EM companies go shopping in the US and Europe
Emerging-market multinationals are setting their sights on acquisitions in the developed world, with deal activity surging 25 per cent in the first half of 2010.
According to a new study from KPMG that tracks M&A between emerging and developed economies, EM companies made 243 deals in developed countries in the first six months of this year, up from 194 deals in the second half of 2009 and 204 deals in the first half of 2009. Continue reading »
Jostling for control of Nigeria’s stock exchange
The struggle to control the Nigerian Stock Exchange has reached the highest echelons of power. The jostling potentates are not among the 900 applicants for the vacant chief executive’s job, but they are certainly taking a keen interest in a race that will shape the future of sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest bourse.
The post was recently advertised for the first time in the exchange’s 50-year history and the choice of new boss will go a long way to determining whether Nigeria can break with the market abuses of the past – and join the ranks of major emerging investment destinations. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Stocks fall as commodity prices dip
Latin American markets followed US stocks to a lower close on Monday, and regional currencies softened against the dollar. Mexico’s peso sank more than 1 per cent as disappointing June retail sales figures fed worries over consumer demand. Continue reading »
Counter-cyclical spending has never been popular in Latin America. As a new IMF paper argues, the region’s governments have spent as they have received – in the boom years.
So, with the continent’s economic recovery picking up and commodity prices set to remain high, why are Chilean and Colombian politicians talking about austerity? Continue reading »
After spooking investors with a calamitous array of defaults and near misses, the Islamic bond market these days is looking less accident prone. So much so that one Kuwaiti research house forecast on Monday that global issuance this year could climb to $30bn.
The research house KFH also highlighted how Islamic bonds are “globalising”, as the stable of issuers broadens beyond the Gulf and Malaysia to unexpected outposts including Japan, and possibly the UK. Continue reading »
[Hey Bric Spender] Guest post: Consumers are trading up
By Michael Geraghty of Citi Investment Research
As income levels rise in emerging markets, spending patterns - and lifestyles – are also changing. Consumers are increasingly shifting from basic necessities to more sophisticated goods and services.
Perhaps the most immediate form of trading up involves expenditures on food. As incomes rise and diets change, three things typically occur. Continue reading »
Nedbank: a sure bet for HSBC?
Nedbank may be the ugly duckling of South Africa’s big four retail banks, but it has not been short of interest from foreign admirers.
The FT reported today that HSBC is close to buying Old Mutual’s controlling stake in the South African bank, which HSBC hopes to use as a springboard to rapid growth elsewhere on the continent. Continue reading »
CEE markets wrap: currencies slide, Hungary holds rates
A downbeat economic assessment from the head of Hungary’s central bank led to a fall in the forint on Monday. At 1730 BST, the currency had lost 1.8 per cent against the dollar to trade around 223 and 1.6 per cent against the euro to 283.
As expected, Hungary held interest rates at 5.25 per cent, yet governor Andras Simor signalled concern over inflation threats, a slowing recovery, and a budget deficit of 4.3 per cent of GDP this year. Continue reading »
Deal of the day: Hong Kong toy manufacturer buys Chinese coal miner
By Yumin Wang of mergermarket
Fertiliser ingredients are not household names. Yet, with potash still in the headlines, a separate takeover in China is revealing the possible agricultural importance of another substance: anthracite coal.
Hong Kong-listed Kiu Hung has bought Chinese coal miner Sino View Group for HKD 8.9bn ($1.1bn) – 50 per cent more than the expected price. Continue reading »
China’s monster traffic jam: a sign of things to come
When economists predicted that the next stage of China’s development would see the fruits of growth spread to the interior, this isn’t what they had in mind.
On Monday, state media reported that a traffic jam stretching more than 100km on a major national expressway leading northwest from Beijing had entered its ninth day of virtual standstill. Continue reading »
ZTE’s €200m contract win to build a mobile network for the Telenor’s Hungarian unit is the latest in a spate of Chinese dealmaking in central and eastern Europe. The deal, revealed in Monday’s Financial Times, underscores China’s growing influence in the region, which some companies view as a testing ground or springboard before entering western markets.
In addition to selling electronics, Chinese companies are building roads in Poland, financing power-plants in Serbia and building cars in Bulgaria. In Hungary alone, trade with China totaled $6.2bn in 2009. Continue reading »
Beauty and the beast: the health lobby and China’s Big Tobacco
There is Big Tobacco and then, in China, there is very, very Big Tobacco. The China National Tobacco Corp is the world’s largest cigarette maker.
According to the Tobacco Atlas, published by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation, CNTC controls 32 per cent of the global cigarette market – almost as much as the No 2 and 3 companies, Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco, combined. Surprisingly, the global public health lobby has come a long way in China. Continue reading »
Asian markets were mixed on Monday, as news of possible acquisitions affected individual stocks but not wider indices.
In Thailand, strong second-quarter growth data failed to enthuse investors, with stocks falling from their mornings gains to trade flat around 894. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* HSBC closes in on Nedbank stake
* China boutique investment banks rising
* Blackstone invests in Chinese housing market
* Dana aims to convince KNOC to raise offer
* Sinochem and Vale approach BHP target Potash: report Continue reading »
Thailand’s economy roars
As if on cue, Thailand today posted better-than-expected second quarter GDP to rival some of its Asian neighbours, and add further evidence that Asia can sustain blistering rates of economic growth.
The country’s year-on-year GDP growth of 9.1 per cent is reassuring: the economy doesn’t seem to have missed a beat over the nine-week demonstrations earlier this year which ended in violence. While exports led the way, the really good news comes from domestic consumption which had been sluggish to date. Continue reading »
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