ONLINE SERVICES
Nixon to sell shares
Simon Nixon, the founder of British price comparison Web site operator Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC, is expected to sell a 5.5 percent to 6.4 percent stake in the company through a placing to institutions, sole bookrunner Credit Suisse said. Nixon owned 12.75 percent of Moneysupermarket.com as of May 19 after he sold a 3.7 percent stake in the company. The placing of about 30 to 35 million shares would be through an accelerated bookbuild and the books would open with immediate effect, Credit Suisse said on Tuesday. Shares in Moneysupermarket.com closed at ￡3.283 on Tuesday.
CONFECTIONARY
Mondelez mulls Terry’s sale
Mondelez International Inc, the owner of the Cadbury chocolate brand, has hired bankers to explore the sale of a number of confectionery products including Terry’s Chocolate Orange and Terry’s All Gold, Sky News reported. The portfolio for sale includes products and assets in the UK, France, Spain and the Netherlands, Sky News reported, citing people familiar with the process. According to the report, Mondelez has decided that the Terry’s brand is not core to its business. Terry’s popular Chocolate Orange and All Gold chocolates were created during the company’s heyday in the 1920s and 1930s.
STEEL
Tuwairqi seeks buyer
Tuwairqi Steel Mills Ltd, a venture between POSCO and Saudi Arabia’a al-Tuwairqi Group, is seeking a buyer for its two-year-old, non-operational plant in Pakistan, a company official said. The Karachi-based company has hired consultants in the US to value the mill, which was built at a cost of US$340 million, the person said, asking not to be identified because the process is private. Tuwairqi Steel Mills reported a loss of US$18.6 million in 2013, which increased to US$22 million last year, the company said in an e-mailed statement. Tuwairqi Steel never began production as it failed to reach an agreement with the government on the purchase price of natural gas to run the plant, the person said.
FITNESS
Peloton eyes revenue raising
Indoor cycling fitness company Peloton Interactive Inc is raising US$75 million by selling a stake to Catterton, a private equity firm focused on consumer businesses. Peloton’s management plans to use the proceeds to accelerate the nationwide rollout of its store showrooms, founder and chief executive officer John Foley said in an interview. Unlike traditional cycling studios that provide exercise classes, Peloton customers buy a US$1,995 bike equipped with a tablet computer and pay a monthly subscription fee to follow exercise classes streamed live from its studio.
SPORTS RETAIL
Old Mutual buys MoreCorp
Old Mutual PLC’s private-equity unit bought a majority stake in MoreCorp, the largest South African golf-equipment retailer, as the investor bets demand from an expanding upper-middle class will overcome slowing economic growth. The asset manager paid more than 300 million rand (US$20.9 million) for a 70 percent stake in the company that controls more than 40 percent of the country’s golf market with The Pro Shop, World of Golf, and Playmoregolf outlets. MoreCorp also owns Cycle Lab, the nation’s largest cycling retailer, according to the investor. Cofounder Darryl Egdes retains 20 percent and management owns 10 percent, the Old Mutual team said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
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