May, 2019

• 5 May

  Bharti Airtel plans IPO for its $5bn Africa arm

  

  Bloomberg Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s second-biggest wireless carrier, is preparing to kick off the initial public offering of its Africa unit in a deal that could raise about $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Airtel Africa is planning to make a formal announcement about the London listing this month and aims to start trading in June, the people ...

  Read More »
• 5 May

  China’s Mindray relisting creates new billionaire

  

  Bloomberg When Li Xiting secured his company’s first contract at a medical-equipment convention in the 1990s, he was trembling with such excitem Today, Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics is China’s largest medical-equipment manufacturer, a $25 billion behemoth that has made Li, the chairman, Singapore’s third-richest person with a $7.2 billion fortune, and given fellow co-founder Xu Hang a $6.7 billion nest ...

  Read More »
• 5 May

  Merkel weighs German carbon tax to speed up pollution cuts

  

  Bloomberg Germany is considering whe-ther to impose a tax on carbon pollution or push to expand the existing European market in an effort to speed up the pace of reducing greenhouse gases. Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for putting a price on the emissions from industries such as transport and buildings that are outside the European Union’s carbon trading program. ...

  Read More »
• 5 May

  Euro-area’s factory slump eases in April

  

  Bloomberg The euro area’s manufacturing slump showed tentative improvement in April as Italy’s contraction slowed markedly and French industry stopped shrinking. A Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at 47.9 in April, up from March and a touch above both economists’ estimates and a previous reading for the month. It was still below the 50 level that would indicate expansion. The ...

  Read More »
• 5 May

  California’s rail project cost grows by $2b

  

  Bloomberg The cost of California’s controversial high-speed rail project grew to $79 billion, a development likely to embolden opponents such as President Donald Trump, whose administration is already seeking to cancel and claw back federal grants. The segment already under construction in the state’s agricultural region known as the Central Valley is now expected to cost $12.4 billion, up from ...

  Read More »
• 5 May

  Volkswagen Q1 profit beats expectations

  

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG’s first-quarter profit beat expectations and the German carmaker said it’ll meet goals on deliveries and earnings for the year, excluding special items such as legal risks. Excluding legal items of about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), VW’s operating profit rose to 4.8 billion euros after boosting sales of lucrative sport utility vehicles and favourable exchange rates. The ...

  Read More »
• 5 May

  Blackstone in talks to acquire minority stake in BC Partners

  

  Bloomberg A Blackstone Group LP unit that buys stakes in alternative asset managers is considering a minority investment in BC Partners, according to people familiar with the matter. Discussions between Blac-kstone Strategic Capital Hol-dings and BC are at an early stage and no deal has been reached, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is ...

  Read More »
• 5 May

  Gaza-Israel fight surges with sides readying next phase

  

  Bloomberg Israel and Gaza-based fighters are digging in for extended fighting after a barrage of hundreds of rockets and retaliatory airstrikes boiled over into a second day, threatening to undo months of Egyptian-brokered efforts to reach a long-term truce. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he instructed the army to continue its “massive attacks” in Gaza and bolstered forces near the ...

  Read More »
• 5 May

  Guaido: US military action on the table for Venezuela

  

  Bloomberg Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido said he cannot rule out the option of the US military working with his nation’s armed forces to oust President Nicolas Maduro, telling the Washington Post that such an offer from the Trump administration would have to be voted on in the parliament he leads. Guaido, who is the National Assembly president and is ...

  Read More »
• 5 May

  Kim oversees live-fire military exercise

  

  Bloomberg Kim Jong-un oversaw a live-fire military exercise that potentially included North Korea’s first ballistic missile launch since 2017 — challenging US President Donald Trump’s bottom line in nuclear talks. Kim watched as “large-calibre, long-range multiple-rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons” were fired off North Korea’s eastern coast, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The state media’s ...

  Read More »