Bottomline
LOS ANGELES:
Altice USA Inc, a subsidiary of Patrick Drahi’s global telco, content, and advertising group which owns Cablevision/Optimum and Suddenlink, is expected to raise $1.9 billion in its initial public offering on Thursday.
Altice USA’s IPO is believed to mark the second-biggest US initial public offering of the year to date, following Snap Inc.’s $3.9 billion deal last March.
Altice USA’s 63.9 million shares were priced at $30 each share on the New York Stock Exchange. The company will trade under the symbol ATUS.
When launching the IPO last week, Altice had listed about 46.6 million shares of its Class A common stock priced at $27 to $31 per share. The company then issued a statement on Wednesday advising that it was increasing the size of the IPO due to the fact that Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and BC Partners had ramped up the number of shares they were offering. (RTRS)
NEW YORK:
Apple Inc will soon start selling wireless plans from Virgin Mobile USA, the first new carrier offered by the iPhone maker’s since 2013, the companies said on Wednesday.
Virgin Mobile USA, a subsidiary of Sprint that licenses its name from the Virgin Group co-founded by Richard Branson, struck the deal as part of a broader revamp of its business that will see it ditch Android phones in the coming years and become what it claims is the first iPhone-only network.
Virgin Mobile USA will first be offered in Apple’s stores then online. Apple currently offers AT&T , Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, the last of which was added in 2013.
Branson, wearing an Apple Watch on his left wrist and traditional watch on the other, told Reuters in an interview he sees similarities between the Apple and Virgin brands because both advocate for human rights and other social causes. (RTRS)
ZURICH:
Luxembourg watchdogs have fined the local arm of Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild for its handling of funds linked to scandal-hit Malaysian investment fund 1MDB, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The authorities and the bank confirmed Edmond de Rothschild had been fined nearly 9 million euros ($10.1 million) for failing to take proper safeguards against money laundering. They did not comment on news reports that the case concerned 1MDB.
Paying the fine “marks the end of the proceeding in which it has actively participated”, the bank said in a statement, noting the Luxembourg arm had taken measures since the first half of 2016 to strengthen its compliance and risk control procedures.
The group installed a new CEO of Edmond de Rothschild (Europe) in Luxembourg last year in a management shake-up.
Swiss watchdog FINMA said it was conducting its own enforcement proceedings against the bank to determine whether the group had fulfilled anti-money-laundering standards. (RTRS)
TAIPEI, Taiwan:
The chairman of Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn said Thursday it may spend more than $10 billion to set up manufacturing in the United States, and will announce investment plans by early August for at least three states.
Terry Gou gave no new information about where Foxconn will locate a US display panel factory he said in January would cost up to $7 billion to build. That announcement triggered a flurry of lobbying by state leaders hoping to attract the investment, which he said might generate as many as 50,000 jobs.
Foxconn is the biggest contract manufacturer of smartphones and other devices for Apple, Sony, Blackberry and other brands. Its success has made Gou Taiwan’s richest businessman. The company raised its profile with its purchase in March 2016 of struggling Japanese electronics brand Sharp for $3.5 billion. (AP)
LONDON:
Phoenix Asset Management on Wednesday it would become the majority shareholder in Hornby Plc and offered to buy the rest of the company, less than three months after thwarting efforts to oust the British toymaker’s chairman.
The investment manager said it agreed to buy 17.6 million shares of Hornby from New Pistoia Income Ltd (NPIL), which in April had called for a meeting to remove the company’s Chairman Roger Canham amid falling sales and multiple profit warnings.
Phoenix, Hornby’s largest shareholder, struck a deal with smaller stakeholders Ruffer LLP and Downing LLP to vote against NPIL’s proposal. NPIL is Hornby’s second-largest investor. (RTRS)
LOS ANGELES:
Shenzhen-traded shares in Wanda Film Holding tumbled 9.9% in heavy trading on Thursday, as investor sentiment cooled sharply.
There was a similar sell off in Hong Kong of the commercial debt belonging to Wanda Properties International. That was down by over 10% at one point.
The parent company, Dalian Wanda attempted to reassure investors with a statement that blamed mischievous market rumors. (RTRS)
SYDNEY:
Australian gambling giants Tabcorp and Tatts were Tuesday given the green light by the competition tribunal to merge, paving the way for the creation of a betting powerhouse following months of uncertainty.
The rival Australian-listed firms announced their plan to merge in October, but the proposal encountered several hurdles including questions raised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission about the impact on competition in Queensland state.
The Australian Competition Tribunal – which Tabcorp took the deal to in order to sidestep the watchdog – gave it the go-ahead provided the firm sold its Queensland gaming business. (AFP)
SYDNEY:
Rio Tinto Tuesday recommended China-backed Yancoal as the buyer of most of its Australian coal mines, rebuffing a surprise higher bid from commodities giant Glencore earlier this month.
The world’s second-largest miner said in January it was selling Coal & Allied to Yancoal Australia – majority-controlled by China’s Yanzhou Coal – for US$2.45 billion.
But Glencore, which like Yancoal also operates numerous coal mines in Australia, offered US$100 million more for the assets – in New South Wales state – earlier this month.
Rio said it spoke to both parties but still favoured Yancoal since the deal was expected to be completed faster due to greater funding and regulatory certainty. (AFP)