Breakingviews

A merger arb writes to Santa

By Donder und Blitzen

The authors are guest columnists for Reuters Breakingviews. The opinions expressed are their own.

After another thin and bumpy year for betting on M&A, one desperate European merger arbitrageur wrote to Santa. Breakingviews obtained a copy:

GE’s $4 bln swoop on Italian supplier is shrewd

By Quentin Webb

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

General Electric’s swoop on a key supplier should stack up. The U.S. conglomerate is paying a reasonable-looking $4.3 billion for Avio, the Italian aerospace components maker. GE gets savings and more exposure to a civil-aviation market growing at full throttle. The seller, British buyout shop Cinven, gets a satisfactory exit after a bumpy ride.

Sulzbergers will make headlines in New York Times

By Agnes T. Crane

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The views expressed are her own.

Expect the Ochs-Sulzbergers to make headlines in their own New York Times in 2013. The family that controls the U.S. paper of record has loyally seen it through some dark days. With the Gray Lady now on sturdier financial ground, they have a better chance to find a safe custodian at a decent price – maybe someone like billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The window of opportunity could close quickly.

Market signals turning point in U.S. gun debate

By Robert Cyran

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Private equity isn’t known for squeamishness – or for dumping promising investments. So it’s significant that Cerberus Capital Management is selling its stake in Freedom Group, the largest U.S. firearms maker, following the Newtown school atrocity last week. Gunmakers’ shares are plunging, too: big money is betting on tougher restrictions.

India’s Jet a better bet than Kingfisher for Etihad

By Andy Mukherjee and Una Galani

The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own.

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways is spoilt for choice in India: It could decide to be a white knight to billionaire Vijay Mallya’s beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines. Or the Gulf carrier could snap up a smaller stake in Jet Airways, which controls a quarter of the domestic Indian market. The latter looks the better bet.

Sprint confronts starry-eyed activists

By Robert Cyran
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Sprint is taking on some starry-eyed activists. The U.S. mobile operator being acquired by Japan’s Softbank is offering $2.1 billion for the 48 percent of Clearwire it doesn’t already own. At $2.90 a share, the 5 percent premium to the closing price on Wednesday won’t satisfy uppity investors who want Clearwire to seek other options for its storehouse of wireless spectrum. Sprint’s control limits their power, but the activists could yet elicit a sweetener.

Qatar gives SocGen an honourable exit from Egypt

By Una Galani

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

Qatar has given Societe Generale an honorable exit from Egypt. State-backed Qatar National Bank will buy the French bank’s 77 percent stake in its Egyptian unit, National Societe Generale Bank (NSGB), through a mandatory tender offer valuing the whole at $2.6 billion. The valuation of 2 times book value is lower than pre-revolution multiples, and SocGen will have to carry some currency risk. But with few-sizeable buyers willing to live with Arab spring volatility, it makes sense for SocGen to shrink while it can.

China Inc helps AIG streamline, at a price

By John Foley

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Bob Benmosche is making AIG more aerodynamic – at a price. The U.S. insurer has agreed to sell its aircraft leasing business to a Chinese-led group for a valuation of $5.3 billion. AIG’s own shareholders will probably forgive their chief executive for the mean headline number and the lack of a clean exit, and focus on the fact that AIG is a step closer to independence from its government shareholder.

Freeport deal triangle gets cozier and cozier

By Christopher Swann

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold’s foray into energy keeps getting cozier for the top executives involved. The U.S. mining group’s market value has plunged $6 billion following news of its planned purchase of Plains Exploration & Production and McMoRan Exploration. Yet Jim Bob Moffett, Freeport’s chairman, and James Flores, chief executive of Plains, will come out ahead.

Banking union will revive pan-EU bank M&A

By George Hay

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own

Europe’s banking union could reignite cross-border bank mergers. Spooked by financial and euro zone crises, national regulators have pressed their charges to retrench to domestic markets. But the arrival of a single supervisor and central bailout fund could revive the M&A frenzy seen earlier in the decade.