Breakingviews

Deal prospects make Vodafone look cheap

By Quentin Webb and Robert Cyran
The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own.

Deal prospects make Vodafone look cheap. An optimistic reading of the underlying valuations suggests M&A could deliver shareholders in the London-listed mobile giant perhaps 35 percent more value than they have now. That’s an extra 31.5 billion pounds ($47.6 billion). But unlocking this would entail huge deals and huge headaches to match.

U.S. auto sales put brakes on economy’s detractors

By Agnes T. Crane
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

U.S. car sales are putting the brakes on the economy’s detractors. Americans are buying more vehicles thanks in part to pent-up demand and cheap loans. But the housing recovery helps, too. That and other economic data suggest consumers are looking beyond slimmer paychecks. Federal spending cuts allowing, that means the U.S. engine may be about to purr.

MetroPCS owners can forget a standalone option

By Robert Cyran and Jeffrey Goldfarb
The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own.

MetroPCS owners should forget about a standalone option. Dissident investors John Paulson and Peter Schoenfeld persuaded two proxy services that the cellphone operator is selling out on the cheap to rival T-Mobile USA and that independence is a better option. While the agitating may bring a sweeter bid, MetroPCS is unlikely to prosper or exist for long on its own.

Apple’s Chinese apology worth the loss of face

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

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook is starting to make a habit of apologies. The latest, in China, is worth the loss of face. Social media traffic suggests today’s worldly Chinese iPhone, iPad and Mac computer buyers won’t be swayed by what seems to be state-orchestrated media criticism. But the tech giant’s admission of arrogance is a cheap salve to a mass of future buyers of the company’s products.

How to go public and private all in one go

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

A Brazilian company seems to have found a way to go public and private all in one go. Biosev, an ethanol producer, is preparing to sell new shares next month. As part of the deal, parent company Louis Dreyfus is offering to buy them back in 15 months. It’s essentially an initial public offering, convertible bond and potential buyout packaged together. And it’s an overly clever solution to a unique problem.

Malone swoop frees Barclays but traps Ziggo

By Dominic Elliott

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

John Malone’s latest swoop in the cable sector is true to form. The cable tycoon’s Liberty Global was sitting on a paper profit of over 40 million euros hours after buying a 12.7 pct stake in Dutch cable company Ziggo from Barclays on March 28. Malone has shrewdly exploited a forced seller, after Barclays was lumbered with the millions of Ziggo shares it failed to sell for the company’s private-equity owners days earlier. What’s more, he has plenty of experience in using blocking stakes as a takeover strategy.

Potemkin Dell fight would have optical merits

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

Even losers could emerge as winners from the Dell takeover battle. Blackstone Group, Silver Lake Partners, the Dell board and founder Michael Dell could stand to benefit from the impression of a hard-fought auction. A Potemkin fight, if that’s what it turns out to be, just may not help shareholders quite so much.

UK’s new bank capital tsar starts as good cop

By George Hay

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

The UK’s new bank capital tsar has started life as a good cop. The Financial Policy Committee, created to monitor macroeconomic risks facing domestic lenders, has ordered banks to raise 25 billion pounds by the end of the year. That’s a lot, but it could have been worse.

Goldman and Buffett scratch each other’s backs

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

Goldman Sachs and Warren Buffett have found a way to scratch each other’s backs – again. The mutual assistance started during the crisis when the Sage of Omaha stepped in with a $5 billion rescue investment in 2008 that provided him with a healthy 10 percent yield on Goldman preferred shares. Now, they’re amending terms of warrants granted to Buffett in the same deal that also works well both ways.

Target shortage feeds desperate Mideast telco M&A

By Una Galani

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

A scarcity of takeover targets is feeding a desperate scramble in Middle East telecoms M&A. Bahrain’s incumbent operator Batelco is eyeing a stake in the enterprise unit of India’s Reliance Communications. It comes just months after agreeing a deal worth $1 billion to buy assets spanning 12 markets, including Monaco and the Channel Islands, from Cable & Wireless. Batelco’s pick-and-mix takeovers are symptomatic of a market where too many big telcos are chasing too few assets.