Virtual reality is more Mister Mxyzptlk’s department, and $2bn is not quite This is nuts territory.
But can you feel the LexCorp-style corporate governance, and ambition, here? Read more
FURTHER FURTHER READING
- The loneliness of a Kiev bond trader. Read more
Rude not to, we guess, with London’s FTSE 100 up 1.3 per cent at the formal close on Tuesday….
UKFI announces that it intends to sell part of HM Treasury’s shareholding in Lloyds Banking Group plc (the “Company”). The disposal of these shares (the “Placing Shares”) will be by way of a placing to institutional investors (the “Placing”).
This guest post on the Ukraine crisis is from Jorge Mariscal and Alejo Czerwonko, emerging markets chief investment officer and emerging markets economist, respectively, at UBS Wealth Management.
________ Read more
Convincing two sets of shareholders that their respective companies should merge is hard enough. Add a sophisticated, economically-motivated third party and reaching an agreement becomes nearly (but not totally) impossible.
Or at least that seems to be the lesson from the pending deal between Verso Paper and NewPage Holdings. The two coated paper producers announced a tie-up in early January in which the publicly traded Verso would acquire the privately-held NewPage. A combination had been in the works for years and just after the January announcement Verso shares shot up 400 per cent. Read more
Decision time approaches for Mongolia, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill on Oyu Tolgoi, the enormous copper mining project that could one day represent about a third of the landlocked nation’s economy.
Since we reported that Mongolia’s yet to be created sovereign wealth fund could take an equity stake in Turquoise (which releases earnings after the close in Toronto on Tuesday), one deadline has been extended, the mining minister has done his best to wind up investors, China has reasserted itself and Tony Blair has popped up.
All of which means that a deal to start work on the underground part of the mine (phase II), funded by $4bn of loans by commercial banks and multilateral lenders, is very close. But it remains caught up in Mongolian politics, and may not hit the March 31 deadline on which the funding hangs. Read more
Live markets commentary from FT.com
Inflation falls to lowest level in four years || EasyJet shares climb as mild weather helps cut airline’s losses || Bord Gáis Funds cut Russian holdings after sanctions || Energy sold to Centrica-led consortium for €1.1bn || Royal Mail union warns of industrial action after 1,300 job cuts || Co-op Bank review finds yet more skeletons || The US is losing its edge as an employment powerhouse || Walt Disney Co to buy Maker Studios || Markets
Read more
He’s the chairman of just-and-so Hong Kong listed Magnum Entertainment and here’s the news:
PROFIT WARNING Read more
Close to a tenth of all hedge funds tracked by HFR succumbed to the inevitable last year as 904 hedge funds liquidated.
Their historic performance will live on in the databases of hedge fund returns, but like more than two-thirds of all hedge funds that have ever existed, they are dead, defunct and arguing with their investors over valuations for those lingering illiquid assets.
To put that in perspective, half of all individual hedge funds have closed in the last five years. It is exactly what should be expected, given that the average life of a hedge fund which makes it past the 12 month mark is just over five years, but it is a salient fact that seems to escape the promotion of hedge funds as an asset class, a diversifier or a handy set of uncorrelated investment returns. Read more
As we wrote before, the one thing we can say with certainty after the default of Chaori, China’s first onshore corporate bond default, is that China has become far less tolerant of Chaori.
Most probably, the government’s also less kind to other small private companies with little clout in struggling industries. What it really doesn’t tell us though is whether that tolerance extends any further. Read more
Elsewhere on Tuesday,
- It’s “counterproductive for investors to turn the corporate governance process into a constant Model U.N.”
- Trish Regan, Einhorn apologist.
- Pari passu VIPs and Mexico’s CAC gravitas.
- No, I really do not think we are doomed to the lesser depression plus the greater stagnation. Read more
Markets: Asian markets took their cue from a weak session on Wall Street as investors sold out of growth stocks. (FT’s Global Markets Overview) Read more
FURTHER FURTHER READING
- Economics and the foundations of artificial intelligence. Read more
John Hempton is fed up with with our focus on internal consumption as one of the key legal aspects to the debate about Herbalife’s business model.
The Bronte Capital hedge fund manager returns to the argument that both good and bad consumption of Herbalife’s diet shakes by its own army of distributors is possible.
I have spoken to several Herbalife customers and they are mostly signed up as distributors and they do not intend to sell product.
A month on from the AO World initial public offering we thought we should honour the bold investors who managed to commit client money to the next big thing in online washing machine sales.
You’ll recall that a quite remarkable market capitalisation was achieved in a listing process that left most institutions empty handed. From the FT:
Hundreds of institutions that tried to buy into the float of online retailer AO World have been left disappointed, after 85 per cent of the new issue was awarded to just 15 investors.
Carl Icahn, the largest shareholder in Herbalife with a 16.8 per cent stake, will soon have five seats around the boardroom table, according to the company:
Herbalife will nominate three designees of the Icahn Parties, Hunter C. Gary, Jesse A. Lynn and James L. Nelson, for election to Herbalife’s board of directors at its 2014 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, currently scheduled for April 29, 2014 (“the Annual Meeting”).
Messrs. Gary and Lynn are employees of Icahn Enterprises L.P., and will be nominated for election to the Class I directorships currently held by Carole Black and Michael Levitt, whose three-year terms end at the Annual Meeting.
Live markets commentary from FT.com
French spurt keeps eurozone recovery on track || Ukraine evacuates its forces from Crimea || Co-operative Bank seeks to raise further £400m || Top JPMorgan China banker resigns amid hiring probe || Visa and Mastercard restart processing payment transactions for SMP Bank || UK energy industry to head off competition inquiry || NHS needs an extra £2bn || Debt investors abandon normal creditor protection on European leveraged buyout loans || China’s top refining company to cut capital spending this year || Apple in talks with Comcast over streaming-television service || US hedge fund to bet $100m on Iran court judgment || Markets Read more
Ah, spring: a season of renewal. The scent of flowers carried on a gentle breeze.
And the international financial community can go back to arguing all over again about whether a promise which Argentina made in a bond issued twenty years ago – to treat creditors equally – will end up making sovereign debt restructuring harder to achieve. Read more
The rather less dramatic sequel is brought to you by Nomura:
Elsewhere on Monday,
- Did Yellen intend to tighten policy last week?
- Pettis: the economic consequences of income inequality.
- All economics is local.
- The BoE: One big hubristic consultancy jargon firework display. Read more
Markets: Asia-Pacific markets started the new week with broad gains, even in the face of new data showing that China’s manufacturing engine continued to stall this month. HSBC’s “flash” purchasing managers’ index for March indicated that China’s manufacturing sector slowed for a third straight month in March with a reading of 48.1, missing forecasts and falling from 48.5 the month before. (FT’s Global Markets Overview) Read more
While waiting for the next installment in the Herbalife saga, which may include some changes to the board, there is a judgement pending from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which should be on the radar of Herbalife watchers: the FTC vs Burnlounge.
The reason is partly that we think the Federal Trade Commission will wait for a decision by the court before amending its guidance to the multi-level marketing industry on a key legal standard that could affect Herbalife’s legitimacy — the issue of so-called “internal consumption”.
But there is also the dim but tantalising possibility of a mixed decision or defeat for the FTC, which might open up a route for the US Supreme Court to eventually lay down some solid pyramid scheme law. Read more
Don’t ask a European regulator. Or, if you do, don’t expect an answer any time soon.
We’ve written about the feud between the European Commission and the new-ish fangled ESMA before. Last time it was about the fact that no one seemed to be able to agree what constituted an “alternative investment.” This time it’s over a failure to agree a common definition of what constitutes a “derivative.” Read more
Live markets commentary from FT.com
Counterparties scramble to react on Russia sanctions || Temasek buys quarter of AS Watson, puts kibosh on IPO || Reuters to overhaul FX fix || Ukraine signs EU pact || Mt Gox finds $115m neglected in old file || Lufthansa pilots to strike || Markets: Russia stocks fall Read more
It’s an online urban culture dispatch from HSBC:
The Russian market has turned wary of “synergies” at Novatek.
From the Wall Street Journal last year: Read more
Presented without comment.
Gunvor $500m note, due May 2018. Read more
Older entries
1Crimeanomics favours the West
2McCrum smackdown watch, Hempton edition
3Pari passu, plus ça change
4The AO honour roll
5Debt and equity holders fight over paper profits
Show more6SOE you think you can reform
7A message from Mr Yip Mow Lum...
8Zombie hordes thrive, await further hedge fund corpses
9Further reading
10Turquoise -- still the colour of money in Mongolia?
Show fewer