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☆ Paramount and Skydance inch closer to a merger as key hurdle looms
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Paramount Global and Skydance Media are making progress on a deal that would merge the media companies and buy out controlling shareholder Shari Redstone. The entertainment company will be valued at around $5 billion and merged with Paramount Global, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Three of the people said that Paramount Global was slow to open a data room to the Skydance consortium, which has slightly pushed back the timeline on a deal. Skydance plans to name Ellison as CEO of Paramount Global and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell as the president, said two of the people. Spokespeople for Apollo, the Paramount Global special committee, Paramount Global, and Skydance's consortium declined to comment.

Persons: National Amusements Shari Redstone, Shari Redstone, David Ellison's Skydance, Ellison, Jeff Shell, Bob Bakish, hasn't, Spokespeople Organizations: National Amusements, Allen, Co, Sun, Paramount Global, Skydance, Paramount, KKR, RedBird Capital Partners, Sony, Apollo Locations: Sun Valley , Idaho

☆ WeightWatchers CEO just sent an internal memo to employees as stock crashes, amid debt concerns, Oprah exit
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

But since then WW shares have suffered heavy selling, dropping to a new 52-week low on Thursday. The stock, due to its debt load and short interest, as well as the general anxiety about the impact of the new weight loss drugs, is subject to heightened volatility. In the memo, Sistani told employees she wanted "to take a moment to address some of the breathless media coverage." WW shares closed at $1.87 on Thursday. It noted that WW was among companies from the weight loss industry involved in the TV event.

Persons: Oprah Winfrey, Sistani, Eli Lilly, Sima Sistani, Guggenheim, Oprah, Winfrey Organizations: CNBC, Nordisk, Guggenheim Partners, Guggenheim, WeightWatchers Clinic, FDA, WeightWatchers, National Museum of, ABC

☆ How US banks can wiggle out of the $650 billion balance-sheet bomb hanging over them
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

US banks are sitting on an estimated $650 billion in unrealized losses on their bond holdings. Here's why banks have flexibility in making sure that their $650 billion balance sheet bomb is defused. The bond crash culminated in an estimated $650 billion in unrealized losses held by banks, according to Moody's. How banks can defuse their balance sheet bombDespite the massive unrealized losses, banks are looking at three scenarios that could help ensure losses aren't realized. First, banks could simply hold onto their low-yielding debt until it matures and not realize any losses at all.

Persons: —, aren't, Louis Navellier, Geetu Sharma, Sharma, Banks Organizations: Service, Fed, Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank, Signature Bank, Consumers, of America, Treasury, Federal Reserve, Banks, P Bank, P Regional Bank ETF

"Airbus remains committed to providing the U.S. Air Force and our warfighters with the most modern and capable tanker on the market," an Airbus spokesperson said. The Air Force has sought to replace hundreds of Eisenhower-era KC-135 tankers in three lots. "Lockheed Martin has decided not to respond to the U.S. Air Force's KC-135 fleet recapitalization Request for Information," Lockheed spokesperson Stephanie Stinn said in a statement. A Lockheed-Airbus victory would have landed Airbus its first aircraft contract with the U.S. Air Force after attempting to penetrate the U.S. defense market for two decades. In 2011, Boeing won the first of the three-phase procurement to replace the Air Force's aging tanker fleet, securing a contract for 179 KC-46s.

Persons: Cheney Orr, Eisenhower, Lockheed Martin, Stephanie Stinn, Lockheed's, Valerie Insinna, Mike Stone, Chizu Organizations: Lockheed, Association of, United States Army, Global, REUTERS, Rights, Lockheed Martin Corp, U.S . Air, KC, Air Force, Airbus, U.S . Air Force, The Air Force, Boeing, U.S . Air Force's KC, Pegasus, Refueling, recapitalization, Air, Thomson Locations: Huntsville , Alabama, U.S, Alabama, Georgia, Washington

☆ Tourmaline cements top position in Canada's Deep Basin with $1 billion Bonavista deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Sourasis Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 16 (Reuters) - Tourmaline Oil (TOU.TO) on Monday agreed to buy rival Bonavista Energy for C$1.45 billion ($1.06 billion) in cash and stock, strengthening its position in Western Canada's Deep Basin. The acquisition is expected to help Tourmaline, already the largest Deep Basin producer, exit 2023 with production of more than 600,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The offer consists of C$725 million in Tourmaline common shares and C$725 million in cash. Bonavista, a major oil and gas producer, delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2020 as part of a recapitalization plan. In September, Canadian natural gas firm Peyto Exploration & Development (PEY.TO) agreed to buy Spanish energy company Repsol's (REP.MC) Deep Basin assets for $468 million.

Persons: Tourmaline, Michael Harvey, Sourasis Bose, Shounak Dasgupta, Sriraj Organizations: Bonavista Energy, RBC Capital, Toronto Stock Exchange, Exploration, Development, Thomson Locations: Bonavista, Toronto, Bengaluru

☆ The very rich are often bad investors. Here’s why
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

But there are only about 730 billionaires in the country, according to Forbes, and almost none of them inherited longstanding generational wealth. In fact, less than 10% of the current list of billionaires are descended from anyone on the first Forbes’ rich list, published in 1982. If you get the “What?” decision wrong and the sizing decision right, it’s still unfortunate and you’re going to lose money. Every year there’s going to be volatility — one year you’re going to be up 35% and the next year you’re going to be down 25%, but in the long term it will even out to 5%. The current walkout came close to beating the longest strike in WGA history, a 1988 strike that lasted 154 days.

Persons: New York CNN —, Forbes, Victor Haghani, ”, James White, Haghani, LTCM, CNN’s, it’s, you’re, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Chris Isidore, Oliver Darcy, Laura He Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Forbes, Elm Partners, Term Capital Management, Federal Reserve, Vanderbilt, Writers Guild, Writers Guild of America, WGA Locations: New York, United States, Russia, Hollywood, China, Beijing

☆ U.S. revives Cold War submarine spy program to counter China
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +21 min

The original network of fixed spy cables, which lie in secret locations on the ocean floor, was designed to spy on Soviet submarines seven decades ago, the three people said. China, meanwhile, is working on its own maritime spy program, known as the Great Underwater Wall, two U.S. Navy sources told Reuters. Sense of urgencyAmerica’s underwater espionage program was launched in the 1950s with a submarine detection system known as the Sound Surveillance System. The U.S. Navy’s Undersea Surveillance System The United States is expanding and upgrading its anti-submarine surveillance capabilities as tensions rise with China. Japan also operates a fleet of three ocean surveillance ships, fitted with U.S. SURTASS cables, the two U.S. Navy sources said.

Persons: Captain Stephany Moore, Richard Seif, Moore, Seif, ”, Tim Hawkins, Mariana Trench, Brent Sadler, We're, Sadler, ” Jon Nelson, Phillip Sawyer, Sawyer, United States –, SOSUS, SubCom, Stephen Askins, Lockheed Martin, Chuck Fralick, Leidos, ” Fralick, Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Saildrone, Joe Brock, Mohammad Kawoosa, Simon Scarr, Edgar Su, Catherine Tai Design, Eve Watling, Marla Dickerson Organizations: U.S . Navy, Navy, Undersea Surveillance Command, Undersea Surveillance, United, Submarine Force U.S . Pacific Fleet, Reuters, U.S . 5th Fleet, U.S, Pacific, China Academy of Sciences, China’s Ministry of Defense, Foreign, China Naval, U.S . Naval Forces Korea, The Heritage Foundation, Department of Defense, Naval Air Station Whidbey, Processing, Undersea, Undersea Warfare, Naval Postgraduate School, Taiwan, Ships, Titan, Navy’s, CS, U.S . Department of Defense, Lockheed, U.S . State Department, An Australian Defense, Self, Defense Force, Leidos Locations: Seattle, U.S, Whidbey, China, Taiwan, Beijing, United States, Australia, Pacific, South China, Mariana, Yap, Federated States, Micronesia, Guam, Russian, Ukraine, Washington . U.S, Washington, Soviet Union, Washington State, Virginia Beach , Virginia, Monterey , California, Japan, India, States, London, Taiwan Strait, Virginia, San Francisco

☆ WeWork multitasked when it had just one job
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - WeWork (WE.N) took a decent idea and turned it into a ridiculous one. Occupancy declined and WeWork burned through another $300 million. WeWork agreed to take over loads of space when revenue was doubling each year and prices were far higher. Workspace-sharing providers can thrive again, too, if they remember that being cautious about puffing up their balance sheets is the main job. WeWork, valued at $47 billion in a private 2019 funding round, said in May it had completed a debt-for-equity recapitalization that eliminated $1.2 billion of debt.

Persons: Adam Neumann, Masayoshi Son, WeWork, Daniel Hurwitz, it’s, Sandeep Mathrani, Hurwitz, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, SoftBank, Video Communications, Thomson Locations: Swiss

July 15 (Reuters) - Twitter's cash flow remains negative because of a nearly 50% drop in advertising revenue and a heavy debt load, Elon Musk said on Saturday, falling short of his expectation in March that Twitter could reach cash flow positive by June. "Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else," Musk said in a tweet replying to suggestions on recapitalization. It is unclear what time frame Musk was referring to by the 50% drop in ad revenue. He has said Twitter was on track to post $3 billion in revenue in 2023, down from $5.1 billion in 2021. On Thursday, Twitter said that select content creators will be eligible to get a part of the ad revenue the company earns in an attempt to draw more content creators to the site.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Twitter, Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal, Yaccarino, Jahnavi, Grant McCool Organizations: Twitter, Musk, BBC, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Adtech company MediaMath has hired bankers to explore a possible sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

MediaMath has appointed investment bank Houlihan Lokey to explore its strategic options. Amid a period of major upheaval, MediaMath has been pursuing a sale since 2020. Adtech company MediaMath has appointed the investment bank Houlihan Lokey to explore its strategic options, which could include a debt restructuring or a sale, according to two people familiar with the matter. It's the third investment bank MediaMath has appointed in three years, amid a period of major upheaval for the company. While MediaMath held serious talks with four companies between 2020 and 2022, including Amazon and the publicly traded adtech firm Tremor, a sale didn't materialize.

☆ First Republic slumps after report of potential government backing in deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

March 21 (Reuters) - Shares of First Republic Bank (FRC.N) tumbled 14% in extended trade on Tuesday following a report that a potential deal for the troubled bank could rely on government backing to encourage buyers. Potential government backing in a deal to save First National could involve conditions at the expense of the bank's shareholders, said Dennis Dick, a trader at Triple D Trading in Ontario, Canada. While a sale of the entire bank remains possible, First Republic is currently focused on raising capital, the third source said. First Republic's shares had surged as much as 60% on Tuesday before closing up 30%, but even so First Republic's stock has lost over 80% in value in the past two weeks. JPMorgan is advising First Republic on its options to raise capital from investors, a source familiar with the situation previously said.

Three days into his tenure as Silicon Valley Bank 's government-appointed CEO, Tim Mayopoulos has a message for his high-powered venture capital and startup clients: Bring your money back. "There is no safer place in the U.S. banking system to put your deposits," Mayopoulos said on the call, which CNBC attended and was first to report. SVB's former CEO and CFO are no longer employed by the bank, Mayopoulos said on the call. Customer feedback will be critical in determining the future of the bank, Mayopoulos said on the call. "There are other places that do venture debt, but Silicon Valley Bank was the 1,000-pound gorilla in the room," said Ami Kassar, CEO of the business lending consultant Multifunding.

SVB said on Monday it was considering strategic alternatives for its assets but did not disclose bankruptcy as one of the potential options. SVB has not made any final decisions on the path it will take and is still attempting to find buyers for assets without filing for bankruptcy, the people said.A bankruptcy filing is only one option SVB is considering. The financial firm is also exploring other restructuring and recapitalization alternatives built around its investment bank and venture capital business, one of the people said. SVB's investment bank and venture capital business are separate divisions of the company from Silicon Valley Bank, which California regulators closed last week after a run by depositors. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the FDIC hired Piper Sandler Companies (PIPR.N) as adviser to sell Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ MediaMath seemed destined for a $1B fairy-tale exit. Instead, most early investors got nothing.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

At its Halloween party in 2015, the adtech startup MediaMath seemed on the brink of greatness. The machine-learning revolution that took over the financial industry was finally happening in marketing, and many industry insiders considered MediaMath to be the hottest adtech company of the time. "We never came close to consummating such a deal with MediaMath nor entertained the purported valuation," said a representative for Singtel. The Trade Desk, the most comparable independent DSP company to MediaMath, was riding high after its 2016 initial public offering. The quasi-equity agreement was structured to protect Searchlight if MediaMath didn't perform to certain quotas or if things went south financially.

☆ PE firm Bridgepoint takes a majority stake in Equativ, valuing the adtech firm at around $370 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bridgepoint Development Capital has taken a majority stake in the adtech firm Equativ. It values Equativ at 350 million euros, or $371 million, according to a person familiar with the matter. Private equity firm Bridgepoint has taken a majority stake in Equativ, the French adtech company formerly known as Smart Adserver, the pair said on Thursday. A person familiar with the matter said the deal values Equativ at 350 million euros, or around $371 million. Bridgepoint raised 1.7 billion euros for its BDC IV fund, while Croissance had raised 100 million euros.

☆ Buyout barons reach deep into their bags of tricks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Debt necessity is proving to be the mother of private equity invention. With the cheap borrowing that fueled record-breaking years of leveraged buyouts gone, firms are digging deeper into their bags of tricks. Private equity firm Silver Lake, which bought a stake alongside the IPO, said it might take control. Besides putting private equity firms into weaker negotiating positions, the competing incentives also threaten conflicts of interest with limited partners. ...THERE’S A WAYIf the U.S. Federal Reserve avoids engineering a recession, private equity should be able to revert to its tried-and-true formula soon enough.

☆ Bed Bath & Beyond to wind down Canada operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Bed Bath & Beyond's Canadian operations are going out of business, according to a court filing on Friday, two days after the retailer quickly raised cash to stave off a U.S. bankruptcy. The Canadian division, which operates 54 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and 11 buybuy BABY stores, is insolvent, the filing posted on the website of consultancy Alvarez & Marsal showed. Bed Bath & Beyond in January had raised doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern just months after it announced more than $500 million in new financing, as well as job cuts and 150 store closures. As of Nov. 26, the Bed Bath & Beyond banner in Canada had total assets of about $427.4 million and total liabilities of about $342.8 million, the filing showed. Buybuy BABY Canada had assets worth $52.7 million and liabilities of about $86.9 million.

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☆ 10 oldest airlines in the world
▼ + stars: | 2019-03-04 | by ( Miquel Ros | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Here are 10 of the oldest airlines in the world still in operation. Pan American World Airways subsequently acquired a controlling stake in the company. Qantas was nationalized by the Australian government after World War II and reprivatized in the ’90s. After World War II, Aeroflot became the largest airline in the world, as air travel was often the only means of transportation available to bridge the vast expanses of the Soviet Union. Czech Airlines (CSA)Czech Airlines, the national airline of the Czech Republic.

Persons: Avianca, JUAN MABROMATA, SCADTA, Stanislav Sergeev, MICHAL CIZEK, Finnair, DANIEL SLIM, ANDREJ ISAKOVIC, Jat, Jasper Juinen, Dan Kitwood Organizations: CNN, Finnair, Czech Airlines, KLM, Passengers, Dutch, Havilland DH, Croydon Airport, Junkers F13, Pan American World Airways, SCADTA, Servicio, Qantas, Northern Territory Aerial Services, Avro, Aeroflot Aeroflot, Junkers, Aeroflot, Concorde, Communist, BOAC, CSA, Eastern Bloc, Prague City Air, DC, Delta Air Lines, AFP, Delta, Pan, Northwest Airlines, Air Serbia Air Serbia, Aeroput, Jat Airways, Etihad, Air Serbia, British Airways, Qatar Airways, International Airlines Group, British Airways British Airways, British Overseas Airways Corporation, British European Airways, Cambrian Airways, Northeast Airlines Locations: Finnish, Czech, Amsterdam, Batavia, Jakarta, New York, Colombia, AFP, Barranquilla, Germany, Colombian, SACO, Latin America, Australia, Queensland, Northern Australia, Asia, Pacific, Soviet, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Russian, Soviet Union, Cuba, Murmansk, Russia, Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, CSA, Prague, Americas, Africa, East, West Germany, Finland, Tokyo, Europe, China, East Coast, Middle, Serbia, Yugoslavia, Serbian, Air, Iberia, Madrid, Barcelona, South America, London, Paris, Devonshire

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