Bloomberg China is ready to approve Qualcomm Inc.’s $43 billion takeover of NXP Semiconductors NV if it gets assurances that the US will lift a seven-year ban on homegrown telecoms giant ZTE Corp., people familiar with the matter said. The antitrust regulator has cleared all factual investigations, is satisfied with the remedies Qualcomm’s offering and only procedural issues remain, said ...
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India’s correlation with global markets hits 10-year low
Bloomberg A shrinking correlation between financial markets in India and those in the rest of the world is one reason to buy its assets. The weighted average correlation of India’s currency, bonds and stocks with those in other global economies fell to 0.32 last month, approaching a more than 10-year low of 0.29 set in November. The reading was as ...
Read More »Alibaba, Tencent join big names betting on Hon Hai arm’s IPO
Bloomberg China’s largest initial public offering (IPO) since 2015 has gotten the attention of the country’s top internet companies. Affiliates of Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., known collectively as BAT, are becoming strategic investors in Foxconn Industrial Internet Co. The companies are buying 21.8 million shares each in FII’s listing at 13.77 yuan apiece, the firm ...
Read More »Airtel chairman to invest $1bn in son-in-law’s hotel business
Bloomberg The billionaire who controls India’s biggest telecom operator is looking to pump more than $1 billion into a hotel chain founded by his son-in-law in London, people with knowledge of the matter said. The money from Bharti Airtel Ltd chairman Sunil Mittal would fund acquisitions by Sharan Pasricha’s Ennismore, a developer that owns the Gleneagles resort and Hoxton hotel ...
Read More »EU seeks last-minute tariff reprieve to avoid trade crisis
Bloomberg The European Union is seeking a last-minute deal with the US to avoid inflaming global trade tensions as President Donald Trump prepares to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports at the end of the month. “We’re at the beginning of a decisive week,†German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told reporters in Brussels on Monday. “We have to try ...
Read More »Sharp exchanges highlight BP fears of climate legal risks
Bloomberg After paying more than $65 billion in legal costs for the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, BP Plc is wary of the risk of lawsuits related to climate change. CEO Bob Dudley raised the topic of class-action lawsuits twice during the company’s annual general meeting in Manchester, England, saying he wouldn’t disclose certain climate targets, or even answer some questions from ...
Read More »Swiss factories get a franc warning
Bloomberg Just as Switzerland’s factories come roaring back, the rallying franc is a reminder of how the currency has the potential to pull the rug from under them. Industrial production is rising at the fastest pace since before the financial crisis and companies such as Schurter, a maker of electrical components, are seeing sales surge. Gross domestic product figures this ...
Read More »Brazil pension fund turns into a $50 billion activist
Bloomberg When BRF SA, the Brazilian food giant that produces everything from chicken to chocolate pies, reported a record annual loss for 2017, it took less than 48 hours for its second-largest shareholder to act. Previ, Brazil’s biggest pension fund, sent a letter in February demanding BRF Chairman Abilio Diniz convene a shareholder meeting to remove the entire board, including ...
Read More »Gas supply crunch thwarts EU’s plan to kill off coal power
Bloomberg Europe wants its industry to burn more natural gas instead of coal to reduce global warming. The problem is, there isn’t enough gas at the right price. Depleted gas stores after the coldest winter since 2012, coupled with pipeline constraints on flows from Russia and Norway, have driven prices to their highest level in at least five years. The ...
Read More »US-China spat casts shadow at Asia-Pacific free trade drive
Bloomberg The US and China’s on-again, off-again trade dispute is casting a shadow over Asia-Pacific nations’ efforts to further open up global trade, a senior Australian government official said. Delegates at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Port Moresby this weekend pledged to keep pursuing a free and fair international trading regime, in the face of rising protectionist sentiment. The ...
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