasing unit with Ireland’s AerCap. Boss Larry Culp will, for now, be stuck with just under half of a highly leveraged business. Investors in GE know that divestments can take years and that, in the meantime, they can't expect a clean break.

GE is getting tantalizingly close to take-off

8 Mar 2021

Merging the aircraft leasing unit with rival AerCap may not erase debt that weighs on the U.S. conglomerate. But it would leave a sleeker GE with more options to raise cash. Boss Larry Culp has to navigate politics, though. And like Baker Hughes, risks to execution loom large.

Capital Calls: WeWork, HSBC offices, Wells Fargo

23 Feb 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Co-founder Adam Neumann may get a big payment for failure after all; The bank’s plan to shrink its property footprint recalls an earlier effort; And the scandal-plagued lender takes another small step towards rehabilitation.

Three-way laser war will incinerate value

12 Feb 2021

Coherent’s $6.4 bln takeover offer from II-VI is the laser maker’s third in a month. Original bidder Lumentum looks outgunned, since II-VI and MKS have more strategic fit and can theoretically afford to offer more. But Coherent is already overpriced, and passions are kicking in.

Swiss chemical buyout can just about wash face

9 Feb 2021

Bain and Cinven are paying drugmaker Lonza $4.7 bln for its skin sanitiser-ingredient unit. Aided by leverage, the pair should be able to eke out an acceptable return. But that hinges on changes to personal hygiene trends rather than just cost-cutting.

Guest view: Concrete and the carbon challenge

1 Feb 2021

Cement accounts for about 7% of global CO2 emissions. Yet the world will need more of it to make the concrete to build lower-carbon energy infrastructure. The industry can be part of a cleaner future, says Dinah McLeod, CEO of the Global Cement and Concrete Association.

Akzo’s Finnish paint splurge is no Rembrandt

18 Jan 2021

The European chemicals group bid $1.7 bln for Helsinki-based Tikkurila, trumping an offer from PPG. It comes just three years after the firm led by Thierry Vanlancker fended off a takeover by its U.S. rival. Whoever wins this fight will struggle to gloss over the hefty price tag.