Insurance

Aon-Willis deal collapse would leave few mourners

16 Jun 2021

The Biden administration’s first big antitrust shot is against the $30 bln tie-up of two insurance brokers. Customers may not mind if the merger is scuppered. Neither may investors: Since it was announced, the combined firms’ market values have missed out on $20 bln of gains.

Aviva activist is part outrider, part salesperson

8 Jun 2021

Cevian Capital has taken a 5% stake in the 16 bln pound UK insurer. Unusually for an activist, it likes boss Amanda Blanc’s current strategy. But it gives her cover to move quickly, and also sets Aviva on a similar path to the lucrative exit Cevian managed at fellow insurer RSA.

Capital Calls: Turkish gas, Generali, Garuda

4 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: President Erdogan’s “good news” on hydrocarbons smells off; the Italian insurer’s 1.5 bln euro bid for NN Group’s asset management unit may trigger a shootout; the Indonesian flag carrier’s long struggle to avoid bankruptcy is coming to a head.

Capital Calls: Greensill/Bluestone

1 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: The collapse of the supply-chain finance group may have left the governor of West Virginia personally on the hook for $700 million.

Capital Calls: JPMorgan, FirstGroup, Break fees

18 May 2021

Concise insights on global finance: Jamie Dimon is shuffling his deputies; the UK bus-to-rail group’s sale of its U.S. businesses to EQT has hit an investor revolt; deals involving AT&T and Canadian National Railway highlight the fees due for walking away.

Capital Calls: Sabers down for Project JEDI

10 May 2021

Concise views on global finance: The Pentagon may end the $10 billion cloud project to consolidate U.S. military data after exhausting worse options.

Ping An finds suitable rebound deal

4 May 2021

The Chinese insurance giant plans to buy most of Peking University’s bankrupt corporate empire, Founder Group, for up to $7.9 bln. Potential synergies will be welcome after a recent property investment mess. There are reasons to be wary, but Ping An also bounced back post-Fortis.

Guest view: Getting finance in shape for COP26

21 Apr 2021

The $100 trillion required to decarbonise the world economy by 2050 won’t materialise without the financial sector. But banks, insurers and asset managers need a single set of standards to assess their net-zero ambitions. That’s now happening, write Mark Carney and Nigel Topping.

Capital Calls: Goldman Sachs, U.S. currency report

16 Apr 2021

Concise views on global finance: The Wall Street bank’s communications veteran, Jake Siewert, goes back to the future, sort of; Taiwan is dubbed a forex interventionist but avoids manipulator label.

Capital Calls: Christine Lagarde, Bernie Madoff

14 Apr 2021

Concise views on global finance: The European Central Bank president’s quest for inflation will take a while to achieve its goal; investor gullibility will live on after the death of the Ponzi schemer in a U.S. federal prison.

Capital Calls: LVMH surges back to full health

13 Apr 2021

Concise views on global finance: The 300 billion euro luxury conglomerate’s first-quarter sales surpass pre-Covid-19 levels.

China Evergrande spinoff is draped in red flags

30 Mar 2021

The indebted property conglomerate plans to list its online market for flats and cars, valued at $23 bln. Unlike rival Ke, the unit has grown by taking stakes in customers, mostly real estate agencies, and giving them equity. Brash financial engineering is unlikely to pay off.

Capital Calls: WFH deals, Suez Canal, NorNickel

29 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Fintech firm Broadridge pays a full price for trading platform; with the waterway clear, all sides will be taking up positions for a legal battle royal; the Russian nickel producer cashes in on high copper prices.

Allianz leaps back into M&A game in pricey Poland

26 Mar 2021

Europe’s top insurer will buy Aviva’s Polish unit for 2.5 bln euros. After more than a decade of eschewing large deals, CEO Oliver Baete is paying a rich 17 times earnings for scale in a key market. Projected savings make the price tag stack up. It may be a sign of more to come.

Capital Calls: Twitter time-wasting, News Corp

25 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Congressional hearings on Big Tech get ever less productive; meanwhile, the parent of the Wall Street Journal snaps up Investor’s Business Daily.

Capital Calls: Chubb/Hartford, Son of Kozmo

23 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Insurer Hartford rebuffs an offer from rival Chubb without breaking a sweat; snack-delivery outfit GoPuff raises capital at an $8.9 billion valuation, giving new life to an old Silicon Valley idea.

Chubb’s thin bid for Hartford invites spoilers

19 Mar 2021

The U.S. listed insurance firm’s $23 bln offer for its smaller peer looks stingy – Hartford could be worth $27 bln to a buyer after factoring in cost savings. If Chubb boss Evan Greenberg doesn’t stump up more, one of his rivals might.

Axa delivers kick up derrière to green investing

15 Mar 2021

The French group will no longer insure RWE or invest in its shares due to its coal exposure. It’s harsh on the German utility, which also has extensive wind and solar power assets. But it may be a wakeup call for other big companies with less impressive decarbonisation plans.

Apollo inks status as mini-Berkshire sans Buffett

8 Mar 2021

The asset manager is buying the chunk of insurance company Athene it doesn’t own. The deal cleans up the structure, and Apollo is paying a cheap price. But it may become more stodgy investment firm than racy buyout shop. And its managers are a far cry from the Sage of Omaha.

Hippo’s $5 bln debut marries promise with bubble

4 Mar 2021

The hot tech-focused home insurance startup is going public by combining with a blank-check firm backed by the founders of LinkedIn and Zynga. But valuing Hippo’s sales some 60 times more than established rival Allstate’s is as oversized as the mammal it’s named for.