Software

Poker group bets $5 bln on Sky-high sports growth

23 Apr 2018

Canada’s Stars Group is buying UK online sports-gambling specialist Sky Bet. The price is more than current owners CVC and Sky would have got in a mooted IPO. For Stars, the debt-heavy punt only works if Sky Bet’s rapid growth continues - or the U.S. relaxes sports-gambling laws.

Ping An healthcare IPO looks pricey but fit

23 Apr 2018

The Chinese finance giant has launched a $1 bln IPO of its medical arm. By connecting patients with doctors, drugs and health services online, the Good Doctor app supports policy while accumulating valuable data. It’s not yet profitable, but the premium looks justifiable.

Publicis shows WPP benefits of smooth succession

19 Apr 2018

The French group last year bumped longstanding boss Maurice Lévy up to the chairman’s suite. New broom Arthur Sadoun has, under Lévy’s guidance, revamped the strategy and revived growth. That is a lesson for its UK rival, which lost CEO Martin Sorrell without any obvious heir.

Icahn offers poaching insurance for VMware

18 Apr 2018

A stake purchase by the activist investor could add friction in a potential merger of the $53 bln software company with its controlling shareholder Dell. Minority shareholders in VMware ought to expect fair treatment. Icahn's presence might help ensure they get it.

Sage has a big software glitch to fix

13 Apr 2018

Shares in the UK tech group lost a fifth of their value after 2018 sales guidance was cut by an eighth. A U.S. acquisition is growing well. But fewer customers are signing up for the most lucrative contracts. Investors are right to worry the company is still too optimistic.

Fidessa bidding war allows Temenos a sensible exit

5 Apr 2018

The British financial technology group has two further suitors, having agreed a 1.4 bln pound offer from the Swiss bank-software supplier. That price was already high, and a sweeter offer would stretch the financial logic further. Best to let SS&C and Ion fight it out themselves.

Spotify and its direct listing win popular vote

3 Apr 2018

The music service earned a stonking $29 bln valuation in its early moments as a public company. Its non-traditional float scored insiders more liquidity, while saving on fees. Was it a real success, either for the company or for its unusual method? Ask this time next year.

Telegram sends warning to Wall St and Sand Hill Rd

3 Apr 2018

Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov’s messaging service raised $1.7 bln from private sales of its crypto-currency this year, besting all but three IPOs. Booming coin offerings face more oversight and many ring hollow. But Durov’s tech chops should give bankers and VC firms pause.

Viewsroom: Facebook’s multiplying problems

29 Mar 2018

The social network founded by Mark Zuckerberg is reeling from a data harvest on some 50 million users. It will take time for the $440 billion firm to feel the impact but people are starting to slowly unplug. Plus, the world’s largest consumer-drone maker may go public.

Dropbox stores good news for tech IPOs

23 Mar 2018

The online-storage firm’s shares rocketed about 50 pct in its first few hours as a public company. The rousing welcome for a $12 bln tech firm aimed at consumers is heartening for Spotify. And it could accelerate IPO plans for firms like Airbnb and Lyft.

China trade spat is bigger than Trump

22 Mar 2018

The U.S. president ordered sweeping duties and investment restrictions. A trade swipe against the PRC has been brewing for years. The issues at stake – state capitalism, intellectual-property theft and national champions – are deep-seated, and tariffs may prove largely symbolic.

Salesforce’s $6.5 bln MuleSoft deal lacks heft

20 Mar 2018

The software maker is paying a whopping 16 times revenue for the cloud-services firm. The target is at least growing quickly. Unless Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff can convince shareholders he can cut costs and find new revenue, though, his biggest ever deal just looks fluffy.

Defense M&A fight pits poor David against Goliath

19 Mar 2018

CACI’s $7.2 bln bid for CSRA is 8 pct higher than the agreed deal General Dynamics struck last month. Neither offer stacks up financially, relying instead on rising U.S. defense spending. General Dynamics, though, has deep pockets and is paying all cash. Felling it will be hard.

Struggling Micro Focus haunted by Autonomy’s ghost

19 Mar 2018

The UK tech group, which paid $8.8 bln for Hewlett-Packard software assets, lost half its market value after saying the CEO had quit and sales could fall 9 pct. If that looks an overreaction, the woeful history of the business previously known as Autonomy helps explain the gap.

Dropbox seeks hard valuation for soft business

24 Feb 2018

The data-sharing company wants to raise $500 mln from public investors. In its favor are rapid revenue growth and strong cash flow. The trouble is that an early fundraising round inked a high value that’s hard to justify, especially with Dropbox’s growing competition.

Review: Knocking at the door of tech’s boys’ club

23 Feb 2018

Women played key roles in the development of computers, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at Silicon Valley. A hostile culture has pushed them to the fringes of America’s technology hotbed. A new book says thinking differently would pay dividends for women, and the industry.

Temenos’ $1.9 bln bid raises growth questions

20 Feb 2018

The Swiss bank-software group may buy Fidessa for 36.5 pounds a share in cash. The price looks high and returns low, unless the UK trading-tech group’s clients flock to buy Temenos products. Investors might wonder why, with revenue growing strongly, M&A is necessary.

Peter Thiel chooses better-fitting bubble in L.A.

15 Feb 2018

The conservative tech billionaire may be ditching lefty San Francisco, frustrated by its cultural homogeneity. His fortune and fame owe much to Facebook, which has helped add virtual segregation to real-world social sorting. In a sense, he’s a victim of his own investing success.

Alphabet is stuck at the letter G

1 Feb 2018

The holding company of Google was created to safeguard against conventionality and let moonshot ideas, like self-driving cars, flourish. Almost three years in, it’s basically still just Google. Which means, in turn, that the A in Alphabet stands mainly for advertising.

Tim Cook goes as American as Apple’s pie

17 Jan 2018

The iPhone maker will pay $38 bln in tax on its huge pile of overseas cash. It’s also pulling an Amazon with plans to open a new U.S. campus, invest $30 bln and create 20,000 jobs. The Apple boss has cleverly engineered some common ground with Donald Trump.