Roads & Transportation

Eurotunnel’s chief plays chicken with creditors

25 Oct 2006

The gap between Eurotunnel and its creditors doesn t seem to be closing. Yet liquidation may be just a week or so away. As in chicken, both sides are aiming to make the other blink first. Both can't be right. Many games of chicken end in a car wreck.

AWG bid may be first of many for UK water firms

14 Sep 2006

A mooted £2.2bn bid for the owner of Anglian Water by an infrastructure fund has sent all UK water stocks soaring. Expected returns from water deals may not be huge. But they are steady, long term and match pension liabilities. More may well come.

MAN-Scania takeover would have strong logic

13 Sep 2006

A merger between the two truck makers and the truck operations of VW would create a European champion, with about E500m of synergies. If MAN then sells its nontruck side, as expected, the German conglomerate will be a pure play in trucks and buses and release more value.

Italy shoots down E25bn motorway deal

6 Aug 2006

The Italian government has come up with some pretty flimsy excuses to block the takeover of Autostrade by Spanish group Abertis. This decision smacks of blatant protectionism and if Autostrade and Albertis fight it, they look sure to have EU law on their side.

Eurotunnel management hides behind courts

17 Jul 2006

It s a clever tactic for Eurotunnel to ask the French courts for help by filing for safeguard bankruptcy protection. It takes the pressure off management to hammer out a deal. If negotiations fail, at least Eurotunnel can say it wasn t entirely its fault.

Eurotunnel should level with shareholders

13 Jul 2006

Talks are bogged down because the board is reluctant to tell investors the ugly truth. Its latest wheeze: to file for protection. This may be understandable given the directors came to power on a shareholder revolt. But shareholders may get less in the long run.

Pirelli Tyre IPO shows beggars can’t be choosers

29 Jun 2006

Owner Marco Tronchetti Provera needs E1.6bn to pay off banks and investors who helped him out after his splurge on Telecom Italia. Pirelli Tyre won t raise anywhere near that on its own. Besides, it only starts to look cheap a full 10% below the bottom of the range. Owner Marco Tronchetti Provera needs E1.5bn to pay off banks and investors who helped him out after his splurge on Telecom Italia.

Goldman’s Eurotunnel plan isn’t greedy

28 Jun 2006

The investment bank and its partners are paying a reasonable price for the tunnel owner. It won t be easy to get a good return. Some investors are unhappy. But they would have more credibility if they explained their plan and said if they would put up more cash.

Colaninno braves bumpy market with Piaggio float

28 Jun 2006

The Italian financier is floating his scooter and motorbike maker for E1bn, just when the capital markets are at their toughest. The price range looks racy. But Colaninno won t mind at the midpoint, his E243m investment has turned into almost E600m of value.

Eurotunnel uses questionable tactic

28 Jun 2006

The company has asked regulators to examine the actions of junior creditors who have come up with a rival restructuring plan. Eurotunnel may hope this will pressurise bondholders into negotiations. But it doesn t seem like the creditors have done anything wrong.

Dawn raids are back

18 Jun 2006

As the recent bids for BAA and AB Ports show, it s no longer enough to get a target s agreement to a deal. You need a wodge of shares too. Why? It s because financial investors are competing fiercely for assets.

Eurotunnel’s most junior creditors win battle

14 Jun 2006

The channel tunnel operator's lowestranking creditors have rightly been given extra time to come up with a rival restructuring plan. This is a welcome shift from the our way or the highway rhetoric of last month and should give a better result for all stakeholders.

Citigroup promises fight over Eurotunnel

31 May 2006

The Channel Tunnel operator thought its deal with Goldman Sachs and Macquarie Bank was sewn up. Now it may have to think again. The US bank claims to have formed a restructuring plan that may leave more for shareholders and junior creditors than Eurotunnel's proposal.

Hybrid could placate angry Eurotunnel investors

16 May 2006

The convertible bond would put off for three years the dilution shareholders would face in a debt restructuring. It might pass muster with lenders too if only because it's possibly their least worst option.

Rome boos Autostrade’s Spanish tie-up

25 Apr 2006

Given Enel s failure to get into Spain or France and a backlash against crossborder deals it isn t hard to see why Prodi is upset. But the Benettons aren't selling out yet. And even if Italian politicians dislike the deal, it isn t clear there is a lot they can do.

Italian and Spanish E22bn merger driven by tax advantage

24 Apr 2006

Sure, merging Autostrade and Abertis might give it the scale to compete for global infrastructure projects. But the juice is in the special Spanish tax break. To get it, the Italians have had to give up its headquarters and management control.

Time for Eurotunnel shareholders to give up the fight

12 Apr 2006

Eurotunnel is optimistic about sorting things out with its holdout creditors. But afterwards, it still faces shareholder negotiations. Equity investors shouldn't get their hopes up. If they can hang on to what is already on the table, they'll have done well.

BAA should fetch more than 900p a share

5 Mar 2006

That was the price at which one of the UK airport operator s biggest shareholders said he would sell the firm for. But what if BAA is worth more to Ferrovial, which is expected to announce its bid soon? BAA could be worth 1025p to the Spanish.

Montague looks for a free ride on LCR

22 Feb 2006

The former Treasury advisor is mulling an offer for the owner of the £5.2bn Channel Tunnel Rail Link that would cost surprisingly little. Montague would essentially be buying a free option on LCR s future. But it may not be easy for him to get away with it.

Singapore right to retreat from P&O

10 Feb 2006

PSA's withdrawal leaves Dubai Ports World free to pay 33 times earnings for the UKlisted operator. Dear oil is funding expensive ports. The government of Singapore has pushed up the price by 17%. But that won t be anywhere near enough to cripple its rich competitor.