Opinion

According to one of India’s most respected bankers, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a mammoth sale of distressed assets, some $40 billion in the first round. Much could go wrong, of course, especially given that so many powerful interests have so much money at stake in the process. Fortunately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has stumbled in some of its biggest …

By making a bid to push Reliance Communications Ltd into bankruptcy, China Development Bank (CDB) has one what Indian lenders were trying their best to avoid. But now that it’s pulled the trigger, State Bank of India and other domestic creditors won’t be terribly unhappy. The Indian wireless company owes one fifth of its $7 billion debt to CDB, which organized …

Recent developments in the media world are suddenly highlighting the takeover value of also-ran TV-network operators such as AMC Networks Inc. and Viacom Inc., just as many of their stocks trade near lows. AT&T Inc.’s pending acquisition of Time Warner Inc., the parent of HBO, has been hogging the media spotlight, with the US Justice Department suing to block the …

China needs reform. This has long been the consensus advice from economists and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, whose recent “China 2030” report argues that Chinese leaders should strengthen the role of markets and liberalize legal, financial and other institutions governing the economy. Their to-do list is virtually gospel by now: free up trade and investment, unshackle the …

“Where does an 800-pound gorilla sit?” goes the riddle. “Wherever it likes,” is the answer. Norway’s $1 trillion wealth fund risks throwing its weight around in ways that exceed its authority, interfering in the sovereignty of other nations. This year, the fund has voted against remuneration proposals at more of the companies it holds stakes in, its global head of …

It’s taken decades but finally, Japan’s doors are swinging open for private equity. The country’s corporate giants have long been a coveted target for buyout firms seeking to put large pools of capital to work. Money, though, hasn’t been enough to overcome the traditional Japanese hostility to takeovers. Until recently, that is. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s exhortations for improved corporate …

California’s energy future is visible in the underground garage of a luxury condominium that rises behind the façade of a former San Francisco muffler shop. The parking spaces come equipped with charging stations for electric cars — an amenity that, as of next year, the city will require. The city law, which mandates that at least 10 percent of parking …

Tencent Holdings Ltd’s rise into a $500 billion company was fuelled by a culture of internal competition, where teams raced against each other to make ideas work. To become an advertising powerhouse like Facebook Inc., the internal barriers are starting to come down. The seven main business units of China’s largest company are working to synchronize data and study a …

Since the recession ended in mid-2009, the US economy has averaged annualized growth of just 2.2 percent, and the Bloomberg consensus forecast does not expect it to grow much faster in the year ahead. Estimates of real growth are just 2.4 percent in 2018. Some forecasters assume a stronger expansion as a result of the Trump administration tax legislation. Our …

It’s getting tougher and tougher to keep track of all the different versions of bitcoin. New iterations of the cryptocurrency are multiplying as disagreements over bitcoin’s design persist and opportunities for making a quick buck prove hard to pass up. The biggest offshoot, called bitcoin cash, appeared in August after it split from the bitcoin blockchain in a so-called hard …