Casting Blofeld: Wall Street’s pitchfork mob needs new villain
By Richard Beales
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Wall Street critics need a new villain. Goldman Sachs has implemented a successful charm offensive since lawmakers hauled Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein up to Capitol Hill and regulators extracted a $550 million settlement from the bank a few years ago. The case against JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon is struggling to take hold. Steve Cohen, the hedge fund Wizard of Oz, is nursing legal wounds. The culture of greed in finance won’t disappoint for long, though.
U.S. housing recovery could run out of steam
By Daniel Indiviglio
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
The U.S. housing recovery could run out of steam in 2014. Banks are likely to tighten lending standards once new rules come into place. Rising interest rates may drive down home loan volume, too. Cash purchases by investors could set a floor for house prices, but they may not be enough to prevent a major slowdown.
Buzzword visionaries will rightsize the lexicon
By Quentin Webb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Do executive thought leaders need best-in-class jargon? Can only visionary C-suiters move the needle at the investor day or the Davos interactive panel? It appears embedded in the corporate DNA, but is a laser-like focus on buzzwords mission critical? Join Breakingviews, your end-to-end provider of financial commentary solutions, on a deep dive.
Private equity taps happy hour at Oriental Brewery
By Una Galani
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.
Oriental Brewery may produce a happy hour for its private equity investors. Belgium’s Anheuser-Busch InBev has started discussions over buying back the South Korean brewer, which it sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2009 for $1.8 billion. A back-of-the-beer mat calculation suggests that would earn OB’s private equity backers a 34 percent annualized return.
Versace’s valuation is as full-on as its outfits
By Quentin Webb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Versace’s valuation looks as full-on as its outfits. The Italian fashion house, which is sizing up buyout firms and sovereign wealth outfits to fund a capital increase, reckons it is worth more than 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) and could triple in value in three years. There is real potential, because Versace is so behind industry trends. But a big price tag for a skimpy minority stake next to a powerful family? That’s a hard look to pull off.
Li Ka-shing still has what investors want
By Una Galani
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.
Li Ka-shing may be an octogenarian but he still knows when to buy and sell. An analysis of 16 listed parts of the Hong Kong tycoon’s telecoms-to-energy empire, with a combined market capitalization of more than $170 billion, shows a mixed record of delivering shareholder returns. Yet Li’s flagship holding companies have matched or beaten the market over the past two and five years. For investors, it pays to invest as close as possible to the man himself.
Wall Street megadeal quest reaches end of rainbow
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
After a decade-long quest, investment bankers on both sides of the Atlantic may have finally discovered the end of the rainbow. A $130 billion transaction between Vodafone and Verizon, longtime partners in U.S. wireless, would translate into a highly coveted – and given the post-crisis pace of M&A, much-needed – pot of golden fees.
Fruity American M&A saga may be about to ripen
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
An epic American M&A saga may be about to come full circle. Nearly 25 years after it was carved up in a landmark deal, much of fruit group Del Monte could be put back together. Along the way, the U.S. food giant has become an enormous part of Wall Street – and even City of London – lore. It’s practically a textbook unto itself for merger lawyers and bankers.
Bernanke deserves art museum spot next to Pollock
By Richard Beales
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Ben Bernanke probably deserves a spot somewhere in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. A record $495 million sale at Christie’s on Wednesday evening set new highs for Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein, Jean-Michel Basquiat and other contemporary artists. More collectors than ever have $20 million to spend on a single work. The buoyancy of the market paints a picture of an art world indebted to the Federal Reserve chairman and his alternative asset-friendly monetary policy.
Could Silver Lake quietly be rooting for Icahn?
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Carl Icahn may have a secret admirer. The uppity billionaire fired his latest salvo in the battle over Dell late last week, proposing a half-baked leveraged recapitalization. The plan could be a ploy to get Silver Lake Partners and founder Michael Dell to sweeten their $24.4 billion bid. It’s hard not to wonder, though, if the buyout firm isn’t quietly rooting for Icahn.
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