Download PDF Introduction On September 22th Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC announced it would acquire a majority stake in the Mediterranean luxury resorts operator Sani/Ikos Group. The transaction, which values the group at €2.3bn, is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to customary regulatory approval. This is the Read more…
Download PDF Introduction On September 27th, 2022, the US-based, private equity firm Energy Capital Partners announced the end of the buyout negotiation of the British waste-management company Biffa Plc for £1.3bn (ca. €1.5bn). The deal is valued at 410 pence per share, or 28 per cent more than the FTSE Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Ernst & Young is leading the biggest shake-up of the audition industry since the collapse of Artur Anderson two decades ago. Towards the end of 2021, EY started discussing a possible split of its advisory business from the auditing operations. The goal of this transaction is to Read more…
Download PDF USA On Monday, the ISM Manufacturing PMI for September came in below expectations at a level of 50.9 against the consensus estimate of 52.2. This also marked the lowest level since May 2020. This reading supported stocks and bonds at the beginning of the week as markets interpreted Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Inflation is back. After more than 10 years with inflation rates at around 1-2% in most developed economies, governments and central banks are now being confronted with significantly higher inflation rates. This increasing rate of cost of living has prompted a majority of the central banks worldwide, Read more…
Download PDF USA The S&P 500 touched the lowest levels since December 2020 this week, reaching an 8% loss MoM. The 10-year Treasury yield reached a 12-year-high, approaching 4%. On Thursday, the S&P 500 closed at -2.1%, due to the fear of additional rate hikes, driven by higher-than-expected employment data. Read more…
Download PDF Introduction On September 21st, European private equity fund Investindustrial announced that it is buying 52% stake in Italian luxury food and beverages group Eataly. The deal will see Investindustrial invest €200m in the company, with plans to increase its worldwide presence. This came as a surprise to many Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Recently, it has been impossible to ignore the troubles Credit Suisse has been facing. After three years of scandals, the bank is evaluating to break up its Investment Bank to try to leave this chapter behind. Under the proposals allegedly put forward to the board, the bank Read more…
Download PDF Introduction On September 21st, Schneider Electric, which owns 60% of Aveva, submitted an offer to buy the remaining shares for £31/share. It will take the company private, in a deal valued at £9.5bn, one of the largest deals in the UK in 2022. However, with falling tech valuations Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Emerging Markets Debt is making a comeback in Google search bars. The term refers to sovereign bonds issued by less-developed countries. In fact, the words “debt” and “emerging” are closely linked: debt permits a country to raise fresh capital and with that to grow towards standards reflected Read more…
Download PDF Introduction The following article is heavily inspired by the paper “Investment Strategies with VIX and VSTOXX” (Stanescu, Tunaru, 2012) which analyzed different volatility trading strategies. The strategies are either based on a simple signal or the forecasting of spreads through GARCH models. After analyzing a more recent dataset Read more…
Download PDF Introduction As the backbone of the financial industry, the banking sector has always had a predominant role in worldwide economies. Over the last decades, banks have expanded their operations at a global scale, and imposed their presence in almost all economic activities. Understanding this vast sector requires dividing Read more…
Download PDF USA The start of the week can be described as the calm before the storm in major US stock indices, as investors digested last week’s higher-than-expected inflation print and were waiting on the Federal Reserve to announce their policy decision on Wednesday. Accordingly, no index posted significant gains Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Adobe Inc, one of the largest software companies worldwide, has announced the acquisition of software design start-up Figma Inc in an attempt to expand its online collaboration tools and reach new customers. The deal, which is valued at around $20bn, is a mix of half cash and Read more…
Download PDF Introduction On September 7, 2022, Repsol announced it would sell a 25% stake of its worldwide upstream business to EIG for $4.8bn, consisting of both equity and net debt. The transaction is expected to close within the coming six months, subject to customary closing conditions. The deal comes Read more…