Warner Media and Discovery strike a deal
On May 17th Discovery announced it was joining forces with the AT&T company WarnerMedia, which means the control of CNN, HBO, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT and Warner Bros. Under the deal, AT&T shareholders would control 71 percent of the new company and Discovery shareholders 29 percent. The merge will make the two companies world’s second-largest media group by revenue, behind only Disney. “We think together the combination makes us the best media company in the world,” said Discovery’s chief executive David Zaslav, who will head the new company in an attempt to compete with other top tier streamers like Disney and Netflix.
U.S Federal Law Doesn’t Stop Employers From Requiring Covid-19 Vaccine
The United States Federal Government stated that U.S employers could require every worker who must be physically present in a workplace, to be vaccinated against Covid-19. There are also no federal laws to prevent or limit incentives offered to workers to get vaccinated voluntarily (so long as these are not coercive), with some companies such as the Dollar General Corp offering 4 hours of pay to those who take the vaccine.
US Bill to add $52 billion for U.S. chip manufacturing
The majority leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said the Senate will include 52,000 million to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing to improve U.S. competitiveness with China. The legislation would also set a program to build, expand, or modernize the country’s semiconductor fabrication plants. Funding to support this industry was authorized in the 2021 defense policy bill, but it did not provide the money. The addition to the China bill would remedy that.
Blackstone Takeover Bid Rejected by Crown Resorts
Crown Resorts rejected the private equity firm’s $6.5 Billion buyout offer after saying there was too much uncertainty about the timing and regulatory approval for any deal. The board of directors unanimously decided to consider the offer undervalued. This rejection puts Star Entertainment back in consideration after proposing an all-stock merger, with a plan to cut costs and generate value across its real estate assets. Blackstone’s offer was around $12.35 per share in cash while Star Entertainment implied a proposed value of $14.00 per share.
China threatens to crackdown on Crypto
China warned that it intends to crack down on cryptocurrency mining and trading as part of an effort to control financial risks. The threat also came amid a government report in Hong Kong that indicated that “cryptocurrency exchanges will have to be licensed by its markets regulator, and that only professional investors should be able to use them”.
Belarus’ Isolation Strengthens Putin’s Plans
After Belarus’ president, Mr. Lukashenko’s decision to forcefully ground the Ryanair airplane and to arrest the journalist Protasevich, Belarus’ increasing political and economic isolation from the West has given Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, an opening to strengthen the integration of Russia and the former Soviet republic. Mr. Lukashenko firmly refused the possibility of his country being absorbed by Russia, but the economic threat from the west and Russia’s financial and military support for Belarus could pose a problem to his convictions.
UK´s finance industry is one of the largest contributors to C02 emissions
According to an analysis carried out by South Pole, a climate solution firm, and published by two environmental campaign groups, Greenpeace and WWF, the CO2 production financed by Britain’s banks and asset managers for 2019 was of 805m tonnes (almost double the amount of the UK own emissions). If taken as a country, the City of London would be the ninth in the world to lead in carbon emissions. This positions the UK’s finance industry as one of the largest contributors to the climate crisis.
AMD announces stock buyback plan
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. announced a $ 4 billion share buyback plan, the first authorization since 2001, demonstrating the company’s confidence in the future of its business. This buyback will be financed with cash from operations, and the program will equal approximately 4% of AMD’s market value, with no end date. CEO Lisa Su said in the statement, that the strong financial results enable the opportunity to invest in the business and begin returning capital to its shareholders.
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China Imposed Crypto Sanctions