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☆ Bain’s Chindata buyout saga verges on absurd
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

On first blush, that appears to be what Bain Capital (BCSF.N) is trying to do with Chinese data centre operator Chindata . But it’s a saga that’s starting to verge on the absurd. Bain took Chindata public on the Nasdaq in September 2020. Less than three years later, the U.S. leveraged buyout veteran offered $8 per American Depositary receipt, valuing the company at $2.9 billion. The company has yet to acknowledge the offer from China Merchants Capital.

Persons: Bain, Chindata, there’s, Bain’s, Robyn Mak, Thomas Shum Organizations: MELBOURNE, Reuters, Bain Capital, Nasdaq, U.S, Bloomberg, China Merchants Group, Chindata, Citi, Bain, China Merchants Capital, Thomson Locations: People’s Republic

☆ Private equity gears up for a deal fest Down Under
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

So it’s fitting that one of the country’s most hotly contested deals involving overseas private equity firms is for Rugby Australia. It’s also a teaser for the deal fest buyout shops are gearing up for Down Under. Another veteran, Blackstone (BX.N), has doubled its private equity headcount over the past couple of years. Reuters GraphicsWith $676 billion of private equity dry powder in the Asia-Pacific region, according to consultancy Bain & Co, regularly capturing a two-fifths share implies up to $270 billion of capital could be heading Down Under in the coming years. Australia, he said, was too small and too competitive for private equity firms to make money.

Persons: It’s, Blackstone, EQT, they’re, it’ll, there’s, Brian Hong, Robyn Mak, Thomas Shum Organizations: MELBOURNE, Reuters, Rugby Australia, CVC Capital Partners, Australian Financial, Down, Brookfield Asset Management, CVC, Nine Entertainment, AusNet Services, MidOcean Energy, Origin Energy, Retirement Trust, Consumer, Sydney Airport, Bain & Co, Reserve Bank of Australia, U.S . Federal Reserve, Macquarie Capital, Thomson Locations: Asia, Australia, China, People’s Republic, Asia Pacific, Pacific

☆ China car price truce skids off road at first bend
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, July 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - So much for an end to big discounts on new vehicles in China. On Saturday the China Association of Auto Manufacturers (CAAM) reversed out of the pledge it had brokered just two days earlier with Tesla (TSLA.O) and 15 domestic carmakers to curb a debilitating price war in which some models were being sold for 20% or more below their sticker price. But it quickly dawned on – or was made clear to – the CAAM that such wording might violate the spirit of China’s anti-monopoly law. It would have been a hard agreement to stick to anyway, with Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and others refusing to sign it. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Tesla, Antony Currie, Robyn Mak, Thomas Shum Organizations: MELBOURNE, Reuters, China Association of Auto Manufacturers, Ministry of Industry, Information Technology, Volkswagen, Twitter, Thomson Locations: China

☆ India can aim lower in its chip dreams
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Pranav Kiran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BENGALURU, July 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India’s semiconductor dreams are facing a harsh reality. After struggling to woo cutting-edge chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW) to set up operations in the country, the government may now have to settle for producing less-advanced chips instead. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to “usher in a new era of electronics manufacturing” by turning India into a chipmaking powerhouse. Mining conglomerate Vedanta’s $19.5 billion joint venture with iPhone supplier Foxconn (2317.TW) has stalled; plans for a separate $3 billion manufacturing facility appear to be in limbo, Reuters reported in May. Aiming lower could be just what India’s chip ambitions need.

Persons: Narendra Modi, China's, It’s, Ashwini, Robyn Mak, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Micron Technology, Micron, Taiwan’s, Zion Market Research, Semiconductor Industry Association, Financial, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, China, India, U.S, Gujarat, Zion, , New Delhi, Taiwan, Washington, Beijing

June 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday revised its guidance for its Medicare drug price negotiation process, allowing drug companies to publicly discuss the talks, but did not make major changes likely to convince drugmakers to end their suits seeking to halt the program. In September, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will select 10 of the Medicare program's costliest prescription medicines and negotiate price cuts to go into effect for 2026. That guidance precluded drug makers from talking about the negotiations and required them to eventually destroy data received from CMS. Industry group the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) made an additional claim that the price negotiation program violates the U.S. Constitution's Eight Amendment, which protects against excessive fines. The Biden administration's drug pricing reform aims to save $25 billion annually by 2031 through price negotiations for the drugs most costly to Medicare.

Persons: drugmakers, Joe Biden, Chiquita Brooks, LaSure, Bristol Myers, Merck, PhRMA, Tahir Amin, Amin, Michael Erman, Mark Potter, Nick Zieminski Organizations: U.S, U.S . Centers, Medicare, Medicaid Services, Merck & Co, Bristol Myers Squibb, U.S . Chamber of Commerce, CMS, Merck, Bristol, Industry, Pharmaceutical Research, Manufacturers of America, Reuters, Initiative for Medicines, Biden, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ Meituan's insider AI deal does not compute
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Meituan describes Light Year as a leading AI innovator in China. Its backers include Meituan CEO Wang Xin and Sequoia Capital China's HongShan fund, which is controlled by a Meituan non-executive director. Meituan is paying out roughly $234 million in cash and covering some $50 million-worth of Light Year's convertible bonds. Interestingly, Meituan's total outlay is roughly equal to the target's net cash position. For investors, understanding this AI deal is no small challenge.

Persons: Wang Huiwen, Meituan, Wang Xin, Robyn Mak, ’, crouch, Eli Lilly, Antony Currie, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Meituan, Sequoia Capital, Twitter, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, HK, China

HONG KONG, June 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - There's plenty to like about Swire Pacific's (0019.HK) Coca-Cola sale. Little wonder Swire's Hong Kong shares rallied as much as 8% on Thursday morning. The Coke sale is refreshing for investors, but only until the rest of Swire Pacific regains its fizz. Upon completion of the sale, Swire Pacific will distribute HK$11.7 billion in special dividends to its shareholders. The company also plans to enter into a 13-year agreement to provide management services to Swire Coca-Cola USA and receive an annual fee of at least HK$117 million.

Persons: Swire Pacific's, Swire, John Swire, Antony Currie, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, HK, Cathay Pacific, Swire, Cola, John Swire & Sons, Cola Europacific Partners, Citi, Cathay, Swire Pacific, Hong Kong, Cola USA, Hong, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, China, Cathay Pacific

HONG KONG, June 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A government-led buyout signals more uncertainty ahead for a chip industry grappling with oversupply and geopolitics. The state-backed Japan Investment Corp will take over JSR (4185.T), which makes light-sensitive chemicals vital to manufacturing semiconductors, among other things. In recent years, the conglomerate has pivoted from a low-margin business of selling synthetic rubber used to make tyres to focus on semiconductor materials - primarily photoresists - and biopharmaceuticals. Yet JIC's mandate to boost the country’s global competitiveness and its focus on consolidating industries helps to justify the hefty premium. Either way, the government's focus on elevating national chipmaking champions creates fresh uncertainty for JSR's foreign customers like South Korea's Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW).

Persons: Sharp, Eric Johnson, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Japan Investment Corp, Renesas Electronics, chipmakers, Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Japan Investment Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Development Bank of Japan, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Tokyo, Taiwan, Japan, United States, South Korea, South

☆ India’s $1 bln education buyout is a studied bet
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, June 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The biggest merger in Indian corporate history has opened the door for private equity giant EQT (EQTAB.ST) to enter the country’s education finance market. The deal is touted as the largest ever PE buyout in the country’s financial sector and values Credila at roughly 101 billion rupees ($1.2 billion), or roughly 37 times earnings in the last financial year. The target specalises in education financing for those looking to universities in the United States, the UK and Canada for higher education. The buyers will also inject 20 billion rupees into Credila, which should help give the company, already a market major, an edge over rivals including state-controlled banks and the Warburg Pincus-backed Avanse Financial Services. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: HDFC, Credila, BPEA EQT, Warburg Pincus, Shritama Bose, Robyn Mak, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Chrys Capital, Bajaj Finance, Financial, Twitter, Virgin, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Swedish, United States, Canada, India, Credila, Cava

HONG KONG, June 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Shein is threading the world’s trickiest geopolitical needle. But rising American pressure is forcing it to tweak its business model right as it tries to list there. Last year, its top line surged 46% to $23 billion, per the Wall Street Journal, surpassing $22 billion at H&M and outpacing the 18% growth at Inditex. A Boston Consulting Group report notes that this model allows Shein to keep inventory turnover at just 40 days. That will be expensive; the company's net profit margin was a razor-thin 3.5% last year, according to the Wall Street Journal, far below bricks and mortar rival Inditex's 13%.

Persons: Shein, Bernstein, Chris Xu, Xu, Mubadala, Pete Sweeney, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, U.S ., Rivals, Street, Financial Times, Boston Consulting, Morningstar, Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street, ’, Singapore, Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Zara, China, Inditex, Guangdong, U.S, Xinjiang, Nanjing, Singapore, Mexico, Brazil, India

HONG KONG, May 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Elon Musk may be China’s most popular American. State media quoted Musk saying the United States and China share “inseparable” interests and that Tesla opposes decoupling. This all provides the $638 billion Tesla with good political cover in the world’s largest automobile market. But for now Beijing and Musk are getting what they want out of the arrangement, and that means it is likely to endure. Reuters GraphicsFollow @petesweeneypro and @KatrinaHamlin on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSTesla Chief Executive Elon Musk visited China on May 30 for the first time since 2020.

Persons: Elon, Qin Gang, Musk, Xi Jinping, Elon Musk, Apple's Tim Cook, JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon, Laxman Narasimhan, Robyn Mak, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Foreign, Chinese Communist Party, Tesla’s, Twitter, CCP, SpaceX, Starbucks, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, Shanghai, China, Japan, Republic, India, Turkey, People’s Republic, United States, Washington

☆ Pru CFO exit adds urgent task to new CEO’s agenda
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, May 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Anil Wadhwani's honeymoon period as Prudential’s (PRU.L) boss has ended abruptly. Just as he prepares to mark 100 days in the role, his Chief Financial Officer James Turner has unexpectedly resigned after an investigation into “a recent recruitment situation”. Worse, Turner’s previous assignment was as Prudential’s chief risk and compliance offer, a position he held for more than four years. Following China’s reopening, mainland visitors purchasing insurance products in Hong Kong helped boost its quarterly annual premium equivalent, a measure of new sales, by 35% year-on-year in the three months to March. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Anil Wadhwani's, James Turner, Turner, Katrina Hamlin, Robyn Mak, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Prudential, Twitter, Toyota, Lufthansa, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, London, Saudi, East, Italy

☆ China thesis lurches from one lazy extreme to next
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, May 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Foreigners that once piled into offshore Chinese equities are evacuating as confidence in the country’s economic recovery sags. The China trade has always been unbalanced towards overseas-listed Chinese consumer and internet firms, and foreigners preferred building factories, acquiring large stakes in companies and the like over portfolio trading. Even at a peak in 2021, they held barely over 8 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) of yuan-denominated Chinese stocks and bonds, per official data, compared to $27 trillion of American equivalents. Now the former figure has fallen below 7 trillion yuan. Major Chinese indexes in Hong Kong and New York have also slid, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index having lost around 15% in the last three months.

☆ Ukrainian women training for war can kill Russians with 'office supplies,' resistance group leader says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian women trained for war can kill Russian soldiers with office supplies, a military leader said. "We have women who can kill individuals with office supplies, you know," Biletska said in an interview with war correspondent Tim Mak. "Like a pencil or a pen... it's not just guns or rifles, but the objects available in an office supplies store." More than 60,000 Ukrainian women now serve in the country's military, according to US embassy statistics. Ukrainian women on the front lines told The Invisible Battalion Project that they fear sexual violence at the hands of Russian soldiers.

Foxconn's turnaround efforts initially paid off: by 2018, Sharp was back in the black. Moreover, analysts estimate assembling iPhones and other Apple (AAPL.O) gadgets still brings in more than half of Foxconn’s annual sales. The troubled unit was once a joint venture between Sharp, Foxconn and an entity tied to Gou. The company attributed the slump to a non-operating loss of T$19.7 billion related to its 34% stake in Japanese electronics maker Sharp. Sharp reported a 220-billion-yen ($1.6 billion) impairment loss in the quarter, mostly from buildings, machinery and goodwill relating to display businesses.

☆ A blogger who started off posting photos of LA's high-design homes on Instagram became a real-estate agent who turned his 99,000 followers into $200 million in sales last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He started a design-focused Instagram account, Take Sunset, that has almost 100,000 followers. Now he runs a team of agents named after the account that closed $200 million in deals in 2022. The couple still live in the house Kallick helped them purchase. He said the Instagram account still generates multiple leads — sometimes even from celebrities. Prospective buyers might reach out thinking they only want to see midcentury homes.

☆ In pointed dissent, Justice Kagan accuses fellow liberal Justice Sotomayor of hypocrisy in Warhol decision, says the court is 'trying too hard' and anti-artist ruling will 'stifle creativity' and 'mak
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In her dissent against the 7-2 majority, Justice Kagan accused her colleagues of hypocrisy. Lynn Goldsmith's photograph of Prince; Andy Warhol's silkscreen print of Prince, featured on the cover of a Condé Nast magazine. Quoting the 1965 film "The Sound of Music," Kagan wrote: "'Nothing comes from nothing,' the dissent observes, 'nothing ever could.' "The majority claims not to be embarrassed by this embarrassing fact because the specific reference was to his Soup Cans, rather than his celebrity images," Kagan wrote. "It will stifle creativity of every sort," Kagan wrote.

The return of tourists to Southeast Asia, he says, bodes well for the group’s core mobility business in the second half. The next challenge is resetting investor expectations so that beats can shine through. Lower incentives helped it to cut its adjusted operating loss to $66 million from $287 million a year ago. It also narrowed its forecast for annual adjusted operating loss to $195 million-$235 million, from a previous forecast of $275 million-$325 million. China’s Alibaba on May 18 reported revenue of 208 billion yuan ($30.1 billion) in the three months to end-March, up 2% year-on-year.

☆ A Sony spinoff comes better late than never
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A long-awaited Sony (6758.T) spinoff is finally happening. The Japanese video games-to-semiconductors conglomerate may list its financial subsidiary "within the next two to three years" while retaining a 20% stake. Investors promptly bid up shares of Sony as much as 7% on the news. Partially offloading Sony Financial Services, which the company only took full control of in 2020 for $3.7 billion, makes sense. Sony stresses it is not planning any other spinoffs for now - one of them is plenty to look forward to.

Kilicdaroglu, chair of the secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), received 44.9% in what was seen as the biggest electoral challenge to Erdogan's 20-year rule. A third candidate, nationalist Sinan Ogan, obtained 5.17% and both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu are expected to seek his endorsement in negotiations this week. Turkey hosts the world's largest refugee population of around 4 million, according to official figures. Supporters of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition alliance, rally outside the Republican People's Party (CHP) headquarters on election night in Ankara, Turkey May 14, 2023. In Wednesday's video, Kilicdaroglu also accused Erdogan of cooperating with the network Ankara accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.

☆ India’s airline turbulence will be felt abroad
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

India’s Go First has gone into bankruptcy – the country’s second airline to do so since 2019. Its subsequent public and messy spat with engine suppliers and lessors will have ripple effects across the industry and abroad. Go, the country’s third largest airline with a 7% market share, blames Raytheon Technologies-backed (RTX.N) Pratt & Whitney’s “faulty” engines. A global industry association, Aviation Working Group, has put India on a watchlist for violating global conventions on repossession of airplanes. The trouble at Go may not put them off but it promises some extra turbulence ahead.

HONG KONG, May 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investing in China need not be too stressful, provided you avoid investing in Chinese companies. A spending pop in the transport, food and beverage and hospitality sectors helped lift first-quarter GDP to 4.5%. But that data was flattered by comparison to a grim 2022, and April data on imports, inflation and bank loans all disappointed. While Beijing’s crackdowns on domestic technology companies and property developers have eased, other risks are rising. Separately, quarterly revenue at Alibaba is expected to rise 3% year-on-year to 211 billion yuan ($30.5 billion) in the three months to March, according to the average analyst forecast on Refinitiv.

☆ ValueAct loses its temper in 7-Eleven
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, May 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - ValueAct Capital’s chief Mason Morfit prefers to chide undervalued conglomerates behind closed doors. In its latest 151-page presentation, ValueAct took its case directly to shareholders, the second time it has seen fit to do so in its history. That highlights the U.S. fund’s frustration from its two-year long campaign calling for Seven & i to spin off its 7-Eleven convenience stores, among other things. That implies a standalone 7-Eleven could be worth 10 trillion yen, roughly a quarter more than its parent today. He may have a point, and in truth ValueAct has far more experience turning around technology companies than food retailers.

Reuters interviews with Kar and a dozen other voters in Antakya reflected anger over what some viewed as a slow initial government response to the disaster. The voices are a small snapshot of Antakya and the wider area of southern Turkey hit by the earthquake, a region home to nine million voters and traditionally an Erdogan stronghold. Only 4.3% of voters viewed the quake as Turkey's biggest problem last month, with most more concerned by an economy racked by rampant inflation. Nearby, excavators resound as they demolish some of the 80-90% of buildings estimated to have suffered quake damage. The opposing sides present very different narratives about Erdogan and his government's response to the disaster.

☆ Beijing expects foreigners to trust, not verify
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In recent months, Chinese investigators have detained employees of U.S. due-diligence firm Mintz Group, visited consultancy Bain & Company and suspended auditor Deloitte’s Beijing operations for three months. Security watchdogs have restricted overseas access to financial data providers like Wind Information, as well as academic database China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Local banks loaned 3.9 trillion yuan ($560 billion) in March alone while corporations issued 328 billion yuan of bonds. Besides Wind, other Chinese data providers including company databases Qichacha and TianYanCha have stopped opening to offshore users, according to three of the sources. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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