Private Equity

Capital Calls: HSBC and China, Dr. Martens

6 Jan 2021

Concise views on global finance: The Asia-focused lender has a chance to take greater control of its mainland brokerage after recent positive noises from Beijing; buyout firm Permira picks a good time to offload shares in the $5 bln bootmaker.

KPN could be buyout barbarians’ next telco target

5 Jan 2022

The Dutch operator rebuffed takeover approaches in May. But KKR’s $37 bln Telecom Italia tilt shows the scale of private equity raiders’ appetites. Spain’s Telefonica and Britain’s BT are probably too big. Without a government shareholder, the $13 bln KPN looks vulnerable.

TPG reads the room with $9.5 bln IPO

4 Jan 2022

The buyout firm founded by David Bonderman and Jim Coulter is aiming for a valuation only a whisker richer than peers Apollo and Carlyle, and far below giants Blackstone and KKR. Even with TPG’s trendy ESG stylings, restraint is wise. Investor goodwill matters more than new cash.

Capital Calls: 3G gets back to basics

31 Dec 2021

Concise views on global finance: The buyout firm’s latest acquisition of Dutch window-shade maker Hunter Douglas at a $7.1 billion valuation is outside its traditional food and drink focus, but fits the cost-cutting and M&A playbook.

M&A deluge will give way to a steady shower

31 Dec 2021

Rainmakers arranged a record $5.8 trillion of deals in 2021, up 64% year-on-year, according to Refinitiv. Next year will be quieter as antitrust pressure keeps mega-mergers in check. But corporate breakups and cash-rich buyout firms should ensure bankers remain busier than usual.

Flutter makes timely bet on Italian online boom

23 Dec 2021

The UK bookie is buying Milan-based rival Sisal from buyout fund CVC for 1.9 bln euros. That’s a cheap way in to a large gaming market. With its money-spinning national lottery and pandemic-driven popularity, Sisal offers prompter returns than Flutter’s long-term U.S. punts.

Rio and BHP wrestle with green M&A conundrum

22 Dec 2021

The two rivals are fighting over access to battery metals, including stakes in volatile startups. BHP just withdrew from a pricey battle for a wannabe nickel maker, but Rio is pressing on with an $825 mln bid for a nascent lithium firm. Investors are wise to be wary.

Capital Calls: Hedge fund fine

22 Dec 2021

Concise views on global finance: Britain’s FCA fines BlueCrest Capital 41 mln pounds, a third of the fund’s U.S. penalty.

Private equity will be potent Hollywood antihero

21 Dec 2021

Blackstone’s deal with Reese Witherspoon in 2021 positioned it as a challenger to video streaming services. Buyout firms have the money and talent handling skills to make it in Tinseltown. But to make the math work, their future customers need to remain in good shape too.

Booze to batteries will measure China’s transition

21 Dec 2021

Distiller Kweichow Moutai overtook lender ICBC as the country’s biggest company by market cap in 2020. President Xi Jinping’s policy upheaval, along with rapidly changing investor attitudes, augur a new champ for 2022. Look for CATL to ride the electric-vehicle craze to the top.

KKR sends strong buy signal on European telecom

17 Dec 2021

The private equity firm is paying 1 bln euros for half of a Spanish fibre-optic network at a multiple of 22 times EBITDA. It already owns Madrid-based Masmovil, tilted at Dutch operator KPN in May and is stalking Telecom Italia. Eventually, public investors will get the message.

TPG flexes market-timing muscles with IPO

16 Dec 2021

The private equity firm has finally filed to list shares, nearly 15 years after Blackstone became the first LBO shop to IPO. Competitors like Apollo have grown more dramatically with a public currency as TPG missed the boat. But TPG, like Blackstone, has timed its listing with aplomb.

Embracer rolls the dice in $3 bln board-game play

16 Dec 2021

The $9 bln Swedish video-game firm is buying France’s Asmodee, maker of tabletop titles “Catan” and “Pandemic”. The price looks fair against rival Hasbro, and tie-ups between old-school and newfangled gaming have worked. But a lack of synergies makes a winning return tricky.

KKR can still find gems in Telecom Italia’s wreck

16 Dec 2021

Chopped into bits, the struggling Italian telecom operator may be worth 38 bln euros including debt. Its network alone, in which its U.S. stalker has a stake, is probably worth almost half that. A breakup may add a quarter to the fund’s 10.8 bln euro prospective offer.

Capital Calls: 3M is a banker’s idea of no fun

15 Dec 2021

Concise views on global finance: The industrial giant has paid investment bankers 95% less in fees than General Electric. The company may have a hard time getting Wall Street’s best advice, even though deals might not help it.

Capital Calls: Chanel’s CEO pick

14 Dec 2021

Concise views on global finance: The privately-owned French fashion house appointed a Unilever executive as its new leader.

China property debt crisis puts founders on spot

7 Dec 2021

Investors are pushing troubled developer Kaisa to avoid default and follow rival Agile’s lead by selling bonds that convert into equity. That, and other options on the table, present founder-executives with a hard choice: cede prized majority control, or risk insolvency.

Boots exit may smooth way for Walgreens buyout

6 Dec 2021

The $40 bln drugstore operator may sell its UK chain, less than a decade after buying it. A sale could raise $8 bln for the U.S. group to beef up its own in-store clinics. And if Chairman Stefano Pessina wants one last big deal, a leaner Walgreens would be an easier target.

Capital Calls: Fund services M&A, Mattress mystery

6 Dec 2021

Concise views on global finance: Shareholders of Amsterdam-listed Intertrust dodge a regulatory crackdown with a 1.8 bln euro sale; the western man credited with Chinese retailer DeRucci’s success finally has his identity revealed.

Nordic drug buyout flop highlights hidden gem

3 Dec 2021

The $8 bln takeover of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum failed after buyers could not secure 90% of the shares. The market reaction suggests the deal is dead. But investor AstraZeneca’s role in the failed bid and its interest in a respiratory disease treatment provides some comfort.