We've Launched!

by Salman 3 years ago 6 min read

This week we're celebrating the launch of our brand new website! We've also redesigned our newsletter to focus on the things that you engaged with most, with a new section for our coveted Live Learning Sessions (led, of course, by our team of CEOs, Portfolio Managers and other finance professionals.)

We kicked off with a session last week led by David Woo, who was voted one of the Top 12 smartest people on Wall Street by Business Insider. Up next, we have Jack Boland, an Equties Trader with 7+ years of experience working at BlackRock and multiple hedge-funds. This will be available exclusively for our Pro members.

If you haven't already - join our free and friendly community here to discuss the latest in markets, deals, and careers! 🙌

Highlights for the Week 💸

As London faces the risk of losing its status as the top financial centre, New York City has some problems of its own with major food delivery companies including Uber Eats, Grubhub and Doordash suing the city for its law on commision caps!

We summarise the largest deal of the year so far as AT&T agree to spin off and merge its WarnerMedia business with Discovery Inc. Our weekly podcast hosts Rowen Pham, a Private Equity associate at Partners Group. Finally, we feature an exclusive sentiment report that analyses the Chinese Tesla-killer, NIO Inc.

Upcoming Sessions 🗓

Introduction to Sales & Trading

🗓️Date: Saturday, 18th September
⌚Time: 11 am BST
📍Location: Virtual

Life Cycle of a Trade

🗓️Date: Saturday, 25th September
⌚Time: 11 am BST
📍Location: Virtual

Introduction to Private Equity

🗓️Date: Sunday, 26th September
⌚Time: 11 am BST
📍Location: Virtual

World View 🌎

🇬🇧United Kingdom

📳UK economic recovery slows to a crawl as ‘pingdemic’ bites: According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), output rose just 0.1 percent in July from the previous month, well below the 1 percent expansion in June and weaker than the 0.6 percent growth forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

💣London warned of risk of losing status as top financial centre: According to recent news, London’s position as a leading global financial centre is under threat without reforms to tax and labour rules alongside other policies to strengthen international trade links and expand into new markets.

🚛UK retailers braced for shortage of stock in run-up to Christmas: Although supply issues in food distribution have dominated headlines in recent weeks, non-food retailers are also encountering similar setbacks in planning and stocking up for their busiest period of the year.

🇺🇸United States

🧾Scaling back Joe Biden’s proposed tax rises: Democrats in the House of Representatives would like to scale back Joe Biden’s proposed tax increases on corporate income and capital gains, as part of $2.9tn in tax rises to pay for the US president’s expansion of the social safety net.

👩‍⚖️Food delivery sues NYC over fee caps: DoorDash Inc, Grubhub Inc and Uber Technologies Inc are suing New York City over its law permanently capping the amount of commissions the apps can charge restaurants to use their services, the latest move in a growing clash between the platforms and local regulators.

👷‍♂️Democrats advance plan to require employers to offer retirement plans: Democrats have included a provision in their $3.5 trillion healthcare, education and climate bill that would require companies without retirement plans to automatically enrol workers in individual retirement accounts.

🇪🇺Europe

🏦Russia raises rates to curb inflation ahead of parliamentary election: Russia’s central bank raised interest rates for the fifth time in a row on Friday, key interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.75 per cent.

📈ECB to slow bond-buying as Europe’s economy improves: After a two-day meeting of its governing council, the ECB has decided to move to a moderately lower pace in its €1.85tn pandemic emergency purchase programme from the €80bn-a-month level it has run at since March.

🟢Brussels to issue ‘Covid green bonds’ as part of pandemic recovery effort: Brussels is to issue its first Covid-19 green bond as part of its efforts to become the world’s biggest issuer of sustainable debt.

🇸🇬Asia Pacific

📉Japan’s COVID-induced business failures increases by 49%: The total number of coronavirus-induced bankruptcies from January to August reached 1,026, accounting for around 26% of all business failures in Japan over the period, with the restaurant and bar businesses having hit hardest.

📈China and India send coal prices soaring: The price of thermal coal used to generate electricity is nearing a record high as surging demand in China and India collides with a reluctance to invest in new capacity in a world heading for decarbonization.

💻Beijing to break up Ant’s Alipay: Beijing wants to break up Alipay, the payment app which has more than 1bn users, to create a separate app for the company’s highly profitable loans business, as it intensifies a crackdown on China’s big tech groups.

What's The Deal? 🤝

AT&T's WarnerMedia to Merge with Discovery for $43 Billion

Who?

Acquirer: Discovery, Inc (NASDAQ: DISCA)

An American multinational media company, operating a collection of factual and lifestyle television brands, including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Science Channel, TLC, and Food Network
Founded in 1985, headquarters in New York City, New York, United States of America
Employees – 9,800

Target: WarnerMedia - Owned by AT&T Inc (NYSE: T)

An international media and entertainment corporation, formed by the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications in 1990
It owns a portfolio of various entertainment, news and sports brands such as HBO, Warner Bros, Boomerang, CNN and ELEAGUE
Founded in 1990, headquarters in New York City, New York, United States of America
Employees – 25,000

Financial Information

Acquirer: Discovery, Inc (NASDAQ: DISCA)

Market Cap: $19.7 billion
EV: $30.0 billion
LTM Revenue: $10.8 billion
PE ratio (TTM): 24.86

Target: WarnerMedia - Owned by AT&T Inc (NYSE: T)

Market Cap: $200.7 billion (listed as AT&T)
EV: N/A
Revenue: $30.4 billion
Forward P/E Ratio: N/A

Deal Points

Deal announced – 17/05/2021
Deal expected to close – Mid-2022
Deal price – $43 billion all-stock, Reverse Morris Trust transaction; AT&T would receive this amount in a combination of cash, debt securities, and WarnerMedia's retention of certain debt
AT&T and Discovery shareholders will each control 71% and 29% of the new company repectively
Discovery shares were up 4.5% to $37.26 in early trading while AT&T was up 4.3% to $33.61
Acquirer Advisors – Allen & Co. and JP Morgan Securities
Target Advisors – LionTree, Goldman Sachs

Rationale

The main drive behind this merger is that it would result in a total enterprise value of $132 billion, with the combined entity generating $41 billion in sales. Discovery's CEO, David Zaslav, expects this to rise to $52 billion by 2023, creating the second-largest media company globally after Disney by annual revenue...

Podcast 🎧