Leisure/Hotels

Art price records disguise softening markets

7 May 2008

Paragons of the art world like Monet and Giacometti are hushing Cassandras with record prices. But that's only part of the picture. Sure, gushing petrowealth and the weak dollar are encouraging buyers of brandname works. But the middle market looks vulnerable.

Accor rightly cautious about friendly intentions

5 May 2008

A US fund and a French investment company want to almost double their stake in the French hotel group to 30%. They say it s all friendly. Accor wants some clearer proof of friendship before accommodating the investors demand for more board seats. It s a reasonable precaution.

Gala private equity recap shows co-investment pitfalls

4 Apr 2008

Private equity firms pitch coinvestment to clients as a privilege. But there s a catch. Look at Gala Coral, whose owners just had to inject £125m extra cash. Coinvestors aren t obliged to stump up too but if they don t, they could lose a disproportionate share of the spoils.

Is Washington State the next Napa Valley?

10 Mar 2008

Amazon.com shareholders should hope so. The Seattlebased internet giant is set to enter the online wine business. A number of websites, including one backed by Amazon, have struggled in the US before. But the company is wellplaced to capture the industry s grand cru riches.

Shunned sovereign funds find friends in football

4 Mar 2008

Politicians are wary of the intentions of SWFs. The fans of the Liverpool soccer club have a different view. They blame US owners and their pennypinching ways for the side s performance dip. Their support should comfort Dubai as it makes a second run at the club.

Is Sotheby’s becoming an investment bank?

28 Feb 2008

It's beginning to look like one. The auction house underwrites artwork much as banks do LBO loans, and both pay huge bonuses to ensure that top talent sticks around. But Sotheby's shareholders should hope it avoids its banking brethren's bigger blunders.

Are the Miami Dolphins the next Patriots?

27 Feb 2008

Paying a fat price for a losing football team would seem the height of folly. But property tycoon Stephen Ross's bid for the Miami Dolphins doesn't have to be a loser. Sportsteam investments are notoriously risky and hard to value, but bold contrarian bets can pay off.

LVMH lifts a little gloom from luxury market

6 Feb 2008

Plummeting consumer confidence looked ready to whack the upscale fashion market. But the French giant s results suggest haute couture so far has been more recessionproof than first imagined. Rising Asian demand will do at least a little to offset weakening US spending.

Watch Super Bowl commercials, not the game

31 Jan 2008

Super Bowl Sunday is the most important day of the year for American football fans and for advertisers. This year's matchup between the Patriots and Giants may draw a record audience. But investors should pay more attention to the commercials.

Guy Hands’ EMI revival effort deserves a chance

15 Jan 2008

That s not what the artists at the lossmaking music group seem to think. They are upset with radical restructuring plans. Hands may not be music savvy, but previous owners failed to offer any better ideas. The artists won t be any happier than Hands if EMI collapses.

Zagat’s website is fair to poor but very expensive

14 Jan 2008

The brand is great, but the pay website is a disaster: it has no advertising, no transactional capabilities and few users. That may be one reason the wellknown restaurant guide is exploring a sale. A buyer's first job would be to stop the site being crushed by free rivals.

Cable groups won’t ignore football again

27 Dec 2007

The NFL Network may pull off a stunning comeback this season. By televising one of the most important games in its history, it gains an important bargaining chip in negotiations with cable companies that balked at carrying its games.

Wall Street duffers can soon safely hit the links again

4 Dec 2007

There s a reason for Jimmy Cayne to be cheerful about 2008. It'll be harder to keep track of how often the Bear Stearns boss is out of the office playing golf. Records of scores, currently publicly accessible, are set to become less transparent a pity for shareholders.

England’s football defeat adds to economic gloom

22 Nov 2007

After a disastrous performance against Croatia, England deservedly missed out on qualification for the 2008 European championships. But on top of the humiliation, there is a financial cost. Lower consumer and advertising spend means the British economy will lose out on a £1bn windfall at a time when the high street is already vulnerable.

Richemont kicks the nicotine habit

19 Nov 2007

The luxury empire may divest its E15bn stake in British American Tobacco. With demand for its trinkets on the ascent, Richemont doesn't need to lean on BAT for earnings growth so long as the global addiction to luxury continues.

How is a van Gogh like a stuck buyout loan?

8 Nov 2007

When its sale is underwritten by an auction house but fails to sell at a premium in the secondary market. That happened last night when van Gogh s Wheat Fields failed to sell. Sotheby s and its ilk look like investment banks gorging on LBO commitments, with unsold inventory they need to mark down.

Art market isn’t ready for its finale

7 Nov 2007

This has certainly been a year of excess in the art world. From Rothko to Warhol to Hirst, contemporary artists have become luxury brands commanding dizzying values. Last night s auction at Christie s was no different. Wall Street may be hurting, but the art market isn t quite done yet.

Personal view: Football

26 Oct 2007

Londoners should learn to like American football: Sunday's Giants versus Dolphins game at Wembley Stadium probably isn't at the top of the typical City banker's weekend agenda. But John Christy argues why it should be.

Credit crunch doesn’t handicap Street’s top duffers

17 Sep 2007

The summer's credit meltdown claimed many victims, but it didn't seem to hurt Wall Street s biggest swingers performance on the fairway. Even while the markets were out of control, they managed to excel when trading pinstripes for plaid pants.

Luxury’s first families can’t hang on forever

12 Sep 2007

Barons of bling like Bulgari and Hermes are high on predators wishlists, but family shareholdings make them takeoverproof. That was fine in the old world. But as their ambitions increase, so will the case for deals with big rivals such as LVMH and PPR.