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Morning News

Sanofi to Acquire U.S. Biopharmaceutical Company Kadmon

French pharmaceutical major Sanofi SA said Wednesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company Kadmon Holdings Inc. Sanofi's planned $1.9 billion acquisition of Kadmon will hand it a new drug for treating chronic graft-versus-host disease, a condition in transplant patients where the donated cells attack the recipient's body. This will strengthen Sanofi's general medicines business, which mostly consists of older drugs.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Themes Trading

Decarbonisation: the climate change darling

The latest findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were released last month with a stark warning from the world’s leading climate scientists.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Deutsche Telekom’s Deal With SoftBank Tightens Its Grip on T-Mobile US

Deutsche Telekom AG is speeding up its efforts to retake a majority stake in T-Mobile US Inc. through a complex transaction with SoftBank Group Corp. On Tuesday, Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank announced a share-swap deal in which the Japanese investment firm will become the German telecom giant’s second-largest private shareholder, while Deutsche will increase its stake in T-Mobile US. Deutsche Telekom currently holds a roughly 43% stake in T-Mobile US and already controls a majority of its voting shares.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Goldman Sachs’s Petershill Plans London Listing

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Petershill Partners said it plans to list an investment vehicle on the London Stock Exchange, taking advantage of a sizzling market for private equity. The London-based business, which invests in private equity and hedge fund firms that collectively manage $187 billion in assets, is tapping into global investors’ desire for juicy returns amid perennially low interest rates. The deal, which would see Petershill’s vehicle as a stand-alone company operated by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, could value it at more than $5 billion, said people familiar with the matter.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Porsche, Puma and Airbus among the 10 new stocks in the expanded DAX index

Deutsche Boerse announced that European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, carmaker Porsche and sports equipment maker Puma would be among the 10 new stocks that will join the expanded DAX index from September 20. The stock exchange operator announced last year that it would increase the number of DAX components from 30 to 40 in the largest overhaul of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's flagship index since its creation in 1988.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Ford and GM Scale Back Production Amid Chip Shortage

Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. are scaling back production, the latest example of how the computer-chip shortage is affecting auto makers. GM said it is temporarily idling its two main pickup plants in Silao, Mexico, and Indiana. Both of those plants produce GMC Sierra pickups and Chevrolet Silverados. GM is also idling production at three other factories for a couple of weeks, which will mean temporarily ceasing production of different SUV models like the Chevy Traverse. Ford said Wednesday it is cutting back its production of pickup trucks at its three truck plants starting next week.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Pernod Ricard FY 2021 Margins Bolstered by Cost Control, Sales Volumes; Invests in US Peer

Cost discipline helped Pernod Ricard expand its margins in fiscal 2021, the French drinks group said Wednesday, as it revealed that it is taking a minority stake in a U.S. premium-focused peer. Pernod Ricard's operating margin expanded by 213 basis points in the 12 months to end-June, the company said. This was driven by a 64-basis-point increase in the gross margin on stable pricing and better absorption of fixed costs thanks to volume growth, Pernod said.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Arkema to Buy Ashland Adhesives Business for $1.65 Bln

Arkema has agreed to acquire the performance-adhesives unit of Ashland Global Holdings Inc., the French specialty-chemicals company said. The deal values the business at $1.65 billion, around 15 times estimated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization this year, adjusted for related tax benefits, Arkema said. The acquisition will be fully funded by cash, the company said.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Baxter Nears $10 Billion Purchase

Baxter International Inc. is in advanced talks to buy medical-equipment maker Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. for around $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. A deal that values Hill-Rom at around $150 a share could be reached by midweek assuming the talks don't fall apart, the people said. The talks follow an earlier bid from Baxter worth $144 a share that Hill-Rom rebuffed. Hill-Rom shares jumped in late July on news of that bid and have remained elevated, closing Friday at $132.90. Hill-Rom currently has a market capitalization of nearly $9 billion.

By
Peter Rosenstreich
Morning News

Powell Says Fed Could Start Scaling Back Stimulus This Year

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reaffirmed the central bank's emerging plan to begin reversing its easy-money policies later this year while explaining in greater detail why he expects a recent surge in inflation to fade over time.

By
Nadine PEREIRA