Daily Archives: June 17, 2011

ICBC-Standard Bank Argentina, deal or no deal?

June 17, 2011 11:55 pm by beyondbrics

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By Jude Webber and Richard Stovin-Bradford

Talk has swirled for months that South Africa’s Standard Bank is on the verge of exiting Argentina via a sale to China’s ICBC.

The two sides have been talking and a deal was not believed to be imminent. But Argentine business newspaper El Cronista Comercial on Friday reports that a deal has been reached to sell 80 per cent of the operation to ICBC for $700m to $800m. Clarín, another newspaper, says the Chinese are buying 75 per cent for $700m.

If confirmed, that would be a hefty premium on the price that Standard Bank paid when it bought the Argentine operations of BankBoston in 2006. Continue reading »

Tags: banking, China-Argentina, China-Latin America, FDI, M&A Posted in Argentina, China, LatAm | Permalink

Itochu buys $1.5bn Colombia coal stake

June 17, 2011 7:30 pm by beyondbrics

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by Mai Mizuta of mergermarket

Itochu, the Japanese trading house, pulled off a coup this week, beating both Xstrata and Glencore to acquire a 20 per cent stake in Drummond International’s Colombian coal mining operation. The deal, worth an eye-watering US$1.52bn, reveals a renewed hunger for thermal coal as a looming power deficit hangs over earthquake-hit Japan.

Tags: mergermarket Posted in Colombia | Permalink

Argentina: getting the figures to add up

June 17, 2011 6:55 pm by Jude Webber

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The Argentine government has trumpeted a slew of deals with a dozen car companies under which they have committed to balancing their car imports dollar for dollar with exports – a move designed to turn a $6bn deficit in the sector into a surplus.

But in reality, it is a classic bit of cobbled together government policy prompted by official alarm at the erosion of Argentina’s trade surplus, one of the pillars of its macroeconomic policy.

Why? Because some of the companies involved are making up their side of the bargain with other products that would have been exported anyway. Continue reading »

Tags: Argentina inflation, deficit, economy, trade, transport Posted in Argentina, LatAm | Permalink

Fund flows: EM bonds gain over EM equities despite Greece

June 17, 2011 6:12 pm by Jonathan Wheatley

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A trend sustained but modified? EM investors continued to migrate from equity funds to bond funds in the week to Wednesday, according to data from EPFR, the Boston-based fund tracker.

But inflows to bond funds were down from their peak in the previous week, in a possible sign of risk aversion provoked by the gathering crisis in Greece (see chart after the break). Continue reading »

Tags: EPFR, fund flows Posted in Global | Permalink

[Snap] Yuhe’s trading is halted

June 17, 2011 5:42 pm by Alexandra Stevenson

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Here we go again: another Chinese company just got pulled from trading. And yes, you guessed right, it’s a US-listed reverse merger. The company is Yuhu International, a supplier of day-old chickens in China. It’s trading on the Nasdaq was halted on Friday morning, according to an announcement on the Nasdaq website, which cited “additional information requested” as the reason for the halt. Yuhe’s shares fell 49 per cent on Thursday. Continue reading »

Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

Nestlé goes spice shopping in Serbia

June 17, 2011 4:43 pm by Neil MacDonald

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Nestlé, the Swiss-based coffee and confection giant, says it has bought Serbia’s locally loved “C” brand for packaged soups and spices.

The takeover – blending multinational investment muscle with familiar Balkan seasonings – guarantees brisk competition as Croatia’s Podravka gears up for expansion in the European Union. Continue reading »

Tags: cross border investment, food & drink, M&A Posted in Europe, Serbia | Permalink

Greece: CEE weathering the storm

June 17, 2011 2:51 pm by Stefan Wagstyl

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Central and east European markets have so far lived through the Greek hurricane remarkably well. Even Romania, which has been through the wars, economically speaking, and has a big Greek business presence, has seen little impact: a key $1.5bn eurobond launched last week on very fine terms has barely moved from its issue price.

But can this last? Even though most investors have taken account of the risk of a Greek default, it is hard to fully discount the potential consequences. The lesson of the Lehman Brothers debacle is that the knock-on effects are hard to predict. Continue reading »

Tags: debt, equities Posted in Europe, Romania | Permalink

Medvedev 2.0 – ready for action

June 17, 2011 2:00 pm by Courtney Weaver

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When Dmitry Medvedev got up on Friday to address global leaders and businessmen at the St Petersburg Economic Forum, the president noted that this year he and the country would celebrate “20 years of a new Russia”.

What stood out to the audience, however, was not a new Russia, but a new Medvedev. Continue reading »

Tags: corruption, FDI, investment, Medvedev-Putin, reform Posted in Europe, Russia | Permalink

Jack Ma: we’ve got this covered

June 17, 2011 1:30 pm by beyondbrics

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By Julia Grindell of FT China Confidential

Jack Ma, the CEO of Alibaba Group, has done a lot of things right. So when he told employees this week that “competitive advantage is not about size”, referring to his decision to break-up China’s leading online commerce site Taobao into three separate companies, China internet watchers should have taken a cue. But they would be forgiven for wondering: as a clear leader in China’s online retail market, what is the logic behind the break-up?

There may be more to Ma’s decision than meets the eye. According to surveys conducted by China Confidential, while Taobao remains the e-commerce leader, specialist websites are beginning to pose a challenge to Taobao’s market share. Continue reading »

Tags: China tech, internet Posted in China | Permalink

Podravka savours accession prospect

June 17, 2011 1:00 pm by Neil MacDonald

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Podravka – the spice maker at the heart of Croatia’s biggest corruption trial to date – hopes to bounce back to rapid growth, boosted on the country’s imminent accession to the European Union.

With Croatia seemingly poised to become the EU’s 28th member state in July 2013, the resuscitated company plans to spend up to €100m on expanding and upgrading its factories. Continue reading »

Tags: corruption, EU Posted in Croatia, Europe | Permalink

Polish mortgages: a pain, frankly

June 17, 2011 12:38 pm by Jan Cienski

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Thousands of Poles who took out mortgages denominated in Swiss francs, because of lower monthly payments than zloty loans, are now suffering sticker shock as the Swiss currency soars against the zloty thanks to growing troubles in the eurozone.

About 53 per cent of outstanding Polish mortgages are in francs – which is slightly less than in Hungary, but still enough to hurt. The problem is slowly shrinking; 61 per cent of mortgages were in francs at the end of 2009, a sign that since then banks have restricted access to such loans, as both banks and customers have become aware of the risks. Continue reading »

Tags: currencies, mortgage, swiss franc debt Posted in Europe, Poland | Permalink

New York headlines

June 17, 2011 12:02 pm by beyondbrics

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* Prada raises HK$16.7bn in Hong Kong listing

* China ups holdings of US debt in April

* Euro rallies on Greek deal rumours

* HSBC, Citi given nod to underwrite China corporate debt

* India needs coherence to lure back investors Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

Bonds: Fonterra goes for dim sum

June 17, 2011 11:15 am by Josh Noble

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Yields in Athens may be spiking, but there’s one market where bond coupons just keep heading south: Hong Kong.

The latest to tap the dim sum bond market is Fonterra – the New Zealand-based dairy farmer, which also happens to be the world’s biggest milk producer. Continue reading »

Tags: dim sum bonds, renminbi Posted in China | Permalink

Beijing: Greece could hit us too

June 17, 2011 9:58 am by Stefan Wagstyl

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A reminder from Beijing that the Greek crisis is anything but a local difficulty. Speaking in advance of prime minister Wen Jiabao’s visit to Europe next week, the foreign ministry said China’s “vital” interests were at stake if Europe could not resolve its debt crisis.

Investors seem to agree. With so much talk of a Greek default even good jobs and housing numbers from the US failed to boost Asian equity markets on Friday. The Hang Seng closed 1.17 per cent down amid a general drop of 0.7 per cent in Asian emerging markets, as measured by the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index. Continue reading »

Tags: debt, equities Posted in China, Europe | Permalink

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beyondbrics

Daily Archives: June 17, 2011

ICBC-Standard Bank Argentina, deal or no deal?

Itochu buys $1.5bn Colombia coal stake

Argentina: getting the figures to add up

Fund flows: EM bonds gain over EM equities despite Greece

[Snap] Yuhe’s trading is halted

Nestlé goes spice shopping in Serbia

Greece: CEE weathering the storm

Medvedev 2.0 – ready for action

Jack Ma: we’ve got this covered

Podravka savours accession prospect

Polish mortgages: a pain, frankly

New York headlines

Bonds: Fonterra goes for dim sum

Further reading: China’s gold rush over?

Beijing: Greece could hit us too

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