Dec 29 (Reuters) – Samsung BioLogics (207940.KS) on Thursday denied a media report that said the South Korean firm was in talks to buy U.S. drugmaker Biogen Inc (BIIB.O).
Korea Economic Daily reported on Wednesday, citing investment banking sources, that Biogen had approached Samsung to buy its shares, which could be valued at more than $42 billion. Biogen is valued at $34.67 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
Samsung BioLogics, the biotech unit of Samsung Group, said in a regulatory filing that the report was “not true,” without giving any more details.
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Biogen said it does not comment on market rumors or speculation. Its stock closed up 9.5% on Wednesday.
Any such deal would be the biggest overseas acquisition ever by a South Korean company. The largest so far was in 2016, when Samsung Electronics bought auto electronics maker Harman International Industries in an $8 billion deal. (https://reut.rs/3qrRv32)
Samsung Group had said earlier this year it will invest 240 trillion won ($206 billion) in the next three years to expand its footprint in biopharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics in the post-pandemic era. read more
In June, Biogen’s controversial Alzheimer’s drug won U.S. regulatory approval, becoming the first new treatment for the memory-robbing disease in nearly 20 years, despite an outside advisory panel’s view that the company had not proven the treatment’s clinical benefits.
Biogen has been betting on the drug, Aduhelm, to buffer a hit as its main revenue drivers such as multiple sclerosis treatment Tecfidera and muscle disease treatment Spinraza face rising competition.
But U.S. sales from Aduhelm have been slower than expected as hospitals complained that the drug’s high cost was not worth its benefits. The company cut its price by about half to $28,200 this month.
Biogen, which makes drugs for neurological diseases, currently has more than 30 new drugs in its pipeline.
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Reporting by Dania Nadeem in Bengaluru and Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Amazon 2019 Future deal was at heart of ongoing legal disputes
India watchdog suspends deal, says Amazon suppressed info in 2019
Amazon should pay penalty of 2 billion rupees-watchdog
Suspension of deal latest legal twist in Future-Amazon saga
NEW DELHI, Dec 17 (Reuters) – India’s antitrust agency suspended Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O) 2019 deal with Future Group on Friday, potentially denting the U.S. e-commerce giant’s attempts to block the sale of Future’s retail assets to an Indian market leader.
The regulator ruled that the U.S. company had suppressed information while seeking regulatory approval on an investment into Indian retailer Future Group two years ago.
The ruling by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) could have far-reaching consequences for Amazon’s legal battles with now estranged partner Future.
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Amazon has for months successfully used the terms of its toehold $200 million investment in Future in 2019 to block the Indian retailer’s attempt to sell retail assets to Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) for $3.4 billion.
The regulator’s 57-page order said it considers “it necessary to examine the combination (deal) afresh,” adding its approval from 2019 “shall remain in abeyance” until then.
The CCI’s order said Amazon had “suppressed the actual scope” of the deal and had made “false and incorrect statements” while seeking approvals.
“The approval is suspended. This is absolutely unprecedented,” said Shweta Dubey, a partner at Indian law firm SD Partners, who was formerly a CCI official.
“The order seems to have found new power for CCI to keep the combination approval in abeyance,” she added.
With the 2019 Future deal’s antitrust approval now suspended, it could dent Amazon’s legal position and retail ambitions, while making it easier for Reliance – the country’s largest retailer – to acquire number two player Future, people familiar with the dispute said.
The CCI also imposed a penalty of around 2 billion rupees ($27 million) on the U.S. company, adding that Amazon will be given time to submit information again to seek approvals, the CCI added.
Future Group, however, is unlikely to cooperate with Amazon if it tries to reapply for antitrust clearance after the CCI’s decision, a source with direct knowledge told Reuters.
The Indian company is also set to take CCI’s Friday decision before various legal forums to argue that Amazon has no legal basis to challenge its asset sale, the source added.
Future and Reliance did not respond to a request for comment. Amazon said it is reviewing the order “and will decide on its next steps in due course.”
RETAIL BATTLE
The dispute over Future Retail, which has more than 1,500 supermarket and other outlets, is the most hostile flashpoint between Jeff Bezos’ Amazon and Reliance, run by India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, as they try to gain the upper hand in winning retail consumers.
Hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Future last year decided to sell its retail assets to Reliance for $3.4 billion, but Amazon managed to block the sale successfully through legal challenges.
Amazon cited breach of contracts by Future, arguing that terms agreed in 2019 to pay $200 million for a 49% stake in Future’s gift voucher unit prevented its parent, Future Group, from selling its Future Retail Ltd (FRTL.NS) business to certain rivals, including Reliance.
The CCI review of the deal started after Future, which denies any wrongdoing, complained, saying that Amazon was making contradictory statements before different legal forums about the intent of the 2019 transaction.
In June, the CCI told Amazon the U.S. firm in 2019 explained its interest in investing in Future’s gift voucher unit as one that would address gaps in India’s payments industry. But later, the CCI said, Amazon disclosed in other legal forums the foundation of its investment in the Future unit was to obtain special rights over the retail arm, Future Retail.
In the Friday order, CCI said there was “a deliberate design on the part of Amazon to suppress the actual scope and purpose of the” deal.
Ahead of CCI’s decision, Amazon denied concealing any information and warned the watchdog that Future’s bid to unwind the 2019 deal to allow Reliance to consolidate its position “will further restrict competition in the Indian retail market”.
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Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi;
Editing by Euan Rocha, Jane Merriman and Louise Heavens
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Dec 13 (Reuters) – Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O), the owner of social media network Facebook, is behind a $60 million deal to acquire the trademark assets of U.S. regional bank Meta Financial Group (CASH.O), spokespeople for the companies said on Monday.
The deal underscores how valuable the Meta name has become for the technology giant, which is betting that its focus on the metaverse – shared digital spaces accessed via the internet through an array of devices – will pay off handsomely in the coming years.
Meta Financial had said in regulatory filing on Monday that a Delaware company called Beige Key LLC agreed to acquire the worldwide rights to its company names for $60 million in cash. It did not disclose who the owner of Beige Key was.
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“Beige Key is affiliated with us and we have acquired these trademark assets,” a Meta Platforms spokesperson said. A MetaBank spokesperson also confirmed Meta Platforms’ involvement.
As well as offering products through its MetaBank subsidiary including consumer savings, loans and credit cards, and commercial lending, Meta Financial partners with institutions including government agencies and financial technology firms to offer banking services with the aim of bolstering financial inclusion.
Facebook said in October its parent company had changed its name to Meta Platforms. The tech giant, which has invested heavily in virtual reality and augmented reality, sees the metaverse as the successor to the mobile internet. read more
Last week, Meta Platforms opened up its previously invite-only Horizon Worlds app, where users of its Quest virtual reality headsets can play games and interact as avatars, to over-18 users in the United States and Canada.
The metaverse concept, which has cropped up on several Silicon Valley companies’ earnings calls and which will require cooperation among tech giants, could be more than a decade away from being fully realized. read more
The Meta Platforms spokesperson said the company engaged in discussions with Meta Financial before Facebook’s name change was announced.
In the filing, Meta Financial said it had embarked on a brand strategy review earlier this year, but the MetaBank spokesperson declined to comment on the negotiations beyond the contents of the filing.
Meta Financial’s shares were trading 1.5% lower in mid-afternoon trading, giving it a market capitalization of around $1.74 billion. Meta Platforms was up 1.6%, valuing it at $933 billion.
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Reporting by David French in New York and Elizabeth Culliford in Birmingham, England; Editing by Nick Zieminski
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Grab listed on Thursday after $40 bln deal with Altimeter
Debut marks biggest U.S. listing by a Southeast Asian firm
Early backers SoftBank, Didi set for payday bonanza
Bell-ringing ceremony takes place in Singapore
SINGAPORE, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Shares in Grab , Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing and delivery firm, slid more than 20% in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday following the company’s record $40 billion merger with a blank-check company.
Grab’s shares rose as much as 21% minutes after the listing before retreating to trade 23% lower at $8.51 by 1834 GMT.
“The price makes no difference to me. I’m going to celebrate tonight and get back to work tomorrow,” Chief Executive Anthony Tan told Reuters just after the shares started trading.
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The backdoor listing on Nasdaq marks the high point for the nine-year-old Singapore company that began as a ride-hailing app and now operates across 465 cities in eight countries, offering food deliveries, payments, insurance and investment products.
Grab kicked off the biggest U.S. listing by a Southeast Asian company with a bell-ringing event in Singapore, hosted by Nasdaq and Grab’s executives.
The event was attended by about 250 people including its investors, drivers, merchants and employees, with many dressed in the company’s signature green.
Thunderous handclaps reverberated in the hotel ballroom as an emotional Tan thanked them for putting Grab and Southeast Asia’s tech economy on the global map.
CEO Tan and Tan Hooi Ling developed the company from an idea for a Harvard Business School venture competition in 2011. The two Tans are not related.
The listing comes after Grab’s April agreement to merge with U.S. tech investor Altimeter Capital Management’s SPAC, Altimeter Growth Corp (AGC.O) and raise $4.5 billion, including $750 million from Altimeter.
Grab’s flotation “will provide a bigger cash buffer” to its “cash burn”, S&P Global Ratings said in a note. But it said the company’s “credit quality continues to be constrained by its loss-making operations, and free operating cash flows could be negative over the next 12 months.”
Southeast Asia’s internet economy is forecast to double to $360 billion in gross merchandise value by 2025, prompting Grab’s rivals, including regional internet firm Sea Ltd (SE.N) and Indonesia’s GoTo Group, to bulk up.
GoTo plans a local IPO in 2022 after completing an expected $2 billion private fundraising, sources have told Reuters. A U.S. listing will follow the Jakarta offering.
“Longer term, we’re really excited about Grab Financial Group,” said Chris Conforti, partner at Altimeter Capital, referring to Grab’s financial services unit. “I think the bell curve on that is much wider in terms of what the outcome could be, but it could be extremely large.”
BONANZA FOR BACKERS
CEO Tan, 39, expanded Grab into a regional operation with a range of services, after launching it as a taxi app in Malaysia in 2012. It later moved its headquarters to Singapore.
“What we have shown to the world is that home grown tech companies can develop great technology that can compete globally, even when international players are in town,” Tan told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. “We can compete and win.”
He will control 60.4% of voting rights along with Grab’s co-founder, and president Ming Maa, but hold only a 3.3% stake with them.
Grab’s listing brings a payday bonanza to early backers such as Japan’s SoftBank (9984.T) and Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, which invested as early as 2014.
They were later joined by the likes of Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Japanese megabank MUFG (8306.T). Uber became a Grab shareholder in 2018 after selling its Southeast Asian business to Grab following a five-year battle.
In September, Grab cut its full-year adjusted net sales forecasts, citing renewed uncertainty over pandemic curbs on movement.
Third-quarter revenue fell 9% from a year earlier and its adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) widened 66% to $212 million. GMV in the quarter rose to a record $4 billion.
It aims to turn profitable on an EBITDA basis in 2023.
JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley were the lead placement agents on the fundraising, while Evercore and UBS were the co-placement agents.
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Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Aradhana Aravindan; Additional reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard, Kirsten Donovan, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Susan Fenton
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Business information provider S&P Global Inc (SPGI.N) and IHS Markit Ltd (INFO.N) have won U.S. antitrust approval for their planned merger, on condition it sell some businesses and scrap a non-compete agreement with GasBuddy, the Justice Department said in a statement.
The $44 billion deal was initially announced in November 2020.
To win approval for the deal, the companies agreed to sell three of IHS Markit’s price reporting agency (PRA) businesses. The department said the businesses are: Oil Price Information Services (OPIS); Coals, Metals, and Mining (CMM); and PetrochemWire (PCW).
The businesses will be bought by News Corp (NWSA.O) under a $1.15 billion deal reached in August. read more
In a court filing, the Justice Department said that S&P Global and IHS are a small number of companies that provide PRA services and “compete vigorously in each of the relevant markets, resulting in lower prices and increased quality and innovation for PRA customers.”
One of them, OPIS, collects and sells information related to U.S. retail gasoline prices. GasBuddy has been one of OPIS’ main sources of data since 2009. Since 2016, OPIS has had exclusive rights to GasBuddy’s data for 20 years.
Because of the agreement, GasBuddy, which uses crowdsourced information to help people find deals on retail gasoline, has been stopped from creating a service to compete with OPIS, the department said.
“The divestitures will preserve competition for PRA (price reporting agency) services, which are vital to the proper functioning of commodity markets and promote transparency in the financial markets,” Richard Powers, acting head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said in a statement.
GasBuddy parent company PDI praised the Justice Department settlement and said “once the waiver clears, we look forward to providing petroleum marketers and wholesalers with a compelling pricing solution, through the 1 million retail fuel price submissions provided by GasBuddies on a daily basis.”
The deal won EU antitrust approval in October, with some of the same conditions. read more
Reporting by Diane Bartz; Additional reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Diane Craft, Chris Reese, Jonathan Oatis and Daniel Wallis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.