HONG KONG, Aug 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - ByteDance can't seem to quit its unhealthy acquisition habit, and it’s not alone. The TikTok-owner has taken over a high-class women's hospital chain for $1.5 billion, Bloomberg reports. Peers like Alibaba (9988.HK) and Tencent (0700.HK) have made similar forays into healthcare, with underwhelming results. Amid falling valuations and Beijing's sustained pressure on technology companies, this relapse into off-piste dealmaking looks even more ill-advised.

The video-app owner's unlikely target is Beijing-based Amcare Healthcare, which specialises in fertility, obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics. Catering to mothers is politically savvy in one respect: China's plummeting birthrate read more is a rising concern among policymakers. The country's 1.4 billion population may start shrinking next year, per a July United Nations report.

But the sight of a viral app specialist buying a hospital chain raises eyebrows...

NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Everybody has a price. And for Tesla (TSLA.O) boss Elon Musk, the price might be $5 billion. That’s the amount that he could reasonably pay Twitter (TWTR.N) to walk away from his $44 billion deal read more . It would save both companies a protracted legal battle, and, importantly, the headache of more disruption.

On the face of it, Twitter might prefer the idea of forcing Musk to make good on his commitment. The social media company said as much earlier this week after Musk repeated that he wanted to put the deal on hold. But if he digs in, they may have to go to court. That’s costly, and a reluctant buyer isn’t an ideal partner anyway.

Plus, Twitter boss Parag Agrawal has a business to run, and Musk is already making his life difficult pointing out potential flaws. If prolonging a broken deal took its toll on the company’s operations, it could haunt board directors for decades.

MUMBAI, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Gautam Adani is a different sort of Indian tycoon. The 60-year-old university dropout and son of a trader is a first-generation entrepreneur who has become the world’s fourth-richest man by building and buying critical energy and infrastructure assets at lightning speed. There is none of the obvious financial profligacy that broke many of his rivals read more in recent years, but other concerns cast a shadow over the billionaire who is starting to get too big to fail.

At some $220 billion, the combined market value of the Adani group’s seven publicly traded companies, all of which carry the industrialist’s name, has increased tenfold in three years. Gautam Adani leads as chairman and is flanked by his wife, brother, two sons and some nephews in various roles. The family’s power rests with large equity stakes of up to 75%, including in the flagship Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) which houses data centres, roads and airports and...

Posted

The $13 bln buyout shop's boss Kewsong Lee stepped down and co-founder Bill Conway will serve as interim CEO until a replacement is found. It chips away at the important leadership progress made over the past several years, Lauren Silva Laughlin says.

NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - What a difference a year makes: Consumers have gotten off the couch; and they are paying more for television. As a result, streaming service Netflix (NFLX.O) is facing a decline in subscribers after enjoying record numbers. Walt Disney’s (DIS.N) flagship product is due for a comedown. A price war is on the horizon, and Magic Kingdom boss Bob Chapek has the most to lose.

Eight out of every 10 U.S. households has a streaming service, according to a survey from MoffettNathanson. On average, they subscribe to three direct-to-consumer products, 50% more than three years ago, reckons Morgan Stanley. And television watchers are shelling out an average of over $50 on online video services versus approximately $35 in 2019, according to the investment bank.

There is evidence that the streaming market has hit a saturation point. Netflix lost 1.3 million American and Canadian customers in the second quarter, where it enjoys the highest...

Posted

The $13 bln buyout shop's boss Kewsong Lee stepped down and co-founder Bill Conway will serve as interim CEO until a replacement is found. It chips away at the important leadership progress made over the past several years, Lauren Silva Laughlin says.

NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Turns out tech bros aren’t as loyal to footwear and sustainable pledges as once thought. Allbirds (BIRD.O), the seller of utilitarian sneakers made from sustainably sourced materials, lowered its sales forecast and widened its loss expectation on Monday, sending shares crashing. Like Meta Platforms (META.O) and Snap (SNAP.N), it is also cutting jobs. And at a mere $632 million, the company’s prospects as a stand-alone company look to be walking out the door.

Shares are now about a third of their price from last November when it completed its initial public offering. If the company inks its sales forecast of $315 million this year, its value, net of cash, will be worth 1.3 times revenue. That’s less than half the valuation of established sneaker company Nike (NKE.N) and about a quarter the multiple of Roger Federer-backed firm On (ONON.N).

If Silicon Valley decides style and virtue-signaling are less valuable when working...

NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - What a difference a year makes: Consumers have gotten off the couch; and they are paying more for television. As a result, streaming service Netflix (NFLX.O) is facing a decline in subscribers after enjoying record numbers. Walt Disney’s (DIS.N) flagship product is due for a comedown. A price war is on the horizon, and Magic Kingdom boss Bob Chapek has the most to lose.

Eight out of every 10 U.S. households has a streaming service, according to a survey from MoffettNathanson. On average, they subscribe to three direct-to-consumer products, 50% more than three years ago, reckons Morgan Stanley. And television watchers are shelling out an average of over $50 on online video services versus approximately $35 in 2019, according to the investment bank.

There is evidence that the streaming market has hit a saturation point. Netflix lost 1.3 million American and Canadian customers in the second quarter, where it enjoys the highest...

NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - What a difference a year makes: Consumers have gotten off the couch; and they are paying more for television. As a result, streaming service Netflix (NFLX.O) is facing a decline in subscribers after enjoying record numbers. Walt Disney’s (DIS.N) flagship product is due for a comedown. A price war is on the horizon, and Magic Kingdom boss Bob Chapek has the most to lose.

Eight out of every 10 U.S. households has a streaming service, according to a survey from MoffettNathanson. On average, they subscribe to three direct-to-consumer products, 50% more than three years ago, reckons Morgan Stanley. And television watchers are shelling out an average of over $50 on online video services versus approximately $35 in 2019, according to the investment bank.

There is evidence that the streaming market has hit a saturation point. Netflix lost 1.3 million American and Canadian customers in the second quarter, where it enjoys the highest...

NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Turns out tech bros aren’t as loyal to footwear and sustainable pledges as once thought. Allbirds (BIRD.O), the seller of utilitarian sneakers made from sustainably sourced materials, lowered its sales forecast and widened its loss expectation on Monday, sending shares crashing. Like Meta Platforms (META.O) and Snap (SNAP.N), it is also cutting jobs. And at a mere $632 million, the company’s prospects as a stand-alone company look to be walking out the door.

Shares are now about a third of their price from last November when it completed its initial public offering. If the company inks its sales forecast of $315 million this year, its value, net of cash, will be worth 1.3 times revenue. That’s less than half the valuation of established sneaker company Nike (NKE.N) and about a quarter the multiple of Roger Federer-backed firm On (ONON.N).

If Silicon Valley decides style and virtue-signaling are less valuable when working...

MUMBAI, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Gautam Adani is a different sort of Indian tycoon. The 60-year-old university dropout and son of a trader is a first-generation entrepreneur who has become the world’s fourth-richest man by building and buying critical energy and infrastructure assets at lightning speed. There is none of the obvious financial profligacy that broke many of his rivals in recent years, but other concerns cast a shadow over the billionaire who is starting to get too big to fail.

At some $220 billion, the combined market value of the Adani group’s seven publicly traded companies, all of which carry the industrialist’s name, has increased tenfold in three years. Gautam Adani leads as chairman and is flanked by his wife, brother, two sons and some nephews in various roles. The family’s power rests with large equity stakes of up to 75%, including in the flagship Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) which houses data centres, roads and airports and incubates new...

MILAN, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Leonardo Del Vecchio’s successors have inherited vast wealth, but also some tricky investment questions.

The rags-to-riches Italian entrepreneur died in June leaving an estimated $26 billion fortune. His main bequest is a 32% stake in $74 billion EssilorLuxottica (ESLX.PA), which makes Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses and Varilux lenses. The company, which Del Vecchio founded as Luxottica and affectionately called “la fabbrica” (the factory), is likely to remain in family hands. The fate of Del Vecchio’s nearly 20% stake in Italian investment bank Mediobanca (MDBI.MI), and a related 10% shareholding in $24 billion insurer Assicurazioni Generali (GASI.MI), is less certain.

Responsibility for running the family vehicle Delfin has passed to EssilorLuxottica Chief Executive Francesco Milleri. He first crossed paths with Del Vecchio as an IT consultant in the mid-2000s and won his mentor’s trust after spearheading Luxottica’s digital...

LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Vowel-deprived British asset manager Abrdn (ABDN.L) has delayed its revenue and cost targets. It’s a logical response to volatile markets, which caused revenue fees to fall 8% year-on-year in the six months to the end of June. Operating profit slumped 28%. Yet the deferred ambition highlights how much further Abrdn’s turnaround needs to go.

Since taking over in 2020, Chief Executive Stephen Bird has cut costs, sold down stakes in non-core assets like Indian ventures and invested in faster-growing areas like individual savings, with the 1.5 billion pound acquisition of Interactive Investor. Yet the main funds business, which makes up the majority of Abrdn's assets under management, is still shrinking and not very profitable. Bird originally targeted “high single digit” revenue growth through 2023, and a cost-to-income ratio of 70% by the end of 2023. According to Refinitiv forecasts, analysts now expect 2% annual top line growth and...

LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - IWG’s (IWG.L) business model is looking a little shaky. Shares in the $2 billion WeWork (WE.N) rival fell 10% on Tuesday after the loss-making business said that inflationary pressures, the war in Ukraine and lockdowns in markets like China caused operating profit to stagnate at a worse than expected negative 2.2 million pounds in the first half. That’s in spite of leasing activity and margins creeping up after the pandemic.

Debt is another challenge for the perennial takeover candidate. In the six months ending June 30, IWG’s net debt rose 6% to nearly 7.2 billion pounds, equivalent to over 5.5 times the company’s revenue. The danger for CEO and founder Mark Dixon is that stubbornly high inflation erodes some of the benefits of his cost saving programme while the cost of servicing the company’s debt continues to rise. And, as key markets like the U.S. and the UK head into a downturn, IWG’s model of offering tenants short-term...

LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Vowel-deprived British asset manager Abrdn (ABDN.L) has delayed its revenue and cost targets. It’s a logical response to volatile markets, which caused revenue fees to fall 8% year-on-year in the six months to the end of June. Operating profit slumped 28%. Yet the deferred ambition highlights how much further Abrdn’s turnaround needs to go.

Since taking over in 2020, Chief Executive Stephen Bird has cut costs, sold down stakes in non-core assets like Indian ventures and invested in faster-growing areas like individual savings, with the 1.5 billion pound acquisition of Interactive Investor. Yet the main funds business, which makes up the majority of Abrdn's assets under management, is still shrinking and not very profitable. Bird originally targeted “high single digit” revenue growth through 2023, and a cost-to-income ratio of 70% by the end of 2023. According to Refinitiv forecasts, analysts now expect 2% annual top line growth and...

MILAN, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Leonardo Del Vecchio’s successors have inherited vast wealth, but also some tricky investment questions.

The rags-to-riches Italian entrepreneur died in June leaving an estimated $26 billion fortune. His main bequest is a 32% stake in $74 billion EssilorLuxottica (ESLX.PA), which makes Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses and Varilux lenses. The company, which Del Vecchio founded as Luxottica and affectionately called “la fabbrica” (the factory), is likely to remain in family hands. The fate of Del Vecchio’s nearly 20% stake in Italian investment bank Mediobanca (MDBI.MI), and a related 10% shareholding in $24 billion insurer Assicurazioni Generali (GASI.MI), is less certain.

Responsibility for running the family vehicle Delfin has passed to EssilorLuxottica Chief Executive Francesco Milleri. He first crossed paths with Del Vecchio as an IT consultant in the mid-2000s and won his mentor’s trust after spearheading Luxottica’s digital...

MILAN, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Leonardo Del Vecchio’s successors have inherited vast wealth, but also some tricky investment questions.

The rags-to-riches Italian entrepreneur died in June leaving an estimated $26 billion fortune. His main bequest is a 32% stake in $74 billion EssilorLuxottica (ESLX.PA), which makes Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses and Varilux lenses. The company, which Del Vecchio founded as Luxottica and affectionately called “la fabbrica” (the factory), is likely to remain in family hands. The fate of Del Vecchio’s nearly 20% stake in Italian investment bank Mediobanca (MDBI.MI), and a related 10% shareholding in $24 billion insurer Assicurazioni Generali (GASI.MI), is less certain.

Responsibility for running the family vehicle Delfin has passed to EssilorLuxottica Chief Executive Francesco Milleri. He first crossed paths with Del Vecchio as an IT consultant in the mid-2000s and won his mentor’s trust after spearheading Luxottica’s digital...