Breakingviews
Asia’s buyouts are priced for unlikely perfection
HONG KONG - Nosebleed prices on Asian buyouts leave little room for error. The region is awash with private-equity money. Yet big targets are relatively scarce. Acquisitions, especially in ultra-pricey China, will only work out for the buyers if companies can grow fast, and market multiples hold up, for years to come – an unlikely combination.
Cox: NBC's fake-news foray could have real fallout
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Infowars came to my hometown three years ago. Dan Bidondi, who identified himself as a reporter for the website that hawks extremist views and fake news, arrived with a video camera at the municipal center of Newtown, Connecticut, to cover a routine Board of Education meeting. Bidondi wasn't interested in hearing how a New England hamlet of 27,000 was dealing with bus schedules or budget priorities.
Amazon buys its way to the top of the food chain
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Amazon.com just bought its way to the top of the food chain. The e-commerce titan is going whole hog for U.S. groceries with the $13.7 billion acquisition of upscale chain Whole Foods Market. Amazon's comfort with low margins and savvy in logistics make it so fearsome a rival that investors in the sector ran for cover.
Breakdown: Britain’s precarious pre-Brexit pact
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Theresa May will find dealing with Belfast no less complicated than dealing with Brussels. The UK prime minister is in talks to form a government with Northern Ireland’s main pro-British political party. Brexit was always likely to put immense pressure on Northern Ireland, and a pact between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party could make things even more tense.
Packaging veteran ticks right boxes for BHP
HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) - BHP has checked the right boxes in naming former packaging executive Ken MacKenzie as chairman. The 53-year old Canadian lopped heads and boosted returns at his last job, and was unsentimental about weak business lines. Activist investor Elliott is pleased. Other shareholders should be too.
Viewsroom: We need to talk about Uber 2.0
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Attempts to jump-start the ride-hailing app’s toxic culture stalled after board member and TPG founder David Bonderman’s sexist joke at a company meeting about sexism. The UK grapples with Brexit under a hung parliament. And could a Chinese invasion solve the North Korea problem?
Wells Fargo drives stagecoach further into mud
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Wells Fargo is driving its stagecoach further into the mud. The $270 billion California-based lender is facing several lawsuits alleging that it changed bankrupt borrowers’ mortgage terms without consent even as its fake-accounts scandal unfolded, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. The bank now run by Tim Sloan is still struggling to get the basics right.
Holding: White House holds trump card in gift suit
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Three’s no charm for legal opponents of the American president. Some 200 Democrats in Congress on Wednesday filed the third lawsuit claiming Donald Trump violated a constitutional ban on accepting presents. All the accusers face long odds, though, of proving they were hurt directly or that the suits even belong in court. Impeachment is still probably the only way for Trump's opponents to get him to fold.
Spain’s model bank bail-in leaves lasting scars
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Spain’s model bank bail-in is leaving lasting scars. The resolution of Banco Popular used new European rules to ensure that creditors, not taxpayers, picked up the bill. Investors have responded by dumping debt issued by other small peers.
Chinese firms are running short on funding options
HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) - Chinese firms are running low on funding options. A regulatory crackdown on a surge in shadow lending is starting to bear fruit, central bank data shows. Yet corporate bond issuance has also plummeted, and regulators are slowing IPO approvals. Once again the economy risks overdependence on bank lending.
About Breakingviews
Reuters Breakingviews is the world's leading source of agenda-setting financial insight. As the Reuters brand for financial commentary, we dissect the big business and economic stories as they break around the world every day. A global team of about 30 correspondents in New York, London, Hong Kong and other major cities provides expert analysis in real time. Sign up for a free trial of our full service at http://www.breakingviews.com/trial and follow us on Twitter @Breakingviews and at www.breakingviews.com. All opinions expressed are those of the authors.