Chris Hughes

1 week ago | advisorperspectives.com | Chris Hughes

KKR & Co.’s recent deal for a struggling UK real estate firm was initially remarkable for landing in the midst of the American tariff turmoil. Now facing a domestic counterbid, this US-led buyout has become an emotive symbol of the London stock market’s capitulation to private equity and foreign takeovers. The odds may be stacked against the English interloper. But the situation has the feeling of an Agincourt moment for the UK market.

2 months ago | bloomberg.com | Chris Hughes

Regulators should use the discretion they have in how they police public companies and the hedge funds that bet against them. Life has never been easy for short sellers in Europe. Post Brexit, the contrast with the UK is becoming more pronounced. And it’s the more lenient British approach that should prevail. European companies have proved a difficult hunting ground. For starters, a hedge fund launching a public attack on a firm risks becoming a target itself for regulatory scrutiny.

2 months ago | bloomberg.com | Chris Hughes

CEOs can’t ignore that investors increasingly want share repurchases to be deployed opportunistically. Elliott Investment Management LP has landed on the register of one of the world’s cheapest renewable energy companies and is pushing it to do a jumbo share buyback. Can this piece of activism 101 really be so effective? After all, share repurchases essentially move money between existing shareholders and create losers as well as winners. Under scrutiny is Germany’s RWE AG.

2 months ago | bloomberg.com | Chris Hughes

The UK no longer wants to be a global antitrust crusader. Reform could see fewer deals get roasted. It’s good for bankers, middling for lawyers and worrying for consumers. The UK had a good stab at becoming the world’s toughest merger regulator when Brexit gave it new freedom to thwart deals. Is Britain now overcorrecting the other way? Reform aired this week heralds the UK probing fewer transactions and ensuring investigations that do happen are faster and less combative. Good for dealmakers.

2 months ago | bloomberg.com | Chris Hughes

It's hard to see what justifies the massive price bump Wiz won from its suitor. It’s not often you see big tech firms getting pushed around. Upstart Wiz Inc. has just squeezed Google owner Alphabet Inc. to pony up $32 billion for a privately owned five-year-old cybersecurity firm. Even if the search giant can comfortably afford this deal, investors may need reassurance it hasn’t abandoned financial discipline in its pursuit of strategic ambitions in the cloud.