AIRLINES
Lufthansa pilots reject offer
Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s pilots’ union rejected the German airline’s latest pay offer on Friday, but lifted the immediate threat of extending their strike beyond yesterday. Lufthansa earlier said it had made a new offer to try to break the deadlock in a long-running pay dispute with its pilots, who have been on strike since Wednesday. This week’s walkout — the 14th since early 2014 — has already grounded about 2,600 airplanes and affected more than 315,000 passengers. The union dismissed the airline’s latest offer as a “public relations move” and said it was not new.
REAL ESTATE
‘Trump Tower’ bid rejected
Buenos Aires has declined to authorize a permit to build an office tower linked to US president-elect Donald Trump, and developers will have to file new paperwork for it to be reconsidered, the city government said in a statement on Friday. The “Trump Tower” project near Buenos Aires’ central obelisk made international headlines after a local news report said Trump mentioned the proposed office complex when Argentine President Mauricio Macri put in a congratulatory call to Trump after his Nov. 8 election victory. The Macri administration said the reports were untrue and that the project was not mentioned during the call.
INTERNET
Stripe raises US$150 million
Stripe Inc raised new financing that values the start-up at about US$9 billion, cementing its status as a major player in the crowded digital payments space and heralding a possible initial public offering. CapitalG, the late-stage investment arm of Alphabet Inc, and venture capital firm General Catalyst Partners led the US$150 million round, with participation from existing investors including Sequoia Capital Operations LLC. The San Francisco-based start-up has raised more than US$450 million to date. Money from the new round is to be used for faster international growth, possible acquisitions, more developer tools and new software to help businesses in different ways, Stripe said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
J&J in talks to buy Actelion
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is in talks with Actelion Ltd about a potential takeover of the US$19.9 billion Swiss drugmaker, the companies said on Friday, as the US healthcare giant works to expand its pharmaceutical lineup. Actelion and J&J confirmed the approach in separate statements on Friday, saying it is not certain that a deal will happen. Actelion is working with an adviser to explore options, and the deliberations are still at an early stage following J&J’s initial offer, people familiar with the matter said.
UNITED KINGDOM
GDP growth slows to 0.5%
The economy grew by 0.5 percent in the third quarter, unrevised official data showed on Friday. GDP expanded in the three months ending in September, but at a slower pace compared with growth of 0.7 percent in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics said in a second estimate. The data comes two days after the government said the economy would grow far slower than expected next year as state borrowing jumps, mainly as a result of a projected financial fallout from Brexit.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS