Share Prices Plummet Following Divestitures in 2019

While companies for years have generally underperformed stock markets after divesting significant assets, that tendency was severely pronounced in the first six months of both 2018 and 2019.According to a study of 251 divestitures with a value of at least $50 million that closed in the first half...

By David McCann • Aug. 21, 2019

Globalization Recedes from Its Prior Dominance

It wasn’t so long ago — just a few years — that globalization was a dominant business theme. Today, many companies are creeping in the opposite direction.In a survey of 444 C-suite executives by management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, almost half (46%) of them said it was “likely” that over the ...

By David McCann • Aug. 16, 2019

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Tax policy shifts: What CFOs need to know to stay ahead

Discover how evolving tax policies are creating new opportunities and challenges for CFOs.

By CFO.com staff

Retail Sales Jump Counters Recession Fears

U.S. retail sales in July indicated consumer spending continues to be robust, providing something of an antidote to fears of a recession.The Commerce Department reported Thursday that retail sales increased 0.7% last month after gaining 0.3% in June. It was the largest monthly gain since March.Ec...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 15, 2019

Will Inverted Yield Curve Invite Economic Chaos?

Wednesday’s yield curve inversion seems to have brought into clarity what some experts thought should have already been clear: at the moment, they say, the world economy is looking like a mess. Others, though, believe the inversion will not this time be the harbinger of recession that it’s been s...

By David McCann • Aug. 14, 2019

CBS, Viacom to Reunite After 13 Years Apart

Thirteen years after Sumner Redstone split up his media empire into its CBS and Viacom components, the companies are reuniting in a move to match up more effectively with the industry’s heavyweight players.The merger of CBS and Viacom announced on Tuesday will create a combined company with more ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 14, 2019

Aramco Makes India Move With Reliance Stake

Saudi Aramco has agreed to buy 20% of Reliance Industries Ltd.’s flagship chemicals and refining business in a deal valued at $15 billion that will boost the refining capacity of the world’s largest oil producer.The acquisition would be one of Aramco’s largest foreign investments and, according t...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 12, 2019

Why Finance Should Lead Sustainability Efforts

Once considered a bonus feature for companies, sustainability is now a business imperative for many and is altering the way they conduct business.From marketing campaigns that rely on the value proposition of sustainable products, as we’ve seen Adidas execute, to HR leveraging sustainability as t...

By David McCann • Aug. 7, 2019

Cars.com Dashes Hopes of Sale, Shares Tank

Cars.com shares plunged for a second straight day on Tuesday after the online auto marketplace announced it had failed to find a buyer after a 10-month search.An “exhaustive strategic review process” included meetings with 29 prospective bidders but according to Cars.com Chairman Scott Forbes, “d...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 6, 2019

Fox Buys Online Loan Broker Credible Labs

Fox Corp. will feature the Credible Labs Inc. consumer-lending marketplace on digital sites for its media platforms. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said it will feature Credible Labs data.Rupert Murdoch’s Fox has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Credible Labs for $265 million,...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 5, 2019

Latest Tariff Threat Could Be ‘Gut Punch’ for Apple

A further escalation of the U.S.-China trade war could create a major headwind for Apple as it struggles with sagging iPhone demand, Wall Street analysts warn.Apple shares tumbled last week after President Donald Trump threatened a 10% tariff on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese goods that ar...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 5, 2019

Takeway.com Delivers $10B Deal to Buy Just Eat

Netherlands-based Takeaway.com has agreed to acquire Just Eat in a $10.1 billion deal that could spur further consolidation in the crowded online food delivery business.The combined company would be the world’s largest online food delivery firm outside China, with orders worth $8.1 billion based ...

By Matthew Heller • July 30, 2019

U.S. Approves $26B T-Mobile-Sprint Merger

The U.S. Department of Justice has approved the $26.5 billion merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, but a group of 14 states said they will continue their legal fight against the deal, citing “serious” antitrust concerns.The federal government’s green light for the merger came after T-Mobile and Sprint,...

By Matthew Heller • July 29, 2019

Is More Quantitative Easing in Sight?

With the end of second-quarter earnings season in sight, there is good news and bad news for the banking industry.The good news is that the rate of change in U.S. bank-funding costs is slowing, from 50% to 60% year-over-year increases to about 30% or 40% this past quarter.Indeed, even though the ...

By David McCann • July 29, 2019

Key Investment Measure Surges 1.9% in June

U.S. core capital goods orders surged in June, marking a third straight monthly gain after weakness earlier in the year.The Commerce Department reported that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft — a key measure of business investment — increased 1.9% last month after rising 0.3...

By Matthew Heller • July 26, 2019

eBay Matches Amazon With Logistics Option

eBay has unveiled a logistics service aimed at enabling sellers to deliver products more quickly to customers, matching Amazon’s in-house shipping option.With eBay’s Managed Delivery service, merchants who sell on its platform will no longer have to ship goods to customers on their own but instea...

By Matthew Heller • July 25, 2019

Alibaba Seeks Share of U.S. B2B E-Commerce

Alibaba is going toe-to-toe with Amazon in a high-stakes move to grab a share of the U.S. business-to-business e-commerce market.Alibaba’s platform has previously been available for U.S. merchants to source goods. But the Chinese e-commerce giant is now inviting its buyers to become sellers, offe...

By Matthew Heller • July 23, 2019

Moody’s, Fitch Downgrade Boeing Credit Outlook

In the latest financial fallout from the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX planes, two of the three credit ratings agencies downgraded the company’s credit outlook.Both Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings affirmed Boeing’s current ratings at A2 and A/F1, respectively. But they lowered their o...

By Matthew Heller • July 23, 2019

Coal Bankruptcies Continue With Blackhawk Filing

In the latest bankruptcy in the coal industry, Blackhawk Mining has filed Chapter 11 to reduce a $1 billion debt load resulting from acquisitions of the assets of distressed mining companies.Blackhawk operates 25 active mines at ten different mining complexes in Kentucky, West Virginia, and India...

By Matthew Heller • July 22, 2019

AB InBev Sells Australian Business for $11.3B

Moving swiftly to raise cash after scrapping an IPO of its Asian unit, Anheuser-Busch InBev has agreed to sell its Australian operations to Japan’s Asahi for an enterprise value of $11.3 billion.The announcement on Friday of the sale of Carlton & United Breweries, which makes such beers as Fo...

By Matthew Heller • July 19, 2019

Uber’s IPO: Better Than You Thought

Was the Uber IPO a success? It depends on who you ask.If you listen to the media, it was a failure. To them, a successful initial public offering has to feel like July 4th fireworks. The stock opens 30% above the set IPO price and finishes the day up 100%. That’s a newsworthy IPO that (according ...

By David McCann • July 19, 2019

Gilead to Invest $5B in Galapagos Partnership

Gilead Sciences is beefing up its investment in Belgian-Dutch biotech firm Galapagos NV as it seeks to add drugs for treating inflammatory and autoimmune conditions to its portfolio.Under a $5.1 billion deal announced on Sunday, Gilead will provide Galapagos with $3.95 billion in research funding...

By Matthew Heller • July 15, 2019

U.S. Trade Policy Fails to Reshore Manufacturing

Significant changes to U.S. trade policy, aimed at bringing manufacturing back to America, are not having the desired impact, according to a new report from A.T. Kearney.In fact, the consulting firm’s sixth annual Reshoring Index showed that manufactured goods imports to the United States from th...

By David McCann • July 15, 2019

Core Inflation Posts Biggest Jump in 17 Months

U.S. underlying inflation rose at the highest rate in nearly 1-1/2 years in June, possibly easing some of the pressure on the Federal Reserve to take aggressive monetary action.The Labor Department reported Thursday that so-called core CPI — the consumer price index excluding the volatile food an...

By Matthew Heller • July 11, 2019

Piper Jaffray to Buy Sandler Boutique for $485M

Piper Jaffray has agreed to acquire boutique investment bank Sandler O’Neill for $485 million in a move that could boost its M&A business.Sandler O’Neill is a leader in advising small and midsize banks on deals, participating in 498 financial services transactions with an aggregate deal value...

By Matthew Heller • July 9, 2019

Alarm Firm Monitronics Files Chapter 11 Petition

Alarm system provider Monitronics has filed bankruptcy to implement a restructuring plan that would reduce its $1.8 billion debt burden by nearly half.The plan negotiated with creditors would eliminate $885 million of debt, including the $585 million principal amount of senior unsecured notes, wh...

By Matthew Heller • July 2, 2019