• PG&E to Sell San Francisco Headquarters, Move to Oakland

    PG&E to Sell San Francisco Headquarters, Move to Oakland(Bloomberg) — PG&E Corp. said it plans to sell its iconic downtown San Francisco headquarters and relocate to Oakland, a move aimed at lowering costs after the California power giant exits bankruptcy.PG&E, which has called San Francisco its home since the utility’s founding in 1905, will move in phases starting in 2022, the company said in a statement Monday. It plans to lease its new building at 300 Lakeside in Oakland, with the option to purchase the property from developer TMG Partners.With the move, PG&E becomes one of the most high-profile companies to leave San Francisco for Oakland, a cheaper city located just across San Francisco Bay. The sale of its headquarters also allows the utility to profit off of investor interest in its longtime hometown, one of the tightest and most expensive U.S. office markets.PG&E said any net gains realized from a sale would be passed on to customers, and a transaction wouldn’t occur until it exits bankruptcy. The company, which filed for Chapter 11 more than a year ago after its equipment was tied to deadly wildfires, is seeking to win court approval of a $59 billion restructuring plan by the end of this month.“Our new Oakland headquarters will be significantly more cost-effective, is better suited to the needs of our business, and is a critical part of fulfilling our commitment to operate in a fiscally responsible way that will enable us to achieve our operational and safety goals,” Bill Smith, PG&E’s interim chief executive officer, said in the statement.PG&E said TMG will upgrade its Oakland property at its own cost according to the company’s specifications, which will allow for a flexible office layout and new safety measures in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The location will also make commuting easier for the majority of its employees who already live in the East Bay, PG&E said. It plans to consolidate its two other East Bay offices into the new Oakland headquarters.The utility’s 1.7 million-square-foot (158,000-square-meter) San Francisco complex was constructed between 1923 and 1925, according to its registration form for the National Register for Historic Places. It’s located in the South of Market neighborhood, an area that’s popular with technology companies.One broker estimate last year implied the property could fetch more than $1 billion. Still, it’s unclear how the market has changed since then given the Covid-19 outbreak.Demand in San Francisco by fast-growing tech firms, and local restrictions on building, have long pushed rental rates higher and buoyed the value of buildings. But the pandemic has made many companies reassess their needs with most of their employees working from home. Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. have said that many of their staff may permanently work remotely.“Even if most workers continue to work full-time in the office, plausible projections for increased remote work should put a sizable dent in long-term demand” for office space, analysts from real estate research firm Green Street Advisors wrote in a report last month. “That is highly unwelcome for a sector that was already facing challenging fundamentals and lofty valuations.”(Updates with details of the move starting in the second paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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  • CSL share price drops lower despite announcing a new acquisition

    M&A Letters

    The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price has continued its poor form and has been unable to climb higher with the market on Tuesday.

    This is even after the release of a promising announcement this morning.

    At the time of writing the biotherapeutics company’s shares are down 2.5% to $277.99.

    What did CSL announce?

    This morning CSL announced that it has agreed to exercise its right to acquire clinical-stage biotechnology company Vitaeris.

    Vitaeris is currently focused on the phase 3 development of a treatment for rejection in solid organ kidney transplant patients.

    Both companies entered into a strategic partnership in 2017 to speed up the development of this program. This partnership included the option for CSL to acquire Vitaeris in full at a later date.

    It has now exercised this option, which means Vitaeris’ research assets will now join CSL842 and CSL964 as part of CSL’s portfolio of products in late-stage development to address significant unmet needs in the transplant community.

    What is Vitaeris’ treatment?

    According to the release, Vitaeris’ lead phase 3 program is investigating the role that a monoclonal antibody called clazakizumab has in treating a naturally occurring inflammatory gene (interleukin6 or IL-6).

    This inflammatory gene is the leading cause of long-term rejection in kidney transplant recipients.

    CSL’s Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Development, Bill Mezzanotte, spoke positively about the acquisition.

    He said: “Clazakizumab has been a promising monoclonal antibody in the Transplant therapeutic area since we started working with Vitaeris several years ago.”

    “Acquiring Vitaeris and their associate expertise helps us to continue to grow our strategic scientific platform of recombinant proteins and antibodies. We look forward to continuing to advance this treatment candidate as a potential option for people experiencing rejection, an area where current treatment options for transplant recipients are limited, at best,” he added.

    What now?

    CSL notes that the cost of acquisition is modest and does not materially change its profit expectation for FY 2020.

    The terms of agreement include sales-based milestones and the company will incur additional research and development expenses. These are associated with the completion of the phase 3 clinical trial.

    In FY 2021, these additional expenses are estimated to be between US$30 million to US$50 million. While this might seem like a large expense, it isn’t in comparison to its overall research and development spend.

    CSL traditionally spends in the region of 11% to 12% of sales on research and development activities. This led to the company pumping US$832 million into these activities in FY 2019.

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    James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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  • Are the Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP share prices a buy right now?

    dice labelled buy and sell rolling on a sharemarket chart

    The iron ore spot price continues to go from strength to strength, topping US$100 per tonne for the first time this year. China’s iron ore futures market opened more than 6% higher on Monday after top miner Vale SA was ordered to shut operations at a site that accounts for approximately 10% of its output.

    Could supply woes make the Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share prices a buy?

    Vale SA to close multiple sites 

    The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reports that a Brazilian labor court judge ordered Vale SA to close multiple sites after a COVID-19 outbreak among workers.

    Investors may remember Vale’s tailings dam collapse in late January 2019. This tragic incident killed 237, left 33 missing and nearly 1,000 displaced. The closure of this mine site resulted in significant supply woes for the global iron ore market. This supply imbalance caused the iron ore spot price to soar from ~US$70 to more than US$120 per tonne in July 2019. This also saw the Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP share prices hit record highs or price levels not seen since the GFC.  

    Australia is the largest iron ore producing country in the world and is also fortunate enough to have largely tackled the spread of the coronavirus. However, other producers that play a vital role in the iron ore supply chain such as Brazil, Russia and India are still at various stages of the curve and ranked 2nd, 4th and 5th, respectively, for active cases globally. This is likely to see an impact on various parts of their economies, including mining. 

    Aussie miners to benefit 

    The Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP share prices are likely to continue to push higher following strong spot prices. Elevated iron ore prices will continue to support the market-leading dividends paid by Aussie miners. At the time of writing, Rio Tinto currently pays a dividend yield of 5.77%, BHP pays 5.87% and Fortescue pays 6.88%.

    From a risk/reward perspective, it may be challenging for investors to buy Fortescue at its current record all-time high prices. Alternatively, I believe it is feasible for the Rio Tinto and BHP share prices to revisit their previous highs. This can be further supported by the swift recovery of other commodities such as copper, coal and oil that make up a small proportion of the ASX 200 miners’ materials portfolios.

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    Motley Fool contributor Lina Lim has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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  • Is the Woolworths share price a buy?

  • Cloudflare Sees Uptick in Cyber Attacks as Internet Usage Increases

  • SpringWorks (SWTX): A Rare Cancer Biotech with Potentially >50% Upside. Recommending BUY.

  • Which markets or industries do you see perform best in the next decades (geographic vs. industry focus vs. cap size)? How do you build this into a strategy and portfolio to maximize expected risk-adjusted future returns?