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☆ Stellantis SPAC deal has suitably decent airbags
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Carmakers are in a race to lock in battery metals like lithium. For shareholders, the risk is that they tie up capital in expensive supply deals, or mines in far-flung locations with poor governance. Stellantis’s (STLAM.MI) investment in a London-based special purpose acquisition company deal looks like a neat fix to those challenges. In a complex deal, halfway between an IPO and a SPAC takeover, it will buy the Serrote and Santa Rita mines in east Brazil for $1.1 billion. Besides the original SPAC investors, the bulk of that will likely come from a public offering, and new anchor investors like Stellantis.

Persons: Nat Rothschild’s Vallar, Artem Volynets, Neil Unmack, Xavier Niel, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Twitter, Brookfield, Thomson Locations: London, Santa, Brazil, Teck, China

☆ Berlusconi invented the entrepreneur as politician
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Though his Forza Italia party and business empire are already weakened and unlikely to regain much prominence after his death, his unorthodox political methods spawned imitators across the West. Italy’s four-time and longest-serving prime minister, who often quipped he would live until 120, passed away on Monday. Ex-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also became popular by portraying himself as an eccentric outsider. As Italy’s traditional parties collapsed under countless graft charges in the 1990s, he used his media popularity and image as a can-do entrepreneur to exploit Italy’s political void. Follow @LJucca on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSFormer Italian prime minister and broadcaster Mediaset founder Silvio Berlusconi died on June 12, aged 86.

Persons: Silvio Berlusconi, Donald Trump ., Boris Johnson, Berlusconi, Beppe Grillo outdid Berlusconi, Vladimir Putin, Giorgia Meloni, MediaForEurope, Neil Unmack, Oliver Taslic Organizations: MILAN, Reuters, Forza Italia, U.S, Donald Trump . Ex, British, Milan soccer, RAI, Star Movement, Thomson Locations: Italian, Italy

☆ 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

☆ UBS’s $10 bln state guarantee is a useful fantasy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UBS (UBSG.S) and the Swiss government have negotiated a state backstop that neither side wants to use. The scheme, designed to sweeten the Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) rescue, would see the government cover $10 billion of losses on former Credit Suisse assets after UBS swallows the first $6 billion. One option could be for the state to guarantee only a limited subset of former Credit Suisse assets – just the ones that UBS plans to get rid of, for example, like fixed-income derivatives. The government could also insist on dividend or buyback restrictions if the Swiss bank ever taps the scheme. The guarantee would only kick in after UBS has swallowed 5 billion Swiss francs ($6 billion) of losses.

Persons: Sergio Ermotti, Karin Keller, Sutter, Ermotti, that’s, ”, Neil Unmack, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, UBS, Swiss, bank’s, Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s Social, –, RBC, AG, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Thomson Locations: Swiss

☆ 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

☆ GAM’s takeover rebels have a weak hand
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The billionaire has a good track record in activism, having agitated to block a rights issue at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW.PA). But getting a better deal at GAM looks hard. NewGAMe, backed by Niel, and its partner Bruellan are right that the Liontrust offer is far from appealing. The agitators hope to exceed a 10% stake, enough perhaps to stop Liontrust from taking full ownership of GAM. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Italian corporate activism has a long way to go
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, May 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Fighting opaque governance at Italy’s state-backed companies is proving a tough nut to crack. That’s a victory for the Italian Treasury – the utility’s top investor with 23.6% – which managed to install oil and gas veteran Paolo Scaroni as chairman, along with other board members. The Italian state is in dire need of improving the way it picks its corporate representatives. But to confront Rome, investors will need to make a good case. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Swedish drugmaker finds alluring poison pill
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sweden’s rare disease drug maker is experiencing unfortunate deal side effects. On Wednesday, shares in Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (SOBI) (SOBIV.ST) fell 15% after it announced a plan to buy CTI BioPharma (CTIC.O), a specialist in rare blood cancers, for $1.7 billion. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker refused to tender its shares amid a squabble over the U.S. rights for a respiratory drug. But SOBI’s new deal, which will be funded by a rights issue backed by main shareholder Investor AB (INVEb.ST), suggests Oelkers has support for a solo future. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ UK listing shakeup requires double dose of hope
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Financial Conduct Authority isn’t the only watchdog to water down its listing rules, but it has more reasons than most to up its game. The UK prides itself on being a financial hub, but accounted for just 5% of global IPOs between 2015 and 2020. That’s why the FCA is proposing to replace a fiddly two-tier system of standard and “premium” listing rules with a single class. CONTEXT NEWSThe UK Financial Conduct Authority on May 2 published a series of proposals designed to encourage companies to list in the UK. The new framework would remove many investor protections currently required under the premium listing category.

☆ German $13 bln heat pump sale dents EU green hopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

For 106-year-old German heat pump maker Viessmann it looks like an odd move, given its technology is in demand and at the forefront of the energy transition race. Heat pumps may not be the most obvious sector to lead a revival in transatlantic cross-border M&A, down 31% so far this year. The European heat pump market rose by over a third last year, with a record 3 million units sold in 2022 after government support and soaring fossil fuel prices boosted uptake of the technology, according to the European Heat Pump Association. European Union policymakers are betting on heat pumps to reduce CO2 emissions and cut dependence on imported fossil fuels. Germany’s heat pump market grew 53% in 2022, Germany’s heat pump association BWP reported in January.

☆ New UBS investor pitch fits better than old one
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UBS’s (UBSG.S) old strategy under former CEO Ralph Hamers was safe but not particularly rewarding. True, the wealth business pulled in about $20 billion of new fee-paying assets in the first quarter. The revenue UBS generates in wealth management fell to 78 basis points of average fee-earning assets in the first quarter, from 82 basis points a year ago. The second Ermotti era, by contrast, at least offers the chance of some upside. UBS reckons it can eventually wring $8 billion of annual cost savings from the combination with Credit Suisse.

☆ Thyssenkrupp gives investors wrong kind of breakup
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - An abrupt CEO departure adds yet more problems for Thyssenkrupp’s (TKAG.DE) long-suffering investors. Merz was drafted in after her predecessor Guido Kerkhoff himself left after just 14 months, amid an aborted steel spinoff. Progress on a listing of Thyssenkrupp’s hydrogen business or a steel spinoff has been slow, despite a plan to hive off weaker units. Thyssenkrupp says it will continue its transformation, and appointed a former Siemens (SIEGn.DE) executive, Miguel Ángel López Borrego, to replace Merz. Yet investors still smarting from a minus 37% total return under its last bold CEO now seem to be expecting more of the same.

☆ Worldline seeks to crack tough French payments nut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, April 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Worldline’s (WLN.PA) boss Gilles Grapinet has spotted an opportunity to access a hard-to-crack payments market. A partnership with Crédit Agricole will allow Worldline to enter Europe’s top market for merchant payments, which several domestic banks still handle directly. Analysts reckon the French bank will confer its entire merchant acquiring business to the new company. For Worldline, the deal may be a stepping-stone to make similar accords with other French lenders or even purchase the whole of Crédit Agricole’s payments business over time. But this deal shows that payments companies still have some scope for dealmaking to improve their fortunes.

☆ Italy’s green star has new, uncertain trajectory
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - In 2021, Enel (ENEI.MI) had the world at its feet. The group remains the world’s largest private operator of renewable energy, and its goal for 75 gigawatts of green power capacity by 2025 leaves the targets of parvenus like BP (BP.L) in the dust. Given Scaroni’s background, it may even seem like a good idea to combine Enel with $53 billion Eni and create an inward-focused national champion rather than a global net zero star. That may make Enel less appealing to international investors than once seemed likely. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ SoftBank-Alibaba sale looks awkward for Prosus
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, April 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - SoftBank Group (9984.T) and Prosus (PRX.AS) are two very different beasts. Prosus owned about 27% of the internet titan on Wednesday, based on Refinitiv data and the company’s portfolio tracker. Prosus and van Dijk, however, have a rock-solid balance sheet with more cash than debt, and no particular need to exit Tencent in a hurry. That’s down from its peak last year, when the share price was considerably less than half the company’s net asset value per share. Prosus, the Amsterdam-listed technology investor, on April 11 said it would deposit 96 million Tencent shares into the Hong Kong Central Clearing and Settlement System, a precursor to selling them.

☆ UBS can score a quick win with Swiss sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, April 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Credit Suisse’s (CSGN.S) Swiss business is theoretically the jewel in the bank’s tarnished crown. Hiving off the Credit Suisse local unit could save Kelleher and his Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti a lot of grief. By contrast, UBS is paying just $3.6 billion for all of Credit Suisse, based on the buyer’s most recent share price. Kelleher could in theory just hand the Credit Suisse local division to shareholders, but that could prove destabilising if they all cash out immediately. UBS will rescue Credit Suisse in a deal worth about 3 billion Swiss francs, Swiss authorities and the two banks said on March 19.

☆ Paris vote rocks scooter rental firms’ shaky ride
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The business of renting out electric scooters is taking a turn for the worse. Turnout for the vote was low - only 7% of the population registered for it, and they were skewed towards older age groups, who tend not to ride such scooters anyway. The sector was already facing a tougher environment for raising capital and is struggling to turn a profit. The vote is also a potential red light for Lime, which is eyeing a listing. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ UBS Credit Suisse rescue is messy but unstoppable
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Very few people seem to want UBS (UBSG.S) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) to merge, but it’s unlikely that anyone will stop it. Switzerland’s Federal Prosecutor has opened an investigation into the state-arranged deal, the office of the attorney general said on Sunday. Credit Suisse’s share price is just 3% below the level where it should be based on the deal terms. A Credit Suisse 2033 bond , which could be converted to equity and potentially wiped out in a resolution, trades with a 6.4% yield, compared with 13% before the rescue. The lower return implies a high likelihood that it will be absorbed by UBS through the merger.

☆ ECB’s inflation battle has a 550 bln euro problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Francesco Guerrera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Euro zone lenders have so far weathered the financial storms blowing in from the United States and Switzerland. That has allowed the European Central Bank to keep raising rates to combat inflation. Lagarde has said that euro zone banks are well capitalised and have plentiful liquidity. The MRO – the rate lenders pay for one-week loans from the ECB – is currently set at 3.5%, 50 basis points above the benchmark deposit rate. Follow @guerreraf72 on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSEuro zone banks have to repay 549 billion euros in emergency loans from the European Central Bank by June 28.

☆ UK car targets count on the kindness of strangers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The UK has followed the European Union in watering down plans to phase out fossil fuel cars – sort of. UK car production has roughly halved since the Brexit vote to just 900,000 cars last year, according to Inovev data. The shift to electric vehicles will see carmakers want robust local battery supply chains and cheap energy, in which the UK is lagging. Sunak on Thursday announced support for the energy transition, and hinted at more money for carmakers “in the coming months”. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

That should unlock value for weary shareholders, and please regulators and politicians keen to control strategic businesses. The restructuring will give each of Alibaba’s six businesses, which include its core commerce division, as well as cloud computing, games and logistics units, their own chief executive and board of directors. Investors promptly added nearly $23 billion, or 10%, to the New York-listed company’s market value, now at $250 billion, following Tuesday’s announcement. The $460 billion video-game giant also operates in sensitive areas like online media, cloud computing and mobile payments. Daniel Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and chief executive of Alibaba, which will follow a holding company management model, and concurrently serve as CEO of Cloud Intelligence.

☆ Europe throws ignition cars a thin lifeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Bowing to pressure from automaking Germany, the European Union has agreed to exempt cars that run on carbon-neutral synthetic fuel from a ban on new combustion engine vehicles in 2035. loadingFor mass-market brands, electric cars will likely remain the cheapest option. RBC industry analysts expect electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to make up 90% of Western European passenger vehicle sales by 2035. Yet, it will do little to stop the hollowing out of Europe’s combustion engine supply chain. The deal paves the way for EU ministers to approve the 2035 phaseout law for CO2-emitting cars on March 28.

☆ Swiss CoCo litigation may have a broader payoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Credit Suisse’s (CSGN.S) CoCos are shaping up to be the bondholder litigation case of the century. Investors are in uproar over the government’s decision to wipe out Credit Suisse’s Additional Tier 1 securities over the weekend, while preserving 3 billion Swiss francs for shareholders. They can argue that state support for Credit Suisse did not represent a viability event because the authorities injected liquidity but not capital. Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds are currently trading at around 6% of par value, rather than the zero the Swiss authorities declared them to be worth. Some Credit Suisse AT1 bondholders are seeking legal advice.

☆ Swiss CoCo shakeout may yet help bank regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Switzerland’s forced merger of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) with UBS (UBSG.S) has caused a real stink. European regulators on Monday mobilised to calm debt investors after Swiss authorities chose to write off 16 billion Swiss francs of Credit Suisse’s Additional Tier 1 CoCos. Both the Bank of England and European regulators pledged on Monday to respect the bank rescue hierarchy that says shareholders should lose money before debt. A case in point: only last year the already creaking Credit Suisse chose to redeem a bond. Follow @Unmack1 on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSPrices of contingent capital securities, a kind of junior ranking loss-absorbing bank debt, fell after bonds issued by Credit Suisse were wiped out following its takeover by UBS.

☆ Saudi is far from the last Western bank bagholder
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Saudi Arabia has joined the Western bank bagholder club. The bank only made its play in November, when client money was already flowing out of Credit Suisse. Saudi National Bank bought 307.6 million Credit Suisse shares for 3.82 Swiss francs ($4.11) per share. The UBS offer of 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) values Credit Suisse shares at 0.76 francs each, more than 80% lower than the price paid by the Saudi bank. Saudi National Bank's statement added that the potential impact to its capital adequacy ratio is about 35 basis points, with no impact on profitability.

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