But then Scavone saw signs of an earnings crunch as Stewart had to absorb high-priced acquisitions and faced margin pressure from less expensive cremations.

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Referring to a spate of high-priced acquisitions of regional assets in the past year, a banker familiar with the deal said some buyers in Southeast Asia are pricing bids based not on fundamental valuations, but on the amount of funding they can secure from lenders.

WSJ: Thai Tycoon Offers $6.6 Billion for Siam Makro

In fact, referring to a spate of high-priced acquisitions of regional assets in the past year, a banker familiar with the deal said Wednesday that some buyers in Southeast Asia are pricing bids based not on fundamental valuations, but on the amount of funding they can secure from lenders.

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