What You Need To Know This Week — February 15th, 2020
What You Need To Know This Week
A weekly recap to keep you informed on the most important events this week impacting markets, business, tech and the global economy.
JUDGE APPROVES T-MOBILE’S MERGER WITH SPRINT
After nearly two years of uncertainty, a U.S. District judge approved the $59 billion merger of the third and fourth largest U.S. wireless carriers, T-Mobile and Sprint. The deal will allow T-Mobile to capitalize on 5G technology to better compete with industry leaders AT&T and Verizon. Both companies’ shares rallied on the news, with T-Mobile gaining 14% and Sprint surging over 80%.
U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION CRACKS DOWN ON M&A BY THE LARGEST TECH COMPANIES
Anti-trust officials from the Federal Trade Commission announced a new wave of scrutiny of Big Tech’s acquisition activities. The FTC issued orders to Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple to obtain information regarding acquisitions they’ve closed over the past 10 years. The regulators are concerned about these technology companies’ “buy and kill” tactics of eliminating new competitors by acquiring them.
SIMON ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF TAUBMAN IN A MEGA-MALL MERGER
Simon Property Group announced that it is acquiring rival mall owner Taubman Centers in a $3.6 billion deal. The friendly, all-cash deal was struck at $52.50 per share, representing a premium of nearly 52%. The deal stands in stark contrast to many other mall owners, who have been more focused on shedding assets and reducing debt.
Recommended Articles, Podcasts, Books and Tweets
Save the date: Listen to Accelerate CEO Julian Klymochko discuss 3 Alternative Strategies to Diversify Your Portfolio on the AIMA webcast, February 24th at 11:00am EST. Click here to register.
Hear Mike Green of hedge fund Logica Capital talk about why the rise of passive investing might be distorting the market.
A profile of new alternative ETFs that offer hedge fund strategies.
As expected, Tesla capitalized on its massive share price rally and announced a $2 billion equity financing.
Greek 10-year bonds now yield less than 1% for the first time in history and far below U.S. Treasurys, which yield 1.6%. Investors who bought Greek government debt in March 2012 earned 3x the return of the S&P 500 (and also better than Apple stock).
Calgary-based RS Energy sold to Genstar-backed Enervus. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
At the Daily Journal annual meeting, Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger stated that he wouldn’t buy, nor short sell, Tesla stock.
Are energy stocks the new “Dogs of the Dow”? The argument to be bullish on E&P stocks is based on mean reversion: “Typically the best-performing sectors in one decade become the worst in the following decade, and vice versa.”
Human investors continue to be replaced by machines. The UK university pension scheme, one of the biggest private pension plans in the UK, is shuttering its internal equities team and shifting the capital into its quantitative and “responsible investment” units.
Alimentation Couche-Tard, owner of the Mac’s convenience stores, bumped its unsolicited takeover bid for Caltex Australia, Australia’s largest retail fuel and convenience chain, to $7.7 billion.
Meditation can help reduce the stress and anxiety involved with investing. A recent study found that 16% of CFA charterholders are meditators (myself included).
Shoemaker Cole Haan filed for an initial public offering. The company is currently owned by private equity firm Apax Partners.
Spotify paid $250 million for podcast company The Ringer.
With the exception of quality (return on assets), all long-short factors had negative returns in 2019.
The FTC blocked Edgewell’s $1.4 billion acquisition of direct-to-consumer shaving startup Harry’s.
Private equity firm Blackstone is making a push to tap mom and pop investors for their newest investment funds.
Xerox increased its hostile bid for HP from $22.00 to $24.00 per share, representing a total value of $34 billion.
The Mormon Church has a secretive $100 billion investment fund.
According to Jeremy Siegel, the 60 / 40 portfolio is dead. The cause? Low interest rates.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Just 3 months after flopping their initial attempt at an IPO, Canadian waste-management giant GFL Environmental is close to relaunching a $3 billion initial public offering.
