Merger and acquisition activity in the telecommunications market slowed in 2023. Around the globe, such activity reached a mere $61 billion in deal volume, down 15% from 2022. Furthermore, the deal value numbers may be misleadingly high, because a single deal -- an outlier -- made them look respectable. Telecomm Italian agreed to sell its fixed network business to KKR and that is a $23.3 billion deal, almost two fifths of the whole. I'm sure the question on your collective mind right now is -- "Wait: KKR is betting on old-school landlines?" But let us move on to another question. Why this decline in deal value? Here is a short answer. Interest rates have persisted at high levels for years now. Central bankers stopped raising them, but this was a pause AT a high level, with the bankers taking a "high for longer" stance rather than "an even higher peak for shorter". The plateau is more annoying that the peak would have been, if you are tryin...
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At this time of year I ask myself what were the biggest stories of the past twelve months in business/financial news. Here are the twelve stores that especially caught my attention and that in retrospect I recommend to yours. I'll make no effort to rank their importance against one another, so I will order them simply by month. January: Brick and mortar retail. A bankruptcy court judge offered Lambert, the man behind the chief institutional owner of Sears, another chance at avoiding the liquidation of that august institution. (Update -- Lambert would get that chance, but wouldn't make it stick. By end of year liquidation was well advanced.) February : Space exploration for profit. The Dutch organization, Mars One, entered bankruptcy. Why do I elevate that fact to the unutterable prestige suggested by putting it on this list? Because it suggests the narrowness of the line that now separates reasonable business plans from fantasy/fraud. Mars One had planned to cr...