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Technology

Tech IPO freeze will thaw soon

11 Apr 2023

Late-stage tech companies such as Instacart and Reddit are procrastinating going public. But investors are antsy to cash out, employees are owed, and bankers are motivated. History suggests the window won’t stay shut past this fall, even if companies debut at lower valuations.

Capital Calls: IMF’s grim outlook, Electric cars

11 Apr 2023

Concise views on global finance: The International Monetary Fund’s medium-term forecast for the global economy is the bleakest since 1990; lower proposed mileage ratings for electric vehicles could force automakers to sell more of them to meet regulatory standards.

Counting the cost of the US-China chip war

11 Apr 2023

Six months into Washington’s sweeping export restrictions on semiconductors, Chinese and global chipmakers including TSMC are navigating the fallout. In this Exchange podcast, author Chris Miller talks about the fight for the critical technology and how Beijing may retaliate.

E-commerce can be open sesame to Alibaba’s worth

6 Apr 2023

Boss Daniel Zhang plans to spin off faster-growing, money-losing bets like its cloud and logistics units. Valuing them is more art than science. He’ll get more bang for his breakup bucks by convincing investors that the main shopping business of the $260 bln group can still grow.

Doers, not dreamers, are the best tech CEOs

4 Apr 2023

Google is skimping on office supplies and Lyft’s founders are out the door. As investors shift focus away from growth and towards cutting costs, they will replace idealistic leaders with seasoned operators. The likes of Mark Zuckerberg have more to prove.

Capital Calls: Disney, Jobs, Aesop

4 Apr 2023

Concise views on global finance: Boss Bob Iger accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of ill will, but plans to spend plenty in the Sunshine State; US job openings data might be skewed by fake postings; Natura’s $2.5 bln Aesop sale is a blueprint for stressed M&A.

Storage merger war gets a little Extra

3 Apr 2023

Life Storage agreed to pair up with its rival store-it company Extra in a $12.4 bln deal after rejecting a hostile takeover from Public Storage. Life’s former suitor may come back claiming big synergies. But the needed premium – and a break fee – would not be worth the additional effort.

Israel hits tech sector cash cow while it’s down

3 Apr 2023

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed a controversial plan giving the state power to override court decisions. Foreign investors in Israel’s key tech sector, which accounts for half its exports, were already getting stingier. They’ll get even more so if the idea returns.

Fiddly call-centre deal shows why M&A is so quiet

30 Mar 2023

Dealmakers have had a quiet start to 2023, given economic uncertainty and shaky debt markets. Concentrix’s $4.8 bln swoop on Webhelp solves many of those problems with a clever structure, including a convertible note. But it’s not a formula that would work in many other cases.

Alibaba hands parched dealmakers a glass half-full

30 Mar 2023

The $250 bln e-commerce giant’s six-way split will prompt bankers to dust off pitchbooks for peers like Tencent and Baidu, too. The bold can spread the net wider to carmakers and more. With M&A and other fees in a slump, it’s the best chance in a while to drum up business.

Capital Calls: Apple arrives late to pay-later

29 Mar 2023

Concise views on global finance: The $2.5 trln iPhone maker is rolling out its U.S. “buy now, pay later” product into a much tougher, and riskier, market than when it first unveiled plans in June.

Crypto hangs on by an unraveling thread

28 Mar 2023

U.S. agencies targeted Coinbase and Binance for how they engage with customers. A crypto deal is being blocked. A respected stablecoin lost its peg. As FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is charged with bribing Chinese officials, it’s clear digital currencies’ issues weren’t just his.

Alibaba drafts breakup blueprint for China tech

28 Mar 2023

The $228 bln e-commerce group is splitting into six units spanning logistics to games, which may be listed. That should unlock value for weary shareholders, and please regulators keen to control strategic businesses. If done right, pressure for Tencent to follow may rise.

Capital Calls: Syngenta IPO delay

28 Mar 2023

Concise views on global finance: The Shanghai Stock Exchange has canceled a hearing to review the agrichemicals group's listing plans, leaving investors fearing the worst in China.

Jack Ma is Beijing’s prodigal entrepreneur

28 Mar 2023

The Alibaba founder is back in China, prompting an ephemeral Alibaba stock rally. His rehabilitation appears part of an official campaign to revive business confidence, and has a whiff of desperation. It highlights Beijing's love-hate relationship with the private sector.

Nvidia’s crypto-turned-AI excitement is promising

27 Mar 2023

The $670 bln chipmaker’s CTO Michael Kagan said crypto collapsed because it wasn’t useful for society. But AI is, and chip sales for digital currency mining can be replaced by AI. It’s not only a safer bet. Nvidia’s well placed to capture a big chunk of its ballooning growth.

US corporates and China hug awkwardly in Beijing

27 Mar 2023

Executives from Apple, Visa and others showed up at the country’s flagship investment summit to network with top officials. Both sides hope China’s reopening will reassure American investors. A consumption revival would help, but politics is making decoupling the default thesis.

Bitcoin is a solution looking for a problem

24 Mar 2023

Peter Thiel says the cryptocurrency is an inflation hedge, and bitcoin’s price has soared since Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. But his actions don’t match that advice, and the Fed’s backing of the system is antithetical. Plus, importantly, bitcoin, unlike gold, is speculative.

Perfection is enemy of $15 bln Toshiba buyout

24 Mar 2023

A group led by Japan Industrial Partners will offer less than two times what foreign activists paid per share to bail out the firm in 2017. It’s not the dream deal outsiders hoped for, but markets are uneasy and geopolitics fast-changing. If it goes through, it’ll be a win.