News

Facebook Plans to Launch Libra in January 2021

Facebook is reportedly planning to launch its ambitious project Libra as early as January 2021. The digital currency will be launched in a limited format than originally anticipated.

According to a report by the Financial Times on Friday, three people associated with the Libra project confirmed that the company may only introduce a single dollar-pegged stablecoin, means it will launch a single coin backed 1:1 by the US Dollar. The project is still pending approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA.

The Libra project was officially announced on 18 June 2019 and the original plan was to launch a token backed by the basket of global currencies. In 2020, due to regulatory pressure, the Libra association dropped the idea of pegging the token with multiple fiat currencies.

The ambitious project of Facebook has seen backlash from regulators worldwide. European and Australian authorities warned Libra Association against potential scams using its name. 

In ...

Nov. 30, 2020


Repsol unveils new strategic plan to accelerate energy transition

Repsol SA has unveiled a new strategic plan for the next five years aimed at accelerating its energy transition while boosting shareholder value, according to a Nov. 26 news release.

The Spanish integrated oil and gas company said it will decarbonize its asset portfolio and establish a new operating model as it aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The strategic plan will have two periods. For the first two years, Repsol plans to focus on ensuring financial strength and extending its efficiency and competitivity programs by prioritizing efficiency, investment cuts and optimization of capital, along with projects to lead the energy transition, according to the company. From 2022 onward, the company will shift its focus to the acceleration of growth.

Repsol intends to invest a total of €18.3 billion between 2021 and 2025, of which €5.5 billion, or 30%, will be spent on low-carbon businesses. As part of the strategic plan, Repsol ...

Nov. 26, 2020


George Soros laments investment in Palantir and says he will sell the rest when allowed

It’s common for fund managers to talk up their investments. Billionaire investor George Soros is taking the opposite tack.

His family office, Soros Fund Management, issued a statement criticizing one of its holdings, Palantir Technologies PLTR, -5.31%, after a Securities and Exchange Commission filing revealed it had a roughly 1% stake in the data analytics company.

That’s a statement issued on Soros’s Open Society website. The statement went on to explain that the investment was made by a portfolio manager at the firm in 2012 when Palantir was private. When Palantir went public, Soros’s investment was converted into shares in the public company.

“SFM has sold all shares in the company that it is not legally or contractually obliged to hold and will continue to sell shares as permitted,” the statement added.

Palantir has drawn criticism for the work it has done for the U.S. government, notably the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Investors ...

Nov. 20, 2020


Pfizer CEO sold $5.6 million of stock as company announced vaccine data that sent shares soaring

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla sold almost $5.6 million worth of stock on Monday, the same day the drugmaker announced positive early data on its experimental coronavirus vaccine that sent shares soaring.

Shares of Pfizer jumped by almost 15% on Monday after the company and its partner BioNTech said its vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 among those in the trial without evidence of prior infection.

Bourla sold 132,508 shares at an average price of $41.94 per share, or nearly $5.6 million, according to a securities filing. The sale was part of a pre-scheduled 10b5-1 trading plan, which was adopted on Aug. 19, the filing shows, as the company was enrolling participants in its late-stage trial.

According to the company’s 2019 proxy report, Bourla, who became CEO on Jan. 1, 2019, was being paid a base salary of $1.65 million starting April 1. Nine times that salary would be about $15 ...

Nov. 16, 2020


Zoom and other ‘stay-at-home’ stocks got crushed on the positive vaccine news

Shares of Zoom Video fell sharply Monday as names benefitting from people staying at home due to the coronavirus pandemic lost their appeal following the release of positive coronavirus vaccine data.

Zoom Video closed 17.4% lower. Fellow “stay-at-home” stocks Amazon and Netflix dropped 5.1% and 8.6%, respectively. Teladoc Health slid 13.7% and Shopify declined by 13.6%.

The losses came after Pfizer and BioNTech reported that their coronavirus vaccine candidate showed a 90% efficacy rate in preventing infections during a late-stage trial. Scientists were hoping for a vaccine that was at least 75% effective. White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci had said a vaccine that is 50% or 60% effective would be acceptable.

/Source: CNBC/

Nov. 11, 2020


Bunge Agrees to Sell its Refinery in Rotterdam

Bunge has announced that its Bunge Loders Croklaan oils and fats joint venture has agreed to sell its Rotterdam refinery to Neste for €258 million in cash, excluding working capital.

In a phased transition through 2024, Bunge will lease back the facility from Neste to enable it to continue to supply customers with its products.

Bunge says that it will invest a portion of the proceeds from the sale in its operations, in order to enhance efficiency and flexibility across its oils portfolio.

“This transaction supports our long-term strategy in value-added oils and oilseeds-based ingredients by enabling us to further enhance our footprint in an innovative and sustainable way,” said Bunge CEO, Greg Heckman.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approvals.

Last year, Bunge agreed to sell its margarine and mayonnaise assets in Brazil to Seara Alimentos, a subsidiary of Brazilian meat processor JBS, for 700 ...

Nov. 6, 2020


Bayer Acquires Gene Therapy Developer Asklepios BioPharma for $4 Billion

Bayer AG announced the acquisition of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio), a US-headquartered biopharmaceutical company specialized in the research, development and manufacturing of gene therapies across different therapeutic areas. AskBio’s development portfolio includes investigational pre-clinical and clinical stage candidates for the treatment of neuromuscular, central nervous system, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Bayer will own full rights to AskBio’s gene therapy platform, including a broad intellectual property portfolio and an established contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) laying the foundation for future partnerships in the area of adeno-associated virus (AAV) therapies. The addition of AskBio to Bayer’s emerging cell and gene therapy (CGT) business strengthens Bayer’s commitment to the field. It complements the 2019 acquisition of BlueRock Therapeutics and consolidates Bayer’s ambition to create platforms with the potential to have an impact in multiple therapeutic areas. Under the terms of the agreement, Bayer will pay an upfront consideration of USD 2 billion and ...

Nov. 2, 2020


Tesla will spend up to $12B on EV and battery production in coming years

We know Tesla has big plans for electric car production and battery projects in the coming years, but the price tag to go along with them could top $12 billion. According to Tesla's 10-Q filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the automaker plans to spend anywhere between $4.5 billion and $6 billion in the next two fiscal years. Yes, those figures come with a big "B" on them. No one said building production plants was cheap, and Tesla has two of them under construction — one in Berlin, Germany and another in Austin, Texas.

The massive sums of money will not only go toward facility production, but eventual vehicle production as well. Tesla explicitly notes the capital expenditures will be a tad fluid as various projects' priorities come into play. It also accounts for "adjustments" to existing products. At the same time, the company is still working to ramp ...

Oct. 28, 2020


Adidas Explores Possible Sale of Reebok Brand

Adidas AG, the German sportswear giant, is exploring a sale of its Reebok brand.

The company will decide in the coming months whether to proceed with a sales process, said the person, who asked not to be identified because deliberations are private. The internal review is in the early stages, the person said. 

A spokeswoman for Adidas said the company doesn’t comment on market rumors. Adidas shares rose as much as 3.4% in Frankfurt trading. 

Since taking over as chief executive officer of Adidas in 2016, Kasper Rorsted has repeatedly parried rumors that he was looking to sell the brand. He closed under-performing Reebok stores and allowed some licensing deals to expire, cutting sales at the long unloved sporting label but cutting expens even more. 

After Reebok finally regained profitability by early 2019, Rorsted expressed hope that he could now generate sales growth with new footwear lines like the CrossFit Nano and the FloatRide ...

Oct. 23, 2020


TreeCard raises $1m from Ecosia ahead of 2021 launch

TreeCard, a new fintech start-up, has raised $1 million in seed funding from tree planting search engine Ecosia.

The start-up was founded by 23-year-old CEO, Jamie Cox. He previously exited a Y Combinator start-up called Cashew.

TreeCard aims to launch next year, and is made of sustainable cherry tree wood.

The debit card will be made in partnership with Mastercard.

Ecosia, the search engine, has planted more than 110 million trees.

Ecosia notes on its website that TreeCard’s free debit card will use 80% of its profits to plant trees across Ecosia’s reforestation projects.

TreeCard’s donation will come from its interchange fees — the main revenue source for challenger banks — to deforestation initiatives.

Partnering with Ecosia means that for every £45/$60 spent on the card, the company can plant a tree and care for it for three years through the search engine’s existing network of 38 tree-planting locations worldwide.

Ecosia has 15 million users worldwide and is ...

Oct. 19, 2020