Oct 20, 2012 19:46 UTC

Is everything sacred in Canada?

Photo

By Robert Cyran

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

Is everything sacred in Canada? At first it was a hole in the ground. Then it was the stock exchange and a DIY chain. This week, regulators blocked two more big deals, including a $5.2 billion bid for Progress Energy by Petronas of Malaysia. Taken as a whole, these actions signal the market for corporate control in Canada – especially when it comes to foreign buyers – is effectively closed.

Oct 20, 2012 19:36 UTC

Internet parasitism powers Barry Diller’s returns

Photo

By Robert Cyran

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

Barry Diller is abandoning Newsweek magazine’s print edition as the media mogul’s web businesses are thriving. But his IAC conglomerate seems to be powered by a risky form of internet parasitism. The $4.6 billion company’s stock rallied some 20 percent this year on a boom in online search largely driven by customers unwittingly downloading IAC toolbars. That’s no way to build a lasting business.

Oct 20, 2012 19:28 UTC

Review: The danger of trading machines

Photo

By Martin Hutchinson

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

It’s a quarter-century since computerized program trading led to Black Monday on the U.S. stock market. A new and more advanced generation of arcane algorithms now threatens capital markets. That is the lesson of “Dark Pools,” a new book on machine-based equity trading by the Wall Street Journal’s Scott Patterson. The book is a great read – and raises an important question: could the trading machines destroy the capital markets?

Oct 19, 2012 11:47 UTC

RBS’s CEO succession gains urgency post Panditgate

Photo

By George Hay

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

Royal Bank of Scotland’s succession planning is attaining greater urgency. After recent milestones, Chief Executive Stephen Hester is on track to achieve his five-year turnaround plan by its 2013 deadline. Meanwhile, Vikram Pandit’s unceremonious ouster from Citigroup on Oct. 16 shows the wisdom of quitting while ahead. RBS’s board should put two and two together and prepare for life after Hester.

Oct 18, 2012 20:51 UTC

Google’s hardware ambitions proving costly

Photo

By Robert Cyran

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

Google’s hardware ambitions are proving surprisingly costly. The search giant paid $12.5 billion for Motorola’s handset business. The division lost another $527 million in the third quarter and the mistaken early release of unexpectedly weak earnings knocked over $20 billion off Google’s market capitalization in afternoon trade. A bigger concern is the risk of long-term management distraction.

Oct 17, 2012 14:50 UTC
Edward Hadas

Starbucks cross-border tax tactics fail taste test

Photo

By Edward Hadas

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

Never underestimate the power of a government which changes its mind. The managers of Starbucks might want to contemplate that adage. The U.S.-based coffee chain reported last year a loss of 33 million pounds on revenue of 398 million pounds at its UK subsidiary for tax purposes, according to a Reuters report. The company does not disclose accounting results by country, but operating profit margin of the international business stood at 13 percent.

Oct 16, 2012 13:48 UTC

Investors may live with outrageous News Int payoff

Photo

By Robert Cole

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

Shareholders in News Corp would be forgiven for being outraged at a report that Rebekah Brooks, the former CEO of News Corp’s UK newspapers, has received a 7 million pound “payoff”. She left her post in July last year as allegations of phone hacking engulfed the News of the World and led to the abrupt closure of the Sunday tabloid owned by the company.

Oct 12, 2012 13:22 UTC

BAE needs a new chairman

Photo

By Chris Hughes

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

BAE Systems needs a new chairman. Dick Olver’s management of the attempt to merge the UK defence group with EADS was poor. He has also presided over a sustained period of share-price underperformance. After eight years on the board, he should make room for fresh talent.

Oct 12, 2012 08:36 UTC

Softbank-Sprint tie-up gets bad signal from market

Photo

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

By John Foley

Softbank chief executive Masayoshi Son has received a strong signal from investors. They wiped $6.2 billion in value off the Japanese telecoms operator’s market value on Oct. 12 after it confirmed it was in talks with U.S. rival Sprint Nextel. That’s three times more than U.S. investors added to Sprint’s worth the previous day. No wonder: a takeover would be a financial stretch for Softbank, and could preclude other deals closer to home.

Oct 11, 2012 15:41 UTC

Bumi should grit teeth and engage with Bakries

Photo

By Kevin Allison

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

No one trying to maximize shareholder value at Bumi Plc would want to start from here. Financier Nat Rothschild’s bid to create an emerging markets coal champion has been a disaster, thanks to clashes with the group’s backers in Indonesia. Now the country’s powerful Bakrie family says it is willing to exit the venture in return for a stake in coal assets they sold to Bumi last year. It’s fiddly and humiliating, but it’s probably a good deal for Bumi Plc’s shareholders.