Admin

Chinese-led group to buy iconic Australian cattle rancher

  Bloomberg A Chinese-led group agreed to buy Australia’s most iconic cattle company in a deal valued at more than A$370 million ($288 million) after partnering with local investors. The venture, headed by a company controlled by Shanghai Pengxin Group, will purchase 80 percent of S. Kidman & Co., according to a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Australian Rural ...

Read More »

Blackstone’s Q1 profit down by 77 percent as asset sales slow

  Bloomberg Blackstone Group LP, the world’s largest manager of alternative assets, said first-quarter profit fell 77 percent as rocky markets curbed asset sales and new buyouts. Its real estate operation struck two massive deals: a $6.5 billion sale of Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. to China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co., which is expected to close later this year, and ...

Read More »

Skybridge with pool to link Manhattan buildings

  Bloomberg Workers have almost completed mounting the copper paneling on the American Copper Buildings (née 626 First Avenue), the new tilting, two-towered development on Manhattan’s East Side, but their most striking feature—a three-story, 100-foot-long skybridge—is still open to the elements. A Bloomberg photographer (and a laughably heights-averse reporter) had the chance to take the construction elevator up to the ...

Read More »

UK retail sales plunge; budget target missed badly

  LONDON / Bloomberg UK retail sales fell for a second month in March as Britons bought less of everything from food to clothing. The volume of sales dropped 1.3 percent from February, far more than the 0.1 percent decline forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Sales excluding auto fuel fell 1.6 percent, the most since January 2014. The Office for ...

Read More »

Saudi retailer Fawaz Alhokair Q4 profit slumps

  Reuters Saudi Arabian retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co missed analysts’ estimates as it reported a 98 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday after its operations made losses and total group sales fell. The company made a net profit of 3.17 million riyals ($845,626.48) in the three months to March 31, down from 201.74 million riyals in the ...

Read More »

Wal-Mart shrinks board to 12, founder’s son to retire

  Reuters Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it will shrink its board by three members to 12, bringing it closer to US corporate norms in a move the largest US retailer hopes would allow it to respond more nimbly to rapid market changes. The change will take place after Wal-Mart’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 3, it said in a statement. ...

Read More »

Darty battle heats up as Fnac makes bid

  PARIS / Reuters French retailer Fnac said on Thursday it would offer 145 pence per share to buy Darty , Europe’s third-largest electronics retailer, trumping an offer from Conforama, part of South African retail conglomerate Steinhoff. Fnac had originally proposed a takeover offer for Darty last year but Conforama emerged as a rival bidder in March, with an offer ...

Read More »

Inordinate delay mars China’s own regional jet take-off

  Shanghai / AFP China’s homegrown regional jet should have made its first commercial flight weeks ago, but the ARJ21 has still not flown any fare-paying passengers, dealing yet another setback to the country’s ambitious plans for domestically produced planes. Chengdu Airlines received the aircraft from manufacturer the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) in November, already years behind schedule, ...

Read More »

Starbucks comes calling in Johannesburg

Johannesburg / AFP Hundreds of coffee lovers queued early Thursday in an upmarket Johannesburg shopping centre as international chain Starbucks opened its first cafe in sub-Saharan Africa. The US-based global brand plans to open 12-15 more stores in South Africa over the next two years, with a long term plan of up to 150 outlets. “The timing is right. We are ...

Read More »

Ethiopia banks on mobile money for financial growth

  Doni, Ethiopia / AFP Outside a small store on a dirt track in the remote Ethiopian town of Doni, long queues wait for government cash handouts by the most modern of methods — mobile phone. Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country and one of its fastest growing economies, is pushing a new electronic payment service by phone — called M-Birr, ...

Read More »
Send this to a friend