HOTELS
Investors reject Wynn bid
Shareholders of Wynn Resorts Ltd on Friday rejected the bid by Elaine Wynn, cofounder and former wife of CEO Stephen Wynn, to remain on the company’s board, ending the most public and awkward proxy battle in the company’s 13-year history. Elaine Wynn, 72, is the third-largest shareholder. She appeared sanguine and poised as the results were announced at a shareholder meeting, aware that the odds had been against her. “While I am certainly disappointed by the result of today’s vote, I am hopeful that I have once again served as an agent for change and improvement for this company, which I love so deeply,” she said in a statement.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Mylan bid for Perrigo official
Generic drugmaker Mylan NV is making official its offer for over-the-counter medicines maker Perrigo Co as it remains at the center of a three-way battle: Mylan wants to buy Perrigo, while a larger rival wants to buy Mylan. Perrigo has already rejected Mylan’s offer and on Friday reiterated it feels the bid, worth more than US$30 billion, is too low. Meanwhile, Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd on Friday said it is committed to acquiring Mylan, which in turn has expressed skepticism about Teva’s plan. Teva is offering US$40.1 billion for Mylan.
MALI
Economy grows by 7.2%
The nation’s economy posted growth of 7.2 percent last year, the IMF said on Friday, in an encouraging sign of recovery from the chaos of a coup and long-running armed conflict. Christian Josz, the IMF’s mission chief in the capital, Bamako, compared the figure with weak 1.7 percent growth in 2013 and stagnation in 2012. He praised the government for making “major efforts to strengthen the management of public finances, insisting on compliance with fiscal rules and reversals of markets” in the final months of last year.
CONSTRUCTION
EU approves Lafarge sale
The EU on Friday removed a key hurdle to the merger between French cement giant Lafarge SA and Swiss rival Holcim Ltd, approving the sale of assets demanded for the deal to go through. Lafarge and Holcim agreed to their 40 billion euro (US$43.5 billion) tie-up to form the world’s biggest cement company last year, but EU regulators said they would have to sell assets worth 6.5 billion euros to ease fears the new firm would hurt competition. The European Commission said it has approved the sale of those assets to Irish building materials group CRH PLC, finding that it posed no separate competition risk.
VENEZUELA
Ex-minister confirms case
A former transportation minister confirmed in an interview released on Friday that officials have filed a corruption complaint against him. Local media have reported that a warrant is out for his arrest. Major General Hebert Garcia Plaza said the allegations involve a deal to buy three ferries from Europe on behalf of the South American country. He told the weekly newspaper Quinto Dia that he is still deciding whether to present himself for a hearing. Garcia Plaza denied any involvement in corrupt deals, and said he does not trust the country’s justice system.
Tesla Inc temporarily halted some production at its auto assembly plant in California because of problems with its supply chain, but work has begun to resume, CEO Elon Musk told employees in an e-mail on Thursday. “We are experiencing some parts supply issues, so took the opportunity to bring Fremont production down for a few days to do equipment upgrades and maintenance,” Musk said in an all-staff message seen by Bloomberg. The factory was “back up and running as of yesterday,” and would rapidly ramp up to full production of Model 3 and Model Y cars “over the next several days,”
Boeing Co on Sunday called for the grounding of 128 of its 777 planes around the world as US regulators investigated a United Airlines Holdings Inc flight whose engine caught fire and fell apart over a suburban city. United and Japan’s two main airlines confirmed they had already suspended operations of 56 planes fitted with the same engine that fell apart mid-flight over Colorado on Saturday. The US National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) is also investigating the incident, in which no one was hurt. Boeing said similarly fitted planes should be taken out of service until the US Federal Aviation Authority
The production value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry grew 20.9 percent year-on-year to NT$3.22 trillion (US$113.6 billion) last year, and it is expected to build on that performance this year, the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s (工研院) Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center said yesterday. The global semiconductor market grew 6.8 percent to US$440.4 billion last year, boosted by robust demand from the digital transformation and growing stay-at-home economy seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, the center said. That strength is likely to carry over to this year, leading to an 8.6 percent increase in domestic output to a new record NT$3.49 trillion,
‘MAINTAINING MOMENTUM’: The Swedish automaker might pursue plans for an initial public offering, which it had put on hold in 2018, the company said China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd (吉利汽車) and its Swedish affiliate Volvo Cars are putting off earlier plans to merge, wagering that they would be more agile as standalone entities. The manufacturers would preserve their separate corporate structures, while cooperating more closely on electrification, autonomous-driving technology and software, a joint statement said. While they would no longer pursue a combination as announced last year, new listings could be on the table. “This is about maintaining top-line momentum,” Volvo chief executive officer Hakan Samuelsson said in an interview. “A merger isn’t always positive. You risk losing momentum because there’s too much internal focus.” Geely and
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