NIKKEI 225
29,098.24 -7.76 (-0.03%) HANG SENG
25,628.74 -409.56 (-1.57%) GOLD FUTURES
1,798.50 +5.10 (+0.28%) DOW
35,490.69 -266.19 (-0.74%) BTC-GBP
42,818.32 -2,581.09 (-5.69%) CMC Crypto 200
1,405.87 -68.46 (-4.64%)
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (0YO9.IL)
| Previous close | 67.49 |
| Open | 67.15 |
| Bid | 64.66 x 0 |
| Ask | 71.30 x 0 |
| Day's range | 67.02 - 68.15 |
| 52-week range | 29.33 - 128.20 |
| Volume | 127,837 |
| Avg. volume | 23,375 |
| Market cap | N/A |
| Beta (5Y monthly) | 2.43 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | N/A |
| EPS (TTM) | N/A |
| Earnings date | N/A |
| Forward dividend & yield | N/A (N/A) |
| Ex-dividend date | N/A |
| 1y target est | N/A |
- Bloomberg
Billionaire Activism Is Alive and Well in Paris
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Shareholder activism is alive and well in Paris. Mall owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s plan to raise 3.5 billion euros ($4.1 billion) to gird its balance sheet for Covid-19 was voted down by investors after opposition led by billionaire Xavier Niel and former boss Leon Bressler. Their victory is strengthened by winning three seats on the firm’s supervisory board.This speaks to the credibility of their campaign, but also to Unibail management’s blinkered defense. In a land where dissidents don’t usually win, it’s a big moment.French activist campaigns often flounder when met with the tight-knit resistance of a cozy Parisian elite who don’t take well to being bossed around by hedge funds. But the Unibail battle turned that template upside down. The credible faces and arguments were on the side of the activists: Telecoms mogul Niel’s experience with debt markets and deep pockets, combined with Bressler’s long career in commercial property, lent weight to their arguments against a rights offer that promised heavy dilution: Why not sell more assets, or borrow more, especially as Unibail has ample cash to hand?Unibail Chief Executive Officer Christophe Cuvillier’s obstinate refusal to engage with the activists’ arguments — on a call with analysts he said he and his team were not “fools” — made things worse, locking his side into an all-or-nothing bet. His view became increasingly one of a glass-half-empty: Without a capital increase to bring down Unibail’s borrowings, the firm might lose its credit rating, pay more to raise debt and be exposed to a worsening pandemic. Even as a shareholder proxy firm advised delaying a rights issue to explore options, Cuvillier stood firm.This stance only added to the impression that Unibail’s plan was driven less by facts on the ground and more by trying to defend a strategy that had failed to pay off even before the health crisis struck. Niel and Bressler could credibly point to Cuvillier’s debt-laden expansion in the U.S. and U.K., driven by the 2018 acquisition of Westfield Corp., as the original cause of the firm’s indebtedness. Unibail simply didn’t look in control of its destiny, with pressure to raise capital coming from short sellers and investment bankers. Confidence had eroded.Cuvillier could have offered an olive branch to the investors with a compromise deal but chose not to — right up to the eleventh hour on Monday, when Pfizer Inc.’s positive vaccine announcement sent Unibail’s stock up some 30%. This was a sign that a strategy based on the worst-case scenario was on rocky terrain, especially for a stock trading at a near-80% discount to asset value until yesterday.While this is obviously a big victory for Niel and Bressler, Cuvillier’s inflexibility ultimately sealed his defeat. He would do well to learn the lesson from this and take a more constructive approach now that his opponents are inside the tent. Covid-19’s second wave is far from over, Unibail needs to restructure and reorganize and the shopping-mall industry faces structural threats from the likes of Amazon.com Inc. Still, for the ordinary shareholder, it looks for once like a deserved victory against an investor-unfriendly outcome.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the European Union and France. He worked previously at Reuters and Forbes.Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. He previously worked for Reuters Breakingviews, as well as the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
This French Billionaire Could Get a Half-Win on Shopping Malls
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- A new round of lockdowns in Europe is bad news for Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s mall business, but it could help boss Christophe Cuvillier drum up support for a 3.5 billion-euro ($4.1 billion) rights offer to ride out the pandemic. Cuvillier is trying to convince holdouts that an immediately stronger balance sheet is the best protection after a 30% drop in adjusted earnings per share in the nine months through Sept. 30. It’s a view shared by a rising number of sell-side analysts worried about Unibail’s 24 billion-euro net debt pile. Still, even if pressure is increasing for investors to approve the capital increase when they gather virtually next week, Cuvillier’s activist opponents — telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel and former Unibail CEO Leon Bressler — have reason to hope they can wield influence over the strategic direction of the company, whose fall from grace isn’t all down to Covid-19. Niel and Bressler, who are campaigning for three seats on Unibail’s board, have built a credible case arguing that Cuvillier’s management team and debt-laden expansion in the U.S. and U.K. — chiefly due to the 2018 deal to acquire Westfield — are to a large extent responsible for the company’s vulnerability to the pain of a global pandemic. Covid-19 may be a once-in-a-generation crisis, and Unibail isn’t the only property developer to be raising capital in this bleak environment, but its epic tumble stands out. Unibail’s market capitalization has shrunk about 80% since the end of 2017 to 4.8 billion euros and its debt metrics are worse than those of peers. Hedge funds have raced to bet against the stock, adding to pressure from lenders and ratings agencies. The company overpaid for Westfield, and is suffering for it.Even more awkward, Guillaume Poitrinal, Cuvillier’s predecessor, has publicly thrown his lot in with Niel and Bressler.While investors may yet approve a capital increase, they won't do so gladly. Unibail stock trades at an egregiously steep discount of 80% to book value, so a share issue threatens heavy dilution. Usually, shareholders would expect to see some governance reform in return for giving their support.That could pave the way for a half-victory of sorts for Niel and Bressler. Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. has recommended shareholders approve a potential capital increase, but with a delay to allow a rethink with activist input in the boardroom. That might open the door to some key changes in the plan proposed by Unibail’s management. For starters, the size and timing of a cash call.Unibail says it has access to credit lines and cash worth 12.5 billion euros, which would cover about two years’ worth of refinancing needs. That suggests some freedom to wait a little longer, or sell more assets, before soaking investors. Cuvillier has hit back at the notion he’s going too fast — “We’re not fools,” he told analysts — but bond markets ultimately look awash with money.While Unibail has said all options are open regarding its Westfield assets in the U.S., more voices at board level might accelerate such decisions. And in a post-pandemic world, having a tech-savvy billionaire like Niel on hand to help reshape the mall experience would surely be useful.A lot can happen in a week, and there’s a reasonable chance that the coronavirus outbreak will require not one but several debt-cutting plans. Even if they don’t halt a capital increase, Niel and Bressler may still have their voices heard. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the European Union and France. He worked previously at Reuters and Forbes.Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. He previously worked for Reuters Breakingviews, as well as the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
