Milken Moments, More Musk
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This week saw the return of the Milken Institute Global Conference, where business leaders, politicians, investors and media gathered to discuss some of today’s most pressing issues and networked by the always-packed pool at the Beverly Hills Hilton.
One highlight for us was a panel on Global M&A. Speakers from a cross-section of banking, finance and law touched on the strain that economic stressors like inflation and supply chain issues are placing on dealmaking and the IPO market. Melissa Sawyer, global head of Sullivan & Cromwell’s M&A Group, noted that despite the pause on deals, companies are still participating in joint ventures, strategic alliances and other commercial arrangements. Steve Geller, global co-head of M&A at Credit Suisse, predicted a significant acceleration following this lull.
Elsewhere in Twitter/Musk news, a number of commentators continued to question Twitter’s board decision-making, while Elon Musk disclosed that he secured additional financing commitments to back his $44bn bid for Twitter. The group includes well-heeled names such Larry Ellison, Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, bitcoin exchange binance.com and Saudi investor Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, which may have been foreshadowed in the merger agreement that cited the need for foreign investment clearances. But some still questioned whether Mr. Musk has secured sufficient financing.
Have a great weekend,
The GPP Team
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Bloomberg: How to Fix Dealmaking Slowdown Is the Talk of Milken’s M&A Crowd
Rising interest rates, the war in Ukraine, inflation and other headwinds are stymieing M&A and IPOs—for now. But expect activity to ramp up once companies get used to the "new normal." Read More
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The Wall Street Journal: Elon Musk Gets $7 Billion In Fresh Financing for Twitter Deal
Tesla Inc.’s chief executive has lined up about $7.14 billion from 19 investors, a roster of big-money backers whose investment effectively reduces the personal risk Mr. Musk has to take to close the $44 billion deal for the social-media company. Read More
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Bloomberg: Twitter’s Board Gave Up
Ten years ago, if you had said that the job of a board of directors was to maximize the stock price, a lot of people would have said, “well sure yes of course,” but now we have stakeholder capitalism and environmental, social and governance investing. Read More
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Financial Times: Ellison, Binance and Sequoia back Musk’s $44bn bid for Twitter
With the new financing commitments, Musk will cut the margin loan he has taken with a group of lenders by half to $6.25bn and increase the equity portion to $27.25bn. The remainder of the purchase price will be paid with debt raised from global banks. Read More
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Breakingviews: Musk Co-Investor Roster Underwhelms In Many Ways
“World’s richest man with extraordinary track record looking for investment partners for latest venture,” sounds like a slam dunk pitch. Read More
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Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog: The Twitter Board Bears Personal Responsibility for a Bad Outcome in the Twitter Sale
Let’s be clear about this: The Twitter board was under no legal compulsion to accept Elon Musk’s offer for the company and, from a corporate governance structural point of view, was in an unassailable position until the 2024 shareholders meeting. Read More
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NY Times DealBook: Abortion Is a Business Issue
Women make up half of the work force, but the issue’s divisiveness has led many companies to keep quiet on the issue for now. Read More
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Financial Times: Corporate America Reacts With Near Silence to Draft Abortion Ruling
Chief executives have become increasingly vocal in the country’s biggest debates, from voting rights to gun control, infuriating rightwing politicians who accuse corporate America of embracing “woke” liberal causes. Abortion had been the exception. Read More
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Bloomberg: Carl Icahn Pushes McDonald’s to Expand Meatless Options
The billionaire investor said in a new 65-page presentation that part of his plan to improve the environmental, social and governance issues at McDonald’s includes setting a time line for growing revenue from alternative protein sources. Read More
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Axios: Record Number of Women Appointed to Fortune 500 Boards
Women comprised 45% of all new Fortune 500 board appointments in 2021, a new high, while Black directors were 26% of new appointees, a tad lower than 2020 after a surge that year. Read More
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Financial Times Opinion: Business Cannot Brush Off ESG as a Mere PR Challenge
Managers must engage employees and align social responsibility with what their company actually does. Read More
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The Daily: Are Unions Making a Comeback?
The circumstances that have prompted these unionization efforts have some similarities with the period that brought the largest gain in union membership in U.S. history, during the 1930s. Listen Here
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The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2022 convenes at the most consequential geopolitical and geo-economic moment of the past three decades and against the backdrop of a once-in-a-century pandemic. The meeting will bring together over 2,000 leaders and experts from around the world in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
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The series is a mix of live interactive webcasts and on-demand modules offering an intensive but basic introduction to the legal aspects of the M&A world. It provides a foundation in M&A terminology, deal structure, key acquisition agreement provisions (focusing primarily on acquisitions of privately held businesses), due diligence, and more.
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Directors’ College is the nation’s premier executive education program for directors and senior executives of publicly traded firms. At Directors’ College, engage virtually with leading CEOs, directors, regulators, jurists, and scholars on a rigorous and balanced examination of a broad range of issues that confront modern boards, including crisis anticipation and management, shareholder engagement, compensation strategy, board evaluation and refreshment, and emerging challenges including artificial intelligence and the politicization of the corporation.
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