#private equity

#private equity

Foreigners have taken to looking at China with deep skepticism.Geopolitical tensions over Taiwan, harsh regulatory crackdowns, as well as a stringent Covid-Zero policy that put its economy to a standstill raised the argument over the past year that China is no longer "investable."But the investment thesis for China is looking up again.

It's no surprise that shares in Weight Watchers International surged more than 70% earlier this month after its acquisition of Sequence, a US telehealth service linking patients with doctors who can prescribe semaglutide medications, which suppress appetite and are being used for weight loss.I'd argue that Weight Watchers is not so much in the weight-loss business.

TripleLift laid off one-fifth of its workforce on Thursday, which translates to more than 100 employees, AdExchanger has learned.The cuts only affect employees in the US and Canada.TripleLift confirmed the layoffs to AdExchanger.The company says it's making this move as a course-correction after lower-than-expected growth.

Multi award-wining premium podcast production company Novel has closed its Series A round, securing a £5 million investment growth from capital investor VGC Partners.Founded in 2019 by Sean Glynn (CEO) and co-owned with Max O'Brian (Chief Content Officer) and Matt O'Mara (Managing Director), Novel has grown rapidly to become the biggest independent podcast company in Europe.

But after the shock, the FTSE 100 soared.Predictably, that's supported the FTSE 100, as has a higher weighting of mature "value" stocks relative to the now-unloved growth companies that have turned the fortunes of the US market.But it's well known that Britain's top stock index isn't really British.More than 80 of the FTSE 100's constituents are down this year.The FTSE 100's 25 biggest constituents account for around three-quarters of the benchmark's value, and this sub-group is almost entirely multinationals.

Masayoshi Son loves a dramatic deal.His next transaction could be the most riveting yet.The Japanese billionaire's stake in SoftBank Group Corp. has crept up to more than a third, according to an analysis by Bloomberg News.While this has less to do with him buying additional shares and more with buybacks and cancellations reducing the total float, the effect is the same - concentrating control in the hands of SoftBank's founder.

This should be the time when forward-thinking bosses can launch a takeover without having to fight a counterbid from a private equity firm, and hopefully end up paying a sensible price.And yet the shareholders of corporate buyers are punishing acquisitive ambition.What looks like an open goal is actually a trap.

A Safeway grocery in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Oct. 18, 2021.(Ash Ponders/Bloomberg News) The 2,270-store Albertsons grocery company is facing mountains of debt.It owes about $4.9 billion to worker pension funds and another $7.5 billion to creditors.Credit rating agencies say the company has a substantial risk of being unable to repay.

Most of the bad trends afflicting the UK intersect at London's office blocks.Brexit threatened the capital as a major financial center.Then came the pandemic-induced shift to home-working, rapidly rising interest rates, political instability and now the threat of recession.The sunken share prices of listed firms are factoring in all this and worse.