May, 2020

• 16 May

  Facebook buys animated image library Giphy for $400 million

  

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc. acquired Giphy, a library of video clips and animated images known as GIFs that can be attached to messages to express emotion, adding features that could encourage users to communicate through its apps. Giphy will join the Instagram group within Facebook, according to a blog post, and the social-media giant has extended offers to more than 100 ...

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• 16 May

  Fiat seeks state-backed loan of $6.8b amid virus

  

  Bloomberg Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is in talks to obtain a state-backed credit line of about 6.3 billion euros ($6.8 billion) to buttress the carmaker’s finances against the steep downturn caused by the coronavirus, according to people familiar with the matter. Fiat’s local unit is discussing the facility with lead lender Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, the people said, asking not to ...

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• 16 May

  Ubisoft Sues Apple, Google Over Alibaba’s Rainbow Six “Ripoff”

  Bloomberg Ubisoft Entertainment SA sued Apple Inc. and Google LLC, accusing the companies of selling a ripoff of its popular video game “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege.” “Area F2,” created by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.’s Ejoy.com, is a “near carbon copy” of Rainbow Six: Siege, and that can’t be “seriously be disputed,” Ubisoft said in a complaint filed Friday in ...

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• 15 May

  IEA sees oil market improving amid sharp drop in output

  

  Bloomberg The outlook for global oil markets has “improved somewhat,” with demand a little stronger than expected and supply reined in by a brutal price crash, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. World oil production is on track for a “historic decline” this month to the lowest level in nine years, the IEA said in a monthly report. Opec and ...

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• 14 May

  World’s most controversial gas pipeline nears ‘endgame’

  

  Bloomberg Construction of the world’s most controversial natural gas pipeline is about to enter the endgame of an energy dispute that’s pitted the US against Russia and some of its closest trans-Atlantic allies, satellite images show. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, built to increase the flow of Russian gas into Europe’s biggest economy, was thwarted five months ago after US ...

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• 14 May

  Quantum eyes $5.5b for new fund amid energy-market rout

  

  Bloomberg Quantum Energy Partners is in discussions to raise roughly $5.5 billion for a new fund designed to pounce on opportunities that arise amid turmoil in energy markets, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Houston-based private equity firm, which sold a minority stake to Neuberger Berman’s Dyal Capital Partners, has begun discussing the new fund with prospective ...

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• 14 May

  ENN Energy aims for sub-zero gas prices

  

  Bloomberg One of China’s biggest natural gas distributors flagged the possibility of sub-zero market prices at its shareholder meeting, a scenario that would echo oil’s record plunge last month that stunned global markets. Gas prices could turn negative due to a lack of storage capacity, Wang Yusuo, the billionaire chairman of ENN Energy Holdings Ltd, said. He didn’t specify any ...

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• 14 May

  Mexico power reliability proposal challenges renewable sources

  

  Bloomberg Mexico’s energy ministry is seeking to prioritise state-run utilities over new entrants to support supply stability, according to a draft proposal seen by Bloomberg News, a step that could place restrictions on expanding the country’s renewable power capacity. The plan is the latest among moves by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration to reduce private sector generation, which have ...

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• 14 May

  ‘Murray Energy violated deal in loan default’

  Bloomberg Murray Energy Corp allegedly violated a bankruptcy financing agreement after manipulating financial information, according to court papers filed by one of its lenders. GACP Finance, owed some $90 million under a loan tied up in Murray Energy’s bankruptcy financing package, delivered a notice of default to the coal miner, court papers show. The lender alleges Murray improperly included non-coal ...

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• 14 May

  French power demand jumps to six-week high

  Bloomberg French electricity demand jumped to a six-week high as the nation began to ease restrictions on travel, business and schools as deaths from coronavirus continued to recede. Appetite for power in Italy and Germany continued to rise, leaving the UK, where coronavirus-related restrictions are slowly starting to lift, on its own with consumption falling week-on-week. A pickup in demand ...

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