On Dow Jones Investment Banker Today: GM-AmeriCredit, Biotech Deal-Making

23rd Jul 2010 16:55

LONDON (Dow Jones Investment Banker)--The following columns have been published exclusively on Dow Jones Investment Banker in recent days. Many Dow Jones Investment Banker columns contain spreadsheets, video, PDFs and other supporting material. To arrange access to the best of Dow Jones news and opinion on companies, sectors and deals for investment bankers, please contact [email protected]. To see more, visit: http://www.dowjones.com/banker THE SIGNAL: A Summer Roundup LONDON--Summertime, and the livin' is easy--unless of course you are trying to trade the equity market, which could be used as a textbook definition of whipsaw. Meanwhile, in the bond market, the two-year U.S. Treasury yield hit an all-time low this week. As a result, issuing equity in TMT land is pretty tricky, while the low government bond yields mean there continues to be appetite for company bonds that can supply a decent coupon. (Includes downloadable Excel spreadsheet of TMT deals since 2005.) Contact the columnist: [email protected] WHEELS: GM Plugs Its Credit Hole With AmeriCredit NEW YORK--General Motors Corp.'s $3.5 billion deal for its subprime lending partner, AmeriCredit Corp. (ACF), plugs a gaping hole in consumer auto finance and completes a key step in GM's resurrection. But GM will only garner the full benefits of AmeriCredit when GM goes public and wins an investment-grade credit rating -- milestones that will boost its new captive finance company's credit standing and lowers its cost of capital. Contact the columnist: [email protected] THE DRILL: A Biofuels Bounce-Back? HONG KONG--What's the link between biofuel production, food prices and the return to earth of soft commodity prices? Are biofuels really a viable industry for alternative energy production? In an interview with Dow Jones Investment Banker, agricultural economist Patrick Westhoff, author of The Economics of Food, discusses these issues as well as the challenges to financing and investing in biofuel production. (Includes video podcast interview with Westhoff and downloadable PowerPoint: A Biofuels Bounce-Back.) Contact the columnist: [email protected] THE REMEDY: Options Another Way To Mitigate Biotech Risk LONDON--Seasoned biotech deal watchers will have noted the significance of Actelion Ltd.'s (ATLN.VX) bid to acquire the small, privately held Trophos SA. The deal is structured as an option exercisable only after the publication of key study results -- an arrangement that's still relatively uncommon, but which could well catch on as buyers become increasingly wary of risk. Health-care bankers would do well to consider such an approach as an addition to their deal-making armamentarium. Contact the columnist: [email protected] THE DRILL: BP's Pain Becomes Apache's Gain NEW YORK--If the most challenging aspect of the oil and gas exploration and production business is replacing proved reserves, then $7 billion is a small price for Apache Corp. (APA) to pay for the three long-lived legacy properties in the Texas Permian Basin, western Canada and Egypt's Western Desert that BP PLC (BP.LN) is unloading. The deal offers a rare chance for Apache to catapult over its peers in proved reserves. Contact the columnist: [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 23, 2010 11:55 ET (15:55 GMT)