Investment Banking

Blackstone cures two ailments in one Moderna shot

27 Mar 2024

Higher costs of capital are pressuring CEOs into tough spending decisions, while buyout shops flush with cash want to deploy it. This dynamic makes a $750 mln deal to fund a biotech project a crafty solution. The hard end of the bargain: ceding value from promising flu research.

Japanese investors becoming the life of the party

21 Mar 2024

ValueAct, Elliott and Berkshire Hathaway have deployed some $16 bln to uncover value in Tokyo-listed stocks. They’re receiving warmer welcomes than raider T. Boone Pickens did in 1989. Even better, the US trio’s success is helping inspire local funds to sustain the momentum.

How to sustain the big rebound in dealmaking

12 Mar 2024

The year kicked off with a 75% increase in global M&A activity, to $525 bln. Speaking to The Exchange podcast from a gathering of merger mavens in New Orleans, Evercore banker Bill Anderson discusses the resurgence and what’s needed to keep the momentum after a two-year slump.

Hostile bidders run into a credibility crunch

11 Mar 2024

Retailer Macy’s and hunting-gear maker Vista Outdoor are resisting uninvited $7 bln and $3 bln buyouts, arguing that the funding is flimsy. Higher interest rates indeed make life harder for suitors. Both proposals, however, look carefully calibrated to reflect the times.

NYCB revives an old playbook for the new crisis

6 Mar 2024

Trump-era official Steven Mnuchin is leading a $1 bln infusion in the stricken lender, a move reminiscent of his 2009 IndyMac deal. Tapping private investors saves passing NYCB’s woes to another bank; a cheap price squares the math. It may be a template for future stragglers.

If only banks were more like chemical factories

1 Mar 2024

New York Community Bancorp and paint-materials maker Chemours both ousted their CEOs after discovering flawed internal controls. Economic importance and heavy regulation distinguish the two $3 bln companies. One crisis mostly affects shareholders; the other should worry everyone.

Buffett puts $1 trln grid problem in a bad light

26 Feb 2024

The billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway became one of the biggest US utilities on the basis that providing electricity would generate steady returns. He now says he made a “costly mistake.” Thirteen-digit capital demands from climate change are quickly dimming investment prospects.

Top JPMorgan banker spots value in Citi rotation

26 Feb 2024

Viswas Raghavan is leaving a senior post at the world’s largest investment bank to lead a broader but smaller business for its rival. If he partly narrows the gap between the two, investors should gain. The 57-year-old might even have a shot at succeeding Citi CEO Jane Fraser.

Ant puts its talent for disruption back on display

26 Feb 2024

The Jack Ma-founded fintech firm has outbid Citadel for Credit Suisse's investment-banking unit in China, Bloomberg reports. A deal makes little sense but would signal the payments-to-lending group is back in good standing with Beijing. A smaller Ant can still surprise.

Wall Street lives libertarian-lite dream in Miami

23 Feb 2024

Financial luminaries have flocked to the city for a Saudi-backed answer to Davos, a sign that Florida’s rise as a financial hub is durable. The Sunshine State gives the wealthy a glimpse of low taxes, entrepreneurialism and small government. It’s freedom, but only for some.

Barclays only partly fixes investment bank problem

20 Feb 2024

The $30 bln UK lender will keep the size of its trading and advisory arm stable by 2026, while growing other businesses. That’s logical. But Barclays still needs that growth to materialise, and even then shareholders may see the newly downsized investment bank as too big.

Private equity is getting its story straight

8 Feb 2024

Carlyle boss Harvey Schwartz set turnaround targets; KKR aspires to Warren Buffett’s tack. The high-rate, no-deals era saw a string of strategy shifts. Everyone has an alibi about where they’ll be next time that happens. But debt-dependent dealmaking will still exert its gravity.

JPMorgan succession is a high-stakes soap opera

1 Feb 2024

The US’s largest bank shuffled its business leaders, sparking speculation as to who might eventually take over from boss Jamie Dimon. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists explain why it matters, even if Dimon’s eventual successor is unlikely to fill his shoes.

Deutsche Bank and BNP try on each other’s clothes

1 Feb 2024

The $27 bln lender is less highly valued than its $72 bln French peer and its recent past is more troubled. But Deutsche just upped its outlook, while BNP’s got worse. Neither are investor stars, but the German bank’s ambitions for its investment bank look easier to realise.

Maxed-out shoppers put fire under Fed’s status quo

31 Jan 2024

American consumers are powering the economy. But their spendthrift ways are a big concern for central bank Chair Jay Powell. Credit card balances have just recorded the biggest jump on record and now top $1 trln. Rates are steady for now. The next move will be much riskier.

Signature Bank’s savior finds bigger isn’t better

31 Jan 2024

Less than a year after buying the innards of a failed lender, New York Community Bancorp is slashing its dividend and conserving cash to match its enhanced heft. Giants like JPMorgan face less risk of indigestion. The moral: don’t get a small bank to do a big bank’s job.

For trading bosses, it’s a good time to retire

29 Jan 2024

Goldman Sachs veteran Jim Esposito quit after realizing he was “going through the motions.” No wonder: banks’ markets divisions, like the one he oversaw, face falling income and growing red tape. Sailing into the sunset, or at least out of banking, will only get more enticing.

JPMorgan is a rare palace that warrants intrigue

26 Jan 2024

Most whispers about CEO succession amount to idle gossip, but Jamie Dimon’s management shake-ups could lead to a world-changing decision. His swagger has helped expand the $4 trln bank’s clout in the financial system and it’s increasingly doubtful his replacement will sustain it.

Blackstone is calling the bottom, almost

25 Jan 2024

The $1 trln asset manager snapped its year-plus dry spell in new investments, client inflows and earnings. A sturdy economy bolsters boss Steve Schwarzman’s bet that 2023 will be marked as a low point. There’s just one precious piece of the puzzle missing: fee growth.

Commerzbank stake sale would risk M&A impasse

25 Jan 2024

Berlin may consider offloading its 15% stake in the German lender. Deutsche Bank and UniCredit are obvious potential buyers, but higher rates have made a full-blown bank merger less appealing. A market disposal would present prospective suitors with a dilemma.