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By Swissquote Analysts
Morning News

U.K. Regulator Calls for Probe of Nvidia's $40 Billion Deal to Buy Chip Designer Arm

A U.K. regulator has serious concerns about whether Nvidia's $40 billion plan to buy British chip designer Arm would choke competition and wants an in-depth investigation of the deal. Any probe, however, would have to be ordered by the government's digital chief. "We're concerned that Nvidia controlling Arm could create real problems for Nvidia's rivals by limiting their access to key technologies, and ultimately stifling innovation across a number of important and growing markets," said the authority's chief executive, Andrea Coscelli.

By
Peter Rosenstreich
Morning News

Inovalon to Go Private in $7.3 Billion Deal

Inovalon Holdings Inc. (+8,3 %) has agreed to be acquired by an equity consortium for $7.3 billion. The provider of cloud-based platforms for healthcare said its stockholders would receive $41 a share in cash. Shares were up 8.5% at $40.37 in midday trading Thursday. Inovalon said the consortium is led by Nordic Capital, with Insight Partners the lead co-investor.

By
Arnaud Masset
Morning News

Philip Morris acquires a 22.61% stake in Vectura

Philip Morris (-1,5%) has already acquired a 22.61 percent stake in its takeover target Vectura on the market and announced plans to buy more shares along the way. The tobacco company said it had bought 135.5 million shares in Vectura Group plc, which specializes in inhalation medicines, at a price of 165 British pence - the same price it plans to pay in its takeover bid. Further purchases in the market would be made at the same price.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Walmart’s Earnings Report Shows Sales Rose as Shoppers Returned to Stores

Walmart Inc. (stable) logged another quarter of rising U.S. sales as a return to in-store shopping offset slower online growth, at a time when retailers are navigating rising costs, supply chain snarls and an uptick in Covid-19 cases in many parts of the country. U.S. e-commerce sales rose 6% from a year ago, when Covid restrictions kept many people home. Growth slowed from earlier in the year, both online and off, but was still given a boost by government stimulus dollars and a generally strong U.S. economy, the company said.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

BHP Considers Sale of $15 Billion-Valued Petroleum Business

The world’s biggest mining company is plotting a new future. It wants to focus solely on mining. BHP Group Ltd. said it is considering selling its oil-and-gas business in what would rank as one of the energy industry’s biggest deals this year. BHP Group revealed it's in talks with Australian oil-and-natural-gas company Woodside Petroleum Ltd. Analysts estimate the business has a value of at least $15 billion, and a deal is being explored while BHP separately hunts for a buyer for its thermal-coal mining business.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Faurecia to launch a takeover bid for German automotive supplier Hella

The lighting and electronics specialist Hella and the French automotive supplier Faurecia have signed an agreement on the merger of the two companies. Under the terms of the agreement, Faurecia will acquire the 60 percent share package held by Hella pool shareholders at a price of 60 euros per share.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Adidas Agrees to Sell Reebok to Authentic Brands

Adidas AG said it has agreed to sell Reebok to Authentic Brands Group for up to about $2.5 billion, roughly 15 years after acquiring the U.S. fitness brand and trying to revamp it. The German sporting-goods company managed to improve the Reebok business, but its sales lagged behind those of Adidas itself and dragged down the group’s profits.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

EBay’s Active Buyers Declined 2%

EBay Inc.reported 159 million active buyers for the June quarter, a 2% decline from a year earlier. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, active buyers had grown by a mid- to high single-digit percentage each quarter. The company also said it expected revenue from continuing operations of $2.42 billion to $2.47 billion in the current quarter, with an organic growth rate of 6% to 8%. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $2.49 billion.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Pershing Square Acquires Initial Stake in Universal Music Group

Pershing Square Holdings announced that Pershing Square Holdings Ltd., Pershing Square L.P., and Pershing Square International Ltd., through an affiliated entity, have acquired 128,555,017 Ordinary Shares of Universal Music Group (UMG), representing 7.1% of the company from Vivendi S.E. for approximately $21.78 per share (or EUR18.58 per share at today's exchange rate).

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Philip Morris Raises Offer for Vectura to $1.42 Bln

Philip Morris International Inc. said Monday that it has increased its offer for Vectura Group PLC to 1.02 billion pounds ($1.42 billion), trumping Friday’s offer from Carlyle Europe Partners V for the U.K. pharmaceutical company.

By
Nadine PEREIRA