HP’s new boss and a
disastrous deal
Comment
Hewlett Packard Vs
Autonomy:
I am not
surprised that Hewlett Packard is now pursuing the former owners of Autonomy
through US regulators and Courts to remedy what are clearly their own failings
in basic business decision-making. Furthermore, though I am not preempting their
outcome, I hold very little faith or confidence in that process, judging from
how American regulators have been extorting huge sums of money from UK-based businesses,
especially banks, in recent years. Look
at what is happening to BP; haemorrhaging cash at a rate that no multinational corporation
has ever suffered and survived, they may end up with a bill in excess of $50
billion. The sums suffered by BP and our banks far exceed the gravity of their ‘sins’,
if any.
People who
make a wrong commercial judgment should not expect the Courts to remedy their
loss. In the case of Guy Hands Vs
CitiGroup; where they claimed to have overpaid on the acquisition of EMI, they
subsequently lost the case and were forced to dispose of the asset, compounding
their loss. Royal Bank of Scotland
deliberately overpaid to outbid Barclays in the acquisition of ABN-Amro; this
was a reckless and greedy transaction that later rendered RBS insolvent and had
to be taken-over by the State. Though
the law suits against Facebook’s $100 billion IPO is not strictly a case of direct
business acquisition like the ones referred to already, it follows the same
pattern of people complaining only after
buying and sustaining at a loss.
Meg Whitman, the new boss of HP will be better
advised to concentrate her energy on rebuilding the company from scratch than
pursuing an unjust and wasteful witch-hunt that has no merit.
Cameron and Merkel 'agree to work together' on EU
Comment
David
Cameron’s family visit to Angela Merkel at her country retreat is a PR coup for
both parties. It clearly shines a
favourable light on the Prime minister, but may not be enough to appease his
eurosceptic parliamentary colleagues.
Similarly for Mrs. Merkel who is facing elections later in the year,
such advert will resonate well with many Germans amidst growing whispers of
resentment that Germany is becoming a sugar-daddy whose money is propping up
the rest of the Eurozone. Definitely the
PM knows that he can no longer hope to materially change the direction of
European integration, but the symbolism of his visit is equally significant.
In about 2
year’s time, all things being equal, I must hastily add, the PM will be seeking
another mandate from the British people.
British voters are intelligent enough to judge that this PM has already
delivered much from a very restricted position; struggling with a coalition
government with its inherent limitations and at the same time trying to rescue
an ailing economy which he inherited.
There was a great old sage that says: ‘To whom much is given much is
required’. But in the case of PM Cameron
the converse of this sage should apply: ‘To whom few is given few will be
required’ – So expecting the PM to perform miracles with what is in effect a
minority government is like asking an athlete with one hand tied to his back to
outrun Usain Bolt.
The PM
should remain true to his conscience and convictions and, in the meantime try
to optimize with the resources available to him. Among the many tributes paid to Baroness
Thatcher, the words of Sir Malcolm Rifkin best supports my argument that the PM
should not try to be all things to all men, but should follow his
convictions. Sir Rifkin recalled one
occasion when the then Prime minister Thatcher was asked if she believed in
consensus politics, she replied: ‘Yes, I do believe in consensus: There should
be a consensus behind my convictions’.
So, with
disloyal Tory parliamentarians exploiting the PM’s lack of majority at every
turn, his Lib-Dem coalition partners threatening to withdraw support if they
don’t have their way, and UKiP intent on splitting the conservative party,
there is clearly no way the PM can expect to keep everybody completely
happy. But you never know, 2 years is
long time in politics; between now and 2015 when the next election is due any
thing can happen. At a point in Margret
Thatcher’s 1st term as Prime minister she was so low in the polls
that she was not expected to win a 2nd term, but she went on to win
3 terms.
Finally, I
just hope the PM and Chancellor Osborne will carry on with their policy of
economic discipline because, to my mind, there is no third way. However, in the meantime, the PM should not
allow the controversies surrounding the EU to distract him from the more urgent
work at hand.
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