December, 2018

• 3 December

  Nigerian president says he’s very much alive

  Bloomberg Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has an unusual new campaign pitch: he isn’t dead. In a Facebook post following a meeting with Nigerians in Poland, Buhari said he’d been asked whether it really was him speaking to the group or a clone, given speculation he’d died last year when he was absent from the country on medical leave. “I can ...

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• 3 December

  ‘EU desperate for Brexit deal as vote looms’

  Bloomberg The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) suggested the European Union will give the UK a better Brexit deal, as members of Parliament prepare to give their verdict on Theresa May’s accord. “Does anyone for a moment think that the EU states don’t desperately want a deal by March?,” Foster said in remarks to Conservative Party members, and e-mailed to Bloomberg. ...

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• 3 December

  Unilever adds Horlicks in $3.8bn deal for Glaxo India

  

  Bloomberg Unilever agreed to acquire GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Indian consumer business, including malted milk drink Horlicks, for 3.3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) to boost its footprint in one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies. It’s one of the Anglo-Dutch company’s largest acquisitions under departing Chief Executive Officer Paul Polman, who in January is handing over to personal-care head Alan Jope. It’s ...

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• 3 December

  Soybeans lead agri gains on US-China trade war truce

  

  Bloomberg Soybeans led advances among US crop futures after the White House said China agreed to immediately restart buying American farm products as part of a trade truce between the two countries. The oilseed jumped as much as 3.2 percent to the highest since June in Chicago, as corn and wheat also climbed, while Chinese soybeans fell on expectations of ...

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• 3 December

  Macquarie in final talks for Chinese JV

  

  Bloomberg Macquarie Group Ltd. is in advanced talks to create a majority-owned securities joint-venture firm in China, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest international bank seeking to establish itself in one of the world’s biggest markets. Sydney-based Macquarie is drafting a final agreement with two Chinese conglomerates, said the people, declining to name the companies. It plans ...

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• 3 December

  South Korea’s export growth disappoints

  Bloomberg South Korea’s November exports grew at a slower pace than some economists forecast amid a slowdown in sales to China, the nation’s biggest trading partner. The value of shipments abroad rose 4.5 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 6.6 percent gain forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Exports to China dipped 2.5 percent as Chinese display ...

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• 3 December

  Indian graphite maker sees more gain on China skies

  

  Bloomberg The world’s most profitable graphite electrode maker expects China’s push for blue skies to fuel higher margins as it bolsters demand for the steelmaking ingredient. India’s HEG Ltd. expects revenue to more than double and the pretax margin to rise to as much 75 percent as demand remains strong because of environmental curbs in China, according to Chief Executive ...

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• 3 December

  Mexico, Canada diverge in metal tariff relief hopes

  

  Bloomberg Fresh off signing their trade deal with the US, the governments of Canada and Mexico are diverging on the continent’s other trade fight over metals tariffs — with Mexico setting hopes for a deal sooner than Canada. The three countries signed their new deal in Buenos Aires to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) despite US tariffs on ...

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• 3 December

  Euro-area factories hit as demand drops

  

  Bloomberg Euro-area manufacturers saw activity slow further as concern over trade wars and political instability hit demand for machines and other investment goods. IHS Markit’s Purchasing Manager’s Index for factories fell to 51.8 in November from 52 in October. While the reading exceeded a prior flash estimate of 51.5, it marked the weakest growth in more than two years. “Production ...

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• 3 December

  Goldman backs NEA’s $1.4bn VC spin-off fund

  Bloomberg New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the largest venture capital (VC) firms in Silicon Valley, is selling off a chunk of its more mature startup investme-nts to a separate fund run by one of its partners. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, an investor in NEA, bought a stake in the new $1.35 billion fund, which expands the Wall Street firm’s ...

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