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☆ London crypto move is a sign of desperate times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK/LONDON, June 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is eager to bring some Silicon Valley glitz to London. Now venture capital investor Andreessen Horowitz is setting up its first non-US office in the British capital, to focus on blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The then-finance minister in 2021 declared as “fantastic” the decision by Deliveroo (ROO.L) to list its shares in London. Despite Sunak’s call for the UK to “embrace new innovations” like the blockchain, Britain’s appetite for crypto remains uncertain. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Andreessen Horowitz, Binance, Sunak, Deliveroo, “ gosh, Bobby Kotick, Anita Ramaswamy, Karen Kwok, Stellantis, Peter Thal Larsen, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Coinbase, Stanford University, Chips, Activision Blizzard, Twitter, Brookfield, Thomson Locations: London, U.S, Teck, China

☆ Brookfield gets some M&A help from Gulf friends
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO) has won its payments race. The Canadian investment group’s 2.2 billion pound bid for London-listed payments provider Network International (NETW.L) was enough to see off a rival pitch from CVC and Francisco Partners. They’ve also endorsed a plan to merge Dubai-based Network International with domestic peer Magnati, a former unit of FAB. If Network International alone can grow revenues at a 15% annual clip and reach a margin of 44% from the current 41%, EBITDA could hit $388 million by 2028. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Brookfield, They’ve, EBITDA, Pamela Barbaglia, Xavier Niel, George Hay, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Brookfield Asset Management, London, Network, Francisco Partners, Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu, Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, FAB, ACI, Brookfield, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Abu Dhabi, Saudi, Dubai

☆ Xavier Niel offers risky alternative for sick GAM
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - French billionaire Xavier Niel is asking investors to have one last flutter on GAM (GAMH.S). GAM investors will receive shares in Liontrust worth around 0.5% of the target company’s assets under management back in May, and even less now. If all goes well, GAM’s current investors could still keep a much larger share of the upside than they would with the Liontrust deal. The risk, however, is that GAM’s turnaround proves hard, cost cuts are more expensive and damaging, and the group keeps losing assets or staff. Moreover, it’s plausible that Niel wins enough backing to block the deal, but not enough to replace the board, leaving GAM in limbo.

Persons: Xavier Niel, Niel, Bruellan, manager’s, Neil Unmack, Liam Proud, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Liontrust Asset Management, Twitter, Toyota, Thomson Locations: Liontrust

☆ Tiny tech bank defies US massacre of the minnows
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

One example is $1 billion Live Oak Bancshares (LOB.N), which flouts many preconceptions about what it means to be a tiny U.S. bank. But if those failures demonstrated that rapid growth brings escalating risk, Live Oak is a counterexample. Because of the way that programme is structured, around 40% of Live Oak’s lending carries a government guarantee. The company spun out its cloud-based banking software division nCino (NCNO.O) in 2014; that firm is now worth $2.8 billion, more than twice Live Oak’s value. That more earthly valuation might reflect Live Oak’s biggest risk: that it starts to look more like the rest of the pack.

Persons: it’s, Chip Mahan, SVB, It’s, Huntley Garriott, Goldman Sachs, reckons, ’, Keefe, Mahan, Liam Proud, Streisand Neto Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Wachovia, Valley Bank, U.S, Regional, Silvergate, Reuters Graphics Reuters, government’s, Business Administration, SBA, Federal, Truist, PNC Financial Services, redwoods, Twitter, Thomson Locations: United States, North Carolina, U.S

☆ It’s the Perelman Performing Arts Center, But Bloomberg Gave More
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Robin Pogrebin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Year after year, plans to build a cultural institution on the World Trade Center site percolated, only to then fizzle out. The International Freedom Center, the Joyce Theater, the Drawing Center, the Signature Theater, New York City Opera, a design by Frank Gehry — all were discussed as possibilities, but none went anywhere. Now, two decades after the 2003 master plan for ground zero called for a cultural component, a performing arts center is finally preparing to open there in September. The center, which will ultimately cost $500 million — more than twice what was projected in 2016 — is now on track to have a ribbon cutting on Sept. 13. “I can afford it,” Mr. Bloomberg said of his largess during a recent hard hat tour of the center.

Persons: Frank Gehry —, Ronald O, Perelman, Michael R, Barbra Streisand, —, “, ” Mr, Bloomberg, ” Organizations: World Trade, Freedom Center, Joyce Theater, New York City Opera, Bloomberg Locations: New York

☆ Indivior opioid settlement makes purer M&A case
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Indivior (INDV.L) is one step closer to becoming a takeover target. Litigation risks have weighed down Indivior in the years following the company’s spinoff from Reckitt Benckiser (RKT.L) in 2014. The group still has lawsuits to settle over the same charges with insurers and patients. With its litigation risks easing, Indivior could soon lure larger cash rich pharmaceutical companies keen to access a market that is sadly showing no signs of decline. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Reckitt, Roche, Indivior, Aimee Donnellan, Neil Unmack, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Suboxone, AstraZeneca, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Twitter, Toyota, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ Turkey’s new economic broom has too much to tidy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That’s unlikely to be enough to counter President Tayyip Erdogan’s long-held penchant for economic mismanagement. Simsek, who was finance minister and deputy prime minister between 2009 and 2018, would have a nearly impossible task even in normal conditions. He has to tame inflation that is running at 39.6%, bolster a currency hovering near a record low against the U.S. dollar, and restore Turkey’s credibility with international investors. But that would further weaken the lira and do little to tame inflation. Simsek needs more than investors’ respect to right Turkey’s listing ship.

Persons: Mehmet Simsek, ’, Tayyip Erdogan’s, Simsek, Erdogan, Francesco Guerrera, George Hay, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, U.S ., Twitter, Toyota, Thomson

☆ Knocked-down EQT pet buyout will get over the line
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Private equity firm EQT (EQTAB.ST) on Friday announced a new deal that values the Cheshire-based company at 4.9 billion pounds ($6.1 billion) including debt. The offer took a 5% bite out of the original bid from April, mainly because Dechra subsequently released a poor trading update. Shares in the target, led by company veteran Ian Page, shot up on Friday but are 6% below the EQT takeout price. For starters, board directors have backed the deal and committed to tender their, admittedly small, slither of shares. Breakingviews calculated in April that the buyer would earn a so-so 17% gross return at the original price, even using very generous growth assumptions.

Persons: Dechra, Ian Page, Liam Proud, Aimee Donellan, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, RBC, Twitter, Toyota, Thomson Locations: Cheshire, Saudi, East

☆ Treasury buyers live for the moment, unfortunately
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The bill to suspend the so-called debt ceiling, approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, solves the most immediate threat to the government’s creditors. The Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation also stands to knock Treasury prices, while pushing up yields. Spending caps and other measures in the debt ceiling deal are projected to save $1.5 trillion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on May 26 that the federal government would be unable to pay its bills on June 5. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 314-117 on May 31 to suspend the debt ceiling, a legislative cap on how much the Treasury can borrow that had been set at $31.4 trillion.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, That’s, Sam, Janet Yellen, Joe Biden’s, John Foley, Sharon Lam, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Treasury, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Refinitiv, Congressional, U.S . Congress, U.S . House, Senate, U.S, Treasury Department, Thomson Locations: Treasuries, U.S, 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

☆ Lufthansa sale is ironic end to Italy airline saga
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, May 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Italy’s epic airline soap opera has found a paradoxical end. After multiple sale attempts by Italian governments of all political leanings, plus over 10 billion euros of wasted state support, it’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – an avowed nationalist – who is cutting the umbilical cord with the country’s state-owned national carrier. The state will inject 250 million euros of equity in ITA before Lufthansa buys its initial minority stake. At 0.3 times projected 2023 revenue of 2.5 billion euros, the overall price tag is cheaper than the 0.5 times Lufthansa currently trades at, and also than the 1 billion euro-plus levels mooted last year. But Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr is still scooping up a supposed national treasure at an undemanding price.

☆ BYD and Great Wall feud portends potholes ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, May 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - China’s Great Wall Motor (601633.SS) has made a rare public allegation that BYD’s (002594.SZ), (1211.HK) Qin Plus and Song Plus hybrid models do not meet emissions standards in the country. Thursday’s accusations sent BYD’s Hong Kong-listed shares down 5.4%, but the whistleblower’s own stock fell 7.3% by market close. BYD is currently the world’s best-selling electric-car marque per Bernstein, and it sold nearly 15,000 electric passenger cars outside China in the year to April. As for Great Wall, some 73,789 of its cars, representing nearly a quarter of its sales, were overseas in the same period. If the mud Great Wall slings ends up sticking, the global image of Chinese auto brands could get stained just as they expand into global markets.

☆ How risky bank debt makes customers safer
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

LONDON, May 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Bank watchdogs are mulling changes to deposit insurance schemes after a string of lenders failed. That’s a problem for depositors, since long-term debt acts as a buffer for customers too. Forcing the issuance of more long-term bank debt could make them cheaper too. The trickier part is figuring out who ultimately bears the cost of loss-absorbing debt. Relying more on loss-absorbing debt could make such giant ad-hoc bills less likely in the future.

☆ Embracer gaming deal flub leaves credibility wound
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A communications glitch is raising credibility questions at video game giant Embracer (EMBRACb.ST). Gaming companies occasionally make games in partnership with media giants that control popular intellectual property – like film, TV or comic book characters – but lack the knowhow to create video games. Conversely, a hot developer may sign a deal to produce exclusive content for a specific video game marketplace, like the Epic Games Store. It said on Wednesday that adjusted operating profit for the current financial year would likely be between 7 billion and 9 billion Swedish crowns ($650 million and $840 million), from 10.3 billion to 13.6 billion Swedish crowns previously. Among those is Savvy Games, owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which bought a roughly 8% stake for 103 Swedish crowns a share in June last year, versus a share price of roughly 23 Swedish crowns on Wednesday morning.

☆ Canceled TV deal cuts one loan cord
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Banks can tune out one painful summer rerun. Television broadcaster Tegna (TGNA.N) on Tuesday terminated its sale to hedge fund Standard General, letting banks off the hook for $8.2 billion in debt backing the deal. As a result, Standard General couldn’t finance its transaction. Chipping away at the $25 billion-plus pile of hung loans potentially frees banks up to start fresh. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Supply chain scrutiny may upend EU solar ambitions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Western nations are rushing to install more solar panels to reduce their dependency on polluting fossil fuels like gas and oil. Yet a rising legislative tide aimed at ensuring companies’ supply chains are free from forced labour and other abuses presents a mounting challenge for Western utilities. Bernreuter estimates that non-Chinese solar-grade polysilicon is enough to produce 40 gigawatts of solar panels per year. Banned materials include polysilicon, an ultra-pure form of silicon, that is the key raw material used to make solar panels. The European Commission published in February 2022 a draft proposal aimed at forcing companies to better police their global supply chains.

☆ JPMorgan finds jewels in US banking ashes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - JPMorgan (JPM.N) boss Jamie Dimon didn’t buy First Republic Bank in a crisis-hewn weekend deal just for the fuzzy glow from helping to stabilize the U.S. banking system. The giant lender laid out some of the impact of acquiring First Republic out of receivership in its investor day on Monday. There’s the $3 billion of contribution to net interest income from the deal, boosting this year’s expected total to $84 billion. More enticing, perhaps, is the $200 billion in wealth-management money the bank has taken from its defunct rival, along with roughly 200 advisers. JPMorgan is so big, with nearly $4 trillion of assets, it’s hard to move the needle in regular banking.

☆ Meta becomes cross-border tech mascot
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is acting as a Big Tech mascot in a cross-border decision about the transfer of data. The $1.3 billion fine is a drop in the bucket for Meta, which has over $40 billion in its cash coffers. The decision, handed down from the Irish Data Protection Commission, gives Meta until October to completely cease moving data from Europe to the United States. Rather, the tension between data and the cross-border watchdogs can become more troubling for U.S.-based Big Tech. The decision gives Meta five months to stop transferring users’ data to the United States.

☆ Supreme Court gifts Big Tech best kind of boring
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - American tech giants have two new things to celebrate, and one less thing to worry about. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously protected Twitter from being sued for militant-group content on its platform. Together, the rulings reinforce internet platforms’ legal shield and kick a regulatory crackdown further down the road. With the Supreme Court siding in their favor, Big Tech can breathe a sigh of relief. The Supreme Court ruling leaves that debate stuck in Congress, exactly where tech giants want it.

☆ Office landlords are in store for retail redux
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Office landlords are in store for pain, but there’s a light at the end of the hallway. Though vacancy rates in the United States recently hit a 30-year high, owners of retail space – shopping malls and grocery stores – have shown that a bounce back is possible. A reset is in store, but the best office landlords can make it, too. But retail real estate, which includes everything from malls to shopping centers, went through its own misery. It might be a slog, as retail shows, but office could be in store for a redux.

☆ How do you solve a problem like AI? Tax it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The chances of “generative AI” being put back in its box are very small. Goldman Sachs economists estimate that 18% of work could be automated globally, and that 7% of the U.S. workforce might be substituted by AI. Moreover, while AI will create profit windfalls, many countries don’t tax those as effectively as they ought to. But a dollar of saved costs for a company creates only 21 cents in corporate income tax revenue. Capital gains are still taxed below the level of income in most countries.

☆ Tesla’s governance autopilot heads for disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It’s a vulnerable time for such pronouncements when the market Tesla (TSLA.O) effectively created threatens to overtake it. The stock price has tumbled some 60% since November 2021 compared to a 12% decline in the S&P 500 index (.SPX). A more deferential approach to Musk might have made sense during Tesla’s meteoric rise, when its mere existence bucked convention. The Department of Justice has initiated a probe into Tesla’s self-proclaimed “self-driving” capabilities, which have been involved in fatal crashes. Heeding advice from ISS and Glass Lewis would at least be a place to start, because leaving governance on autopilot also can have dangerous consequences.

☆ Debt-ceiling talks are more theater than substance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with congressional leaders including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday to attempt to make progress on talks to raise the debt ceiling. The two efforts would raise $33 billion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office estimated last month. Biden also signaled openness to a two-year limit on government spending, Roll Call reported last week, which would raise an estimated $331 billion. loadingComing to terms on these pieces likely means both sides agree to raise the debt limit and push a new budget through. Failure to raise the debt ceiling could leave the government unable to pay its bills and trigger a historic sovereign default.

☆ TPG returns to credit party fashionably late
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The buyout firm is acquiring Angelo Gordon, an asset manager that specializes in private credit, for $2.7 billion, it said on Monday. The direct-lending portion of its $55 billion credit business emphasizes borrowers with less than $25 million of EBITDA. While it missed the last private credit bonanza, it isn’t saddled with jumbo-size and potentially shaky loans written at the top of the last cycle. As U.S. regional banks struggle, private credit firms see what Blackstone has termed a “golden moment” to muscle in on new turf. Follow @JMAGuilford on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSPrivate equity firm TPG said on May 15 that it had agreed to acquire private credit and real estate-focused investment firm Angelo Gordon for $2.7 billion, including cash and stock.

☆ Adidas runs harder, but also stands still
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That beat analyst expectations of 15 million euros, and was aided by double digit sales growth in Latin America and Asia. The good cheer partly reflects the low expectations of Adidas’s investors. They hold shares worth about half their mid-2021 level, and while sales globally didn’t fall 4% as forecast, they still dipped 1% year-on-year. Meanwhile, CEO Bjorn Gulden has to decide what to do with stacks of Yeezy trainers in storage ever since the company severed ties with the musician. Although certain products like Gazelle and Sambo are doing well, the 40% margins on Yeezy sales were ten times Adidas’s overall level.

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