Warner Preparing to Tell Shareholders to Reject Paramount Offer
Company to recommend existing Netflix deal as soon as Wednesday
Warner Bros. Discovery WBD -2.51%decrease; red down pointing triangle is preparing to tell its shareholders to reject Paramount’s PSKY -0.75%decrease; red down pointing triangle latest offer as soon as Wednesday, people familiar with the matter say, and plans to recommend they support its existing deal with Netflix NFLX 0.62%increase; green up pointing triangle instead.
That would leave Paramount and its chief executive, David Ellison, to decide whether to sweeten its offer.
Warner’s shares have been trading close to $30, suggesting investors expect Paramount to up its offer. Netflix had agreed to pay $27.75 per share in cash-and-stock for Warner’s studios and HBO Max streaming business, while Paramount had offered $30 cash per share for the entire company.
Paramount’s tender offer is set to expire on Jan. 8, so the company could wait until then to decide to disclose an improved bid.
Medline seeks to raise up to $7bn in 2025’s biggest Wall Street IPO
Upsized deal to test investor appetite for new listings at end of choppy year
Private equity-owned medical supply group Medline Industries is weighing an offering of up to $7bn in an upsized share sale on Tuesday, in a signal of investor interest in what is expected to be the biggest IPO of 2025.
At $30 per share, the top of its marketed range, Medline was originally planning to raise about $5.4bn, but the company is discussing raising as much as $7bn, according to people briefed on the talks, though no final decisions have been made. A company representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
That would eclipse the $5.3bn raised by Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology in May. Medline’s deal is also set to rank as the biggest private equity-backed IPO of all time. Medline plans to price its IPO on Tuesday evening and begin trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker MDLN on Wednesday.
The offering has been closely watched on Wall Street as a gauge of the health of the $4tn private equity industry and whether businesses affected by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs attract investor interest on Wall Street.
Medline’s products are made in tariff-hit regions such as Asia, but its leading position as a supplier of branded medical equipment such as surgical gloves and wheelchairs has appealed to investors, who like its growth prospects and see the business as insulated from changes in the broader economy.
Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman’s $34bn acquisition of a majority stake in Medline in 2021 was at the time the biggest leveraged buyout since the financial crisis.
But PE firms have in recent years struggled to sell assets and return cash to their investors, making Medline’s long-awaited IPO a significant test of whether the industry can successfully reap profits from its biggest deals.
The company, which sells hundreds of thousands of medical supplies used by large hospitals, had planned to go public early in 2025 but delayed those plans after Trump’s tariffs triggered waves of volatility across global financial markets. Many of Medline’s medical products are sourced or manufactured in China and other tariff-affected countries, including Vietnam, Japan and Mexico.
The IPO market’s revival in recent months following a multiyear downturn in new listing activity has provided the trio of PE groups with a chance to begin realising cash from their investments for large gains.
The groups would have roughly doubled their combined $17bn equity investment if Medline’s shares price at the midpoint of their marketed range, said a person briefed on the matter. However, they will not be selling stock as part of the IPO, which will raise billions in cash for Medline to cut its nearly $17bn debt pile.
Founded in 1966, Medline reported $977mn in net income on $20.6bn in revenue over the nine months to September 27, up from $911mn on $18.7bn a year earlier.
Many of the biggest companies to go public in the US this year have struggled after listing. Design software maker Figma surged on its market debut in July, when it was valued at about $60bn. Its shares have since fallen almost 70 per cent.
Sources Say a Pool of Investors to Join L Catterton in Etro, Namesake Family to Exit Company
A banking source said the deal will be signed and made official on Thursday and will see Rams Global, Mathias Facchini, who helms Swinger International and is the owner of the Genny brand, and SRI Group invest in Etro.
MILAN — It’s taken a year, but sources say Etro has found a new pool of investors.
In December 2024, Rothschild was given a mandate to seek an investor in the Etro company, and a well-placed banking source said the deal will be signed and made official on Thursday. Speculation about a sale has been circulating on and off for years.
As per the agreement, the Turkish Rams Global is said to buy the Etro family’s stake, leading to the founders’ exit.
L Catterton acquired a majority stake in July 2021, but sources say Mathias Facchini, who helms Swinger International and is the owner of the Genny brand, and SRI Group will buy a 15 percent stake through a single vehicle. SRI Group is chaired by entrepreneur Giulio Gallazzi and is a multinational independent M&A corporate finance consultancy and proprietary private equity investments company founded in 2001.
Etro had no comment on Tuesday.
Sources believe Rams, which is a major real estate firm, is keen to further develop the Etro Residences, leveraging the brand’s home collection, a cornerstone and significant business for the Milan-based label.
Rams Global is no stranger for Etro. In October last year, chief executive officer Fabrizio Cardini unveiled Etro’s first residential project in a partnership with the firm to design the interiors of the Tower Rams Beyond in Istanbul. It was followed by another residential project in Phuket, by Amal Development in collaboration with The One Atelier.
L Catterton invested in Etro with the aim of growing the Italian fashion brand’s customer base, expanding into new categories, enhancing its digital presence and driving global expansion, with a focus on the opportunities offered by Asia.
Financial sources close to the operation at the time pegged the value of the deal at 500 million euros for a 60 percent stake.
Founder Gerolamo Etro, known as Gimmo, was appointed chairman of the company, which was established in 1968 as a textile firm and subsequently expanded into women’s and menswear and other products.
Etro’s ready-to-wear and accessories collections are designed by creative director Marco De Vincenzo.
The Etro family left their roles within the company shortly after the acquisition. The members involved included siblings Veronica, who was the creative director for the women’s collections; Kean, men’s creative director; Ippolito, who oversaw strategic management, and Jacopo, who was in charge of the home line.
The brand is widely known for its iconic paisley motif, bold patterns inspired by travel and precious fabrics.
Since his arrival at Etro from Dolce & Gabbana shortly after L Catterton’s acquisition, Cardinali has inked licenses for eyewear with Safilo; for fragrances and home scent collections with Coty Inc., the first beauty license for the Italian house, and for Etro Kids with manufacturing specialist Simonetta.
Birkenstock Continues U.S. Retail Expansion With Second Boston Area Location
This opening marks the German footwear company’s 15th company-owned retail store in the U.S.
Birkenstock is continuing to grow its retail footprint in the U.S. with the opening of its last location in Boston.
Located at 27 Boylston Street just outside of the city in Chestnut Hill, the new location marks the German footwear company’s 15th company-owned retail store in the United States and joins Birkenstock’s other owned store in Boston on Newbury Street.
Designed through the lens of Birkenstock heritage, the space features signature materials such as cork, felt and leather, and offers products for women, men, and kids.
Aside from the label’s signature sandals and clogs, the store also features a range of sneakers, shoes, boots, socks and more. Guests can also explore the Birkenstock Care Essentials collection, focused on foot and body care products.
David Kahan, president and managing director of Birkenstock Americas, said in a statement that the company’s new Chestnut Hill store is a “natural next step” for the brand in the Boston area.
“This new space allows us to bring Birkenstock to both our loyal fans and those just discovering the brand, furthering our connection to an area that has embraced us for generations,” Kahan noted.
The Chestnut Hill store joins Birkenstock’s expanding U.S. retail footprint, which includes locations in New York City, Brooklyn, Venice Beach, Miami, Marin County, Austin, Houston, Naperville and Nashville.
In September, Birkenstock also gave an early glimpse at its fourth quarter earnings ahead of a meeting with analysts and investors at its Munich headquarters.
Birkenstock reported that it expects fourth quarter revenues to total at least 520 million euros, growth of at least 14 percent on a reported basis and 18 percent in constant currency.
This would result in full year revenue of at least 2.09 billion euros, growth of 15.9 percent on a reported basis and 17.5 percent in constant currency, above guidance by 15 percent to 17 percent.
Birkenstock will release its full fiscal fourth quarter and full year 2025 results on Dec. 18.
Panama Ports Deal Hits Impasse as China Makes New Demands for Its Approval
Beijing threatens to block BlackRock-led deal to buy ports unless state-owned Cosco gets a majority stake
President Trump’s push to loosen China’s influence in the Panama Canal has hit a wall now that Beijing is demanding that China’s largest shipping company get a controlling stake in a deal to sell dozens of ports to a BlackRock BLK -1.17%decrease; red down pointing triangle-led group.
The proposed sale includes two ports at the Panama Canal and more than 40 others around the world, all controlled by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison 1 -2.10%decrease; red down pointing triangle. BlackRock and containership operator Mediterranean Shipping Co. reached a $22.8 billion agreement in March to buy them after Trump raised security concerns about Hutchison’s—and the ports’—connection to China.
That deal angered Beijing and, after initially pushing for China’s Cosco to be brought in as an equal partner, it has now upped its demands, according to people familiar with the talks. China is threatening to block the deal unless Cosco gets a majority stake, they say.
BlackRock and MSC had been open to offering Cosco an equal stake, but the demand for majority control and veto rights in running the ports is unacceptable, those people say. The White House signaled Monday that it, too, wouldn’t accept such conditions.
“The President has made clear that Chinese control of the Panama Canal is unacceptable, violates the U.S.-Panama Treaty, and jeopardizes our national and economic security,” a White House official said.
The deal is now at an intractable impasse, people involved in the talks say. A senior Chinese official said that Beijing aims to make control of the ports a negotiating point in the U.S. and China’s broader talks over trade and tariffs.
Meanwhile, Hutchison continues to own and operate the Panama ports. The Trump administration had originally threatened to take control of the canal, saying China had too much influence because Hutchison is a Hong Kong-based company and that could threaten U.S. access to the waterway.
Hutchison and Cosco didn’t respond to requests for comment on the latest demands from Beijing, and MSC and BlackRock declined to comment. In August, Hutchison’s co-managing director Frank Sixt told analysts and investors that “a deal of this size and complexity” wouldn’t be completed until 2026. Though it was taking longer than expected, he wasn’t troubled, he said.
“The ports group are having a very good year,” he said at the time.
Hutchison’s ports revenue rose 9% from a year earlier in the first half of 2025, buoyed by higher shipping volumes around the world as customers stocked up on goods before U.S. tariffs kicked in. The conglomerate’s shares have climbed more than 30% in Hong Kong this year.
Millions of U.S.-destined containers are unloaded and reloaded every year at Hutchison’s Balboa and Cristóbal ports on the Canal. Overall, more than 40% of all U.S. container traffic uses the waterway to ship goods between Asia and the Americas, according to the Panama Canal Authority.
Chinese officials have told BlackRock, MSC and Hutchison that if Cosco is left out of the deal, Beijing would take steps to block Hutchison’s proposed sale, according to people familiar with the deal talks.
In past global mergers, China’s Commerce Ministry has asserted rights to review a deal, sometimes insisting on changes that can appear politically motivated. China also has significant leverage over the parties involved in the Panama Canal ports deal. BlackRock and Hutchison have business interests in China, and MSC is one of the biggest movers of Chinese exports around the world.
In 2014, Beijing blocked three Western companies from forming a shipping alliance that could have hurt its trade interests. In that case, China scuttled a deal between MSC, Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk and France’s CMA CGM in which the companies would have shared vessels and port calls worldwide.
The Panama Canal Authority, meanwhile, is proceeding with plans to sell two plots of land on either side of the waterway to be developed into container ports. The head of the authority, Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, said he expected the bidding to be completed by January and for bids to come in from some of the world’s biggest shipping operators.
APM Terminals, the port unit of A.P. Moller-Maersk, and CMA CGM will both make offers, according to people familiar with the process. In April, Maersk bought the Panama Canal Railway Co., which operates a 47-mile line along the waterway and moves containers between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Vásquez said he estimated the new concessions would add around $500 million to the Panama Canal’s roughly $5 billion in annual revenue. Cosco, which operates terminals in a number of ports, including in Hamburg, Athens, Rotterdam and Genoa, is barred from bidding for the new Panama ports because it is a government entity, he said.
Washington threatens European groups over EU’s treatment of US tech giants
French and German companies warned their access to the American market could be disrupted
The Trump administration has threatened European companies with punitive measures to retaliate against the bloc’s treatment of US technology giants.
In a post on X, US trade representative Jamieson Greer accused the EU and member states of a “continuing course of discriminatory and harassing lawsuits, taxes, fines and directives against US service providers”.
In an unusual step, he named several European companies that could see their access to the US market disrupted if Washington decides to take action against the EU, including Germany’s DHL, SAP and Siemens and software companies Mistral and Capgemini of France.
“If the EU and EU member states insist on continuing to restrict, limit and deter the competitiveness of US service providers through discriminatory means, the United States will have no choice but to begin using every tool at its disposal to counter these unreasonable measures,” Greer wrote.
He added that the Trump administration would consider imposing fees or restrictions on foreign services, among other actions.
The threat is the latest escalation of trade tensions between Washington and Brussels, and follows a recent warning from Greer that trade between the EU and the US remained a “flashpoint” in Washington, despite a deal reached in July that alleviated the worst of President Donald Trump’s levies on crucial European exports to the US.
“They have many regulations and non-tariff barriers that block our exports and reduce our effective market access over there, while we historically have had very broad access for them . . . It’s quite unbalanced,” Greer told the Financial Times last month.
Trump has previously threatened tariffs and export controls on countries whose taxes, rules or laws on tech companies “discriminate” against the US.
US officials have also expressed unhappiness over the EU’s Digital Services Act, which forces big tech companies to police their platforms more aggressively.
Trump was outraged by a €120mn fine imposed earlier this month on Elon Musk’s X for breaking the bloc’s digital transparency rules. Brussels has also opened investigations into Google and Meta for breaches of its digital regulations.
However, the US runs a surplus in services with the EU, worth €109bn in 2023, partly offsetting its €157bn deficit in goods.
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told the FT on Monday that July’s deal had managed “to de-escalate and to a great extent stabilise the relationship with the US”.
However, he acknowledged issues could blow up unexpectedly, saying it required a “permanent effort in relationship management”.
Šefčovič said ongoing discussions had helped the US understand the EU’s perspective on regulation. But he added: “There is still a long way to go. But I always prefer talking, engaging, explaining because I think we have good stories to tell and we are the closest of allies.”