April, 2018

• 23 April

  Volvo’s Japan unit eyes autonomous trucks to ease Japan driver shortage

  

  Bloomberg UD Trucks, a Japanese subsidiary of Swedish truckmaker Volvo AB, plans to introduce electric and autonomous trucks within the next two years, joining global rivals in developing driverless technologies to ease a labour shortage. The Japanese company will display autonomous and electric-drive prototypes this year, targeting field and customer trials ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show in 2019, UD ...

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• 23 April

  Elliott Management steps up pressure on Hyundai Motor

  

  Bloomberg Elliott Management Corp., which earlier this month announced it bought about $1 billion in shares of units of Hyundai Motor Group, stepped up its pressure on the South Korean conglomerate by making demands ranging from higher dividends to restructuring the group under a holding company. Elliott’s proposals, which include combining Hyundai Motor Co. with Hyundai Mobis Co. and raising ...

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• 23 April

  Toshiba’s chip-unit sale might miss May deadline

  

  Bloomberg Toshiba Corp. is all but guaranteed to miss a May 1 deadline to sell its memory chips business to a Bain Capital-led group, people familiar with the matter said, raising the chances it may consider other options that could yield billions of additional dollars for the unit. Chinese regulators are now conducting a third review of the deal, which ...

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• 23 April

  China’s tropical Hainan is all sand, sea… and property curbs

  Bloomberg China’s tropical island of Hainan is basking in the glow of a raft of favorable economic policies, some unveiled by none other than President Xi Jinping. But, now, it’s also notable for something else: China’s first province-wide home-buying restrictions, after previous curbs were expanded in an announcement. To get a sense of the scale, that’s an area a bit ...

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• 23 April

  China’s war on pollution fuels state takeover of heavy industry

  

  Bloomberg President Xi Jinping’s big push to curb pollution and excess capacity in steel and other industries is also consolidating his government’s control over them. Just last year, the state’s share of steel capacity increased to 67 percent from 60 percent while aluminum smelting saw about an equal increase, J Capital Research Ltd. estimates. In coal, which began consolidating years ...

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• 23 April

  AT&T, Verizon probe heralds new era of greater telecom scrutiny

  

  Bloomberg The Department of Justice opened another front in its scrutiny of the US telecom industry, signaling it’s set on maintaining a deeply competitive environment in a market where four major carriers are jostling for new subscribers. Antitrust officials are investigating whether AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. colluded to make it tougher for consumers to change wireless carriers, people ...

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• 23 April

  Akorn slumps after Fresenius abandons $4.3bn takeover bid

  

  Bloomberg Akorn Inc. shares lost about a third of their value after Fresenius SE walked away from a pending $4.3 billion acquisition of the US maker of generic cancer drugs in response to a probe that found problems with its product-development practices. The German company said its outside experts found “material breaches” of US Food and Drug Administration standards while ...

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• 23 April

  Philips eyes acquisitions to sharpen health focus

  

  Bloomberg Royal Philips NV Chief Executive Officer Frans van Houten said the Dutch manufacturer of medical equipment remains on the hunt for companies to buy as it hones focus on the health-care sector. “We are interested to do bolt-on acquisitions,” he said in an interview on Monday with Bloomberg TV after publishing quarterly earnings. “Deals done last year were bolt-on, ...

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• 23 April

  German economic growth picks up after Q1 slowdown

  

  Bloomberg Growth in Europe’s largest economy unexpectedly picked up in April, reversing a slowdown at the start of the year. A Purchasing Managers’ Index for manufacturing and services rose to 55.3 from 55.1, IHS Markit said on Monday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted the measure would drop to 54.8. “Growth of Germany’s private sector steadied in April, to arrest the ...

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• 23 April

  Capita seeks turnaround with cutbacks, disposals

  

  Bloomberg British outsourcing firm Capita Plc’s shares pared some of this year’s heavy losses, rising as much as 14 percent in London, after the company announced a restructuring aimed at saving hundreds of millions of pounds. Capita, which provides customer-service functions for the likes of Marks & Spencer Group Plc and is responsible for collecting BBC license fees, is targeting ...

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