DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

[1/2] Former UK finance minister (Chancellor of the Exchequer), Alistair Darling, poses for a photograph in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain, Aug 31, 2018. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Former British finance minister Alistair Darling, who steered the country's economy and banking system through the shock of the global financial crisis in 2007-08, has died aged 70 after undergoing treatment for cancer, his family said on Thursday. Darling was named chancellor of the exchequer by former prime minister Gordon Brown in June 2007, just as the crisis was brewing at leading financial institutions. "I never met anyone who didn't like him," Brown's predecessor as prime minister, Tony Blair, said. "Darling's passing is a huge loss to us all," said Britain's present prime minister Rishi Sunak, from the centre-right Conservative party.

Persons: Alistair Darling, Russell Cheyne, Darling, Gordon Brown, Brown, Margaret, Calum, Anna, Tony Blair, Lehman, Rishi Sunak, Muvija, Kate Holton, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB, Labour Party, Treasury, Western General Hospital, Loretto School, Aberdeen University, The Guardian, Lehman Brothers, Conservative, Thomson Locations: Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain, British, United Kingdom

The logo of Russian technology giant Yandex is on display at the company's headquarters in Moscow, Russia December 9, 2022. Dutch holding company Yandex NV's planned restructuring is aimed at recouping some shareholder funds with the sale of its main revenue-generating Russian businesses, such as its search and ride-hailing operations. 'CONTROL FOR LESS'Yandex NV may sell 100% of a holding company set up in Russia's Kaliningrad region, said one of the people. A third source said this scenario would see Yandex NV make a clean break with Russia. Yandex NV shareholders could easily have been left with nothing, said one of the sources.

Persons: Evgenia, Yandex, Yandex's, Arkady Volozh, Russia's, nationalising Yandex, Darya Korsunskaya, Alexander Marrow, David Goodman, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, Kremlin, VK, Reuters, Carlsberg, Danone, Yandex, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Yandex, Dubai, Russia's Kaliningrad, nationalising

☆ Yandex takes step towards Russian approval for restructuring
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of Russian technology giant Yandex is on display at the company's headquarters in Moscow, Russia December 9, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Nasdaq-listed Russian tech company Yandex (YNDX.O) said on Friday it had obtained one of the approvals needed from the Russian government for its planned restructuring, which it hopes to complete by the end of 2023. Yandex, while reporting a 33% drop in third-quarter adjusted net income, said its board remained committed to completing the restructuring and divesting all Russia-based businesses. It said class A shareholders had now given consent for the merger of certain intermediate Dutch holding companies into Yandex NV. Yandex said it planned to take a restructuring proposal to shareholders for approval by the end of 2023.

Persons: Evgenia, Yandex, Alexander Marrow, Jason Neely, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Nasdaq, Yandex, Moscow, Reuters, Yandex NV, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, nationalising, Washington

☆ Atos shares plunge as nationalisation calls threaten planned Kretinsky deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Atos (ATOS.PA) shares plunged on Monday after calls from opposition lawmakers for the nationalisation of the ailing IT firm on national security grounds raised doubts about a planned deal involving Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. Asked by Reuters if the government was considering nationalisation, or could support an amendment to do so, a finance ministry source replied "no". Lawmakers from Les Republicains said the deal threatened to allow French supercomputers, made by Atos and used for virtual nuclear tests, to fall into foreign hands. Others, including Brun, have said critical Atos components were also used in combat systems used by France's navy and air force. Atos had also won a contract to process data for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Persons: Atos, Sarah Meyssonnier, Daniel Kretinsky, Olivier Marleix, Socialist Philippe Brun, Philippe Brun, Jean, Pierre Mustier, Les Republicains, Brun, Leigh Thomas, Mathieu Rosemain, Tassilo Hummel, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Les Republicans, Socialist, Atos, Reuters, supercomputing, Paris, National Assembly, Thomson Locations: Paris, France

☆ Analysis-Lithium buyers eye cheaper early-stage deals in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Melanie Burton | Scott Murdoch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

So I think there’s going to be some opportunistic acquisitions.”There is already evidence of frenzied deal activity involving pre-producing companies. Develop Global, a base metals explorer backed by diversified miner Mineral Resources, last month proposed to acquire lithium developer Essential Metals for A$152.6 million ($97.98 million). “Even though battery chemistry is evolving and impacting certain metals, lithium is a mainstay and the demand story remains robust. The battery metals landscape, and lithium in particular, looks poised for further M&A activity,” said Gavi Friedland, head of metals and mining at Goldman Sachs in Australia & New Zealand. Mineral Resources is deciding whether to build an Australian lithium battery chemical plant, while Albemarle is expanding production at its Kemerton hydroxide plant and SQM is also building a lithium hydroxide plant.

Persons: Ivan Alvarado, acquirers, ”, Kaan, “, Gavi Friedland, Goldman Sachs, Guy Alexander, Buyers, Japan’s Idemitsu, Delta, Tony Chong, Squire Patton Boggs, Jakob Stausholm, Stausholm, ” Dale Henderson Organizations: MELBOURNE, REUTERS, Chile, Albemarle Corp, RBC, Develop, Mineral Resources, Metals, Minerals, Liontown Resources, Climate Capital, Consultancy, EV, Goldman, New Zealand, Resources, ”, Rio Tinto, Patriot Metals, Canada, Reuters Locations: Albemarle Chile, Chile, Australia, Sydney, Andover, Albemarle, Perth, China, U.S, Rio, Canada, Quebec

[1/2] A general view shows the brine pools of Albemarle Chile lithium plant placed on the Atacama salt flat, Chile, May 4, 2023. "It seems like the cheapest way to get lithium units is via the drill bit," said analyst Kaan Peker of RBC in Sydney. "Even though battery chemistry is evolving and impacting certain metals, lithium is a mainstay and the demand story remains robust. The battery metals landscape, and lithium in particular, looks poised for further M&A activity,” said Gavi Friedland, head of metals and mining at Goldman Sachs in Australia & New Zealand. Mineral Resources is deciding whether to build an Australian lithium battery chemical plant, while Albemarle is expanding production at its Kemerton hydroxide plant and SQM is also building a lithium hydroxide plant.

Persons: Ivan Alvarado, acquirers, Kaan, ”, Gavi Friedland, Goldman Sachs, Guy Alexander, Buyers, Japan's Idemitsu, Delta, Tony Chong, Squire Patton Boggs, Jakob Stausholm, Stausholm, Dale Henderson, Melanie Burton, Veronica Brown Organizations: REUTERS, Chile, Albemarle Corp, RBC, Develop, Mineral Resources, Metals, Minerals, Liontown Resources, Climate Capital, Consultancy, EV, Goldman, New Zealand, Resources, Tinto, Patriot Metals, Canada, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Albemarle Chile, Chile, MELBOURNE, Australia, Sydney, Andover, Albemarle, Perth, China, U.S, Canada, Quebec

[1/2] The logo of Russian technology giant Yandex is on display at the company's headquarters in Moscow, Russia December 9, 2022. Maksut Shadaev, the head of Russia's ministry of digital affairs, told parliament in December that around 100,000 IT specialists had left Russia in 2022. It is not yet clear whether Volozh's comments may have any bearing on how Russia decides to proceed with the company. One of the sources said "hawks" in state companies believed nothing at all should be paid to foreigners. Two sources said VTB had never been a serious option as a buyer, given sanctions on the state lender.

Persons: Yandex, Maksut Shadaev, Ramzan Kadyrov, Arkady Volozh, Andrei Kostin, VTB, Alexei Kudrin, Alexander Marrow, Polina Devitt, Mike Collett, White, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, nationalising Nasdaq, Reuters, Yandex NV, Yandex, U.S, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, nationalising, Ukraine, Serbia, Yandex

☆ UK’s leaky water model faces a growing storm
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

The fallout raises two big questions: whether the regulatory regime works, and whether Britain’s water companies should still be privately owned. Average UK water bills are 448 pounds in the current year, versus 409 pounds in Scotland. One option would be to squeeze water companies – cutting allowed prices, and imposing bigger penalties on those that allow leaks. For the sector as a whole, Ofwat assumes equity comprises 45% of water companies’ 94 billion pound RCV, or 42 billion pounds. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsFollow @Unmack1 on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSThames Water investors have become more “concerned” about the company’s turnaround, the chief executive of UK water regulator Ofwat David Black told a UK parliament committee on July 4.

Persons: Macquarie’s, Severn, Ofwat, Jefferies, David Black, Iain Coucher, “, Black, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Conservative, Thames, Ofwat, Reuters Graphics Regulators, Yorkshire Water, United Utilities, Scottish, Dwr Cymru, Barclays, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Thames Water, Water, Sky News, Thomson Locations: Severn Trent, RCV, Water, Wales, Scotland, Germany, United States, Italy, Ireland, Britain

[1/3] A tyre produced by the Finnish group Nokian Tyres on display at a dealership in Moscow, Russia, March 23, 2023. Nokian Tyres' protracted departure illustrates the growing headwinds faced by Western companies that have yet to fully depart the country. "The war changed the operating environment in a rapid and unpredictable way," Nokian Tyres' Chief Transformation Officer Johanna Horsma told Reuters. Additional valuation requirements published in mid-December came in the middle of Nokian Tyres' transaction, he added. The buyer needs to be well selected to avoid scammers, said Nokian Tyres' Horsma.

Persons: Maxim Shemetov, Johanna Horsma, Finland's Fortum, Germany's, Peter Wand, Baker McKenzie, Thomas Kormendi, Kormendi, Alexei Moiseev, Moiseev, Nokian, Tatiana Stanovaya, Elopak, Baker McKenzie's Wand, Alexander Marrow, Darya Korsunskaya, Matt Scuffham, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Nokian Tyres, REUTERS, Finland's, U.S . Treasury, Reuters, Companies, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, finalising, Ukraine, Western, Frankfurt

☆ Take Five: More drama on the horizon
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - There's no shortage of events, data and high drama for markets in the days ahead. 1/ USA WATCHCritical U.S. inflation data will allow investors to gauge whether the Federal Reserve will be able to pause its interest rate hiking cycle, as many on Wall Street expect. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, tracked by the Fed, is due on Friday for April. That was the smallest rise since July and, with the consumer price index slowing in April to below 5% on annual basis, hope for peak rates has grown. Yet this narrative could lose steam if Wednesday's April inflation data shows price rises are moderating.

☆ Head of Russia's crime agency suggests nationalising key parts of economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 13 (Reuters) - The head of Russia's federal crime agency on Saturday suggested that key sectors of the economy should be returned to state ownership to support Moscow's war in Ukraine. "Let's go along the path of nationalising the main sectors of our economy." Russia's economy and government coffers rely heavily on production of oil, gas and metals. Gazprom (GAZP.MM), Russia's largest natural gas producer, is already controlled by the state. Its largest oil company, Rosneft (ROSN.MM), is not formally under government control but is headed by Igor Sechin, a long-standing ally of Putin.

☆ UBS salvages most value from Credit Suisse wreck
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Meanwhile the government will cover up to 9 billion Swiss francs of losses, such as markdowns on Credit Suisse assets, past a certain threshold. A UBS takeover is preferable to the Swiss government nationalising Credit Suisse or winding it down. Follow @liamwardproud on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSUBS will rescue Credit Suisse in a deal worth about 3 billion Swiss francs, Swiss authorities and the two banks said on March 19. Shareholders in Credit Suisse will get one new UBS share for every 22.48 shares they currently hold. Based on UBS’s closing price on March 17 the offer values Credit Suisse shares at 0.76 Swiss francs each, well below the last closing price of 1.86 Swiss francs.

☆ Potanin says sanctions constrain Nornickel, force it to adjust strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] President and Chairman of the Board of MMC Norilsk Nickel Vladimir Potanin attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russia June 6, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovJan 23 (Reuters) - Nornickel boss Vladimir Potanin, one of Russia’s richest men, said on Monday that the metals giant was reworking its strategy and building closer ties with countries such as China, Turkey and Morocco because of Western sanctions on the Russian economy. We have to deal with all this," added Potanin, who is Nornickel's (GMKN.MM) chief executive and biggest shareholder, owning 36% through his Interros holding group. Potanin reiterated the view he stated soon after the war began, that Russia should not respond to sanctions by confiscating or nationalising Western assets. Potanin was placed on a U.S. sanctions list last month as part of wider measures targeting people and businesses close to President Vladimir Putin.

☆ Edison CEO denies EDF planning to sell Italian company - paper
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Edison's (EDNn.MI) chief executive said on Thursday that rumours French power group EDF (EDF.PA) plans to sell its Italian arm are "groundless". There is not an Edison dossier at the moment", Nicola Monti was quoted as saying in an interview with Italian daily La Stampa. EDF denied an Italian media report last August that it was considering a sale of its Italian unit. Energy analysts have said a sale of Edison could help EDF reduce its debt and press ahead with an ambitious investment plan. Italian media reported in August that EDF planned to kick off a sale process for Edison in the first quarter of this year once the nationalisation process had been completed.

☆ Factbox: How governments are trying to ease impact of inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

* Ecuador's president decreed a 6% minimum wage hike for next year. * Hungary's government and private-sector employers have agreed on a 16% minimum wage increase for next year. * Poland will cap electricity prices for small businesses, hospitals and households in 2023, and raise the minimum wage twice. * Tunisia's government in September signed a deal with a major labour union to raise public-sector pay and the minimum wage. * Turkey in July raised the minimum wage by about 30%, adding to the 50% rise seen at the end of last year.

☆ Fortum agrees final terms for Uniper sale to Germany
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HELSINKI, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Finland's Fortum (FORTUM.HE) on Monday said it had signed the final terms of an agreement that will allow the company to sell its shares in troubled utility Uniper (UN01.DE) to the German government. The German government in late September agreed to take over Fortum's Uniper subsidiary, effectively nationalising the gas importer to try to cover losses incurred after Russia cut supplies. Fortum on Monday said it would sell its Uniper shares to Germany for 0.5 billion euros ($532 million) and get back a parent loan of 4 billion euros, in line with the earlier agreement. ($1 = 0.9401 euros)Reporting by Essi Lehto, editing by Terje Solsvik and Stine JacobsenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU clears Germany's plan to take over gas giant Uniper
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Uniper SE FollowGazprom PAO FollowBRUSSELS/FRANKFURT, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Uniper SE (UN01.DE) by the German government, it said on Friday, paving the way for nationalising the gas trading firm which nearly collapsed after Russia stopped supplying gas. The acquisition was approved under the EU merger regulation after the Commission concluded it would raise no competition concerns. "The transaction was prompted by the ongoing European energy crisis, in particular the cessation of Russian gas deliveries and the sharp rise in gas prices, which resulted in Uniper, Germany's largest importer of Russian gas, requiring significant capital injections to prevent its insolvency," the Commission said. Gazprom (GAZP.MM) used to be Uniper's biggest gas supplier, but deliveries were reduced in the summer and fully halted at the end of August, forcing Uniper to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices to meet existing contracts. "This is an important step in the proceedings," a spokesperson for Germany's Economy Ministry, which was key in negotiating the nationalisation, said.

Uniper (UN01.DE) has already booked billions of euros of losses on derivatives, exacerbating a crisis as it rushed to plug the gap left after Russia turned off the taps. Like other energy firms, Uniper uses derivatives, such as securing an option to sell gas at a set price in the future, to guard against energy price swings. "In total, we have derivative positions of about 216 billion euros as of September 30 2022," a spokesperson for Uniper said, adding that the riskier part of this was small. According to its accounts, Uniper held around 198 billion euros of receivables from derivative instruments as assets. It is also more than the 131 billion euros Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE) had at the end of June, public data shows.

☆ Netherlands proposes EU gas price cap for state-backed buyers - document
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Uniper SE FollowBRUSSELS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Netherlands has weighed into the European Union's debate on whether to cap gas prices with an alternative proposal that would cap gas prices but only for government-owned or state-supported buyers. The Netherlands therefore proposed capping gas transactions by those buyers at a level below the cap proposed by the EU, and which would be reviewed each month. State-owned gas buyers in Poland, Italy and Austria could also be affected by the proposed Dutch cap. However, the Dutch cap would not directly intervene in the EU's exchange-traded gas markets, which some pro-cap countries say they want. EU gas prices surged after Russia cut deliveries following its February invasion of Ukraine, but prices peaked in August, coinciding with Russia taking the Nord Stream 1 pipeline offline and a drive among EU countries to fill up storage ahead of winter.

☆ Exclusive: Poland seeking German support to sanction Russian Druzhba oil pipeline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The EU has pledged to stop buying Russian oil via maritime routes from Dec. 5 but Druzhba is currently exempt from sanctions. The southern section of the pipeline supplies Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic which, unlike Poland and Germany, would struggle to diversify their oil imports. Poland and Germany promised in spring to try to end Russian oil imports via Druzhba's northern leg by the end of year but Orlen remains tied to its contract with Russian oil and gas company Tatneft. The company has already cut its reliance on Russian oil to 30% of its requirement, replacing it with deliveries from Saudi Arabia and Norway among others. Kommersant newspaper reported earlier this month that Orlen had submitted an application to the Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft for the supply of 3 million tonnes of oil to Poland through Druzhba in 2023.

☆ Western economies rediscover meaning of scarcity
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Edward Chancellor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Western companies, which outsourced production to China and other emerging markets, found themselves less constrained by their domestic workforces. China’s rising exports lowered the prices of traded goods, dampening inflationary pressures and allowing Western central banks to cut interest rates to their lowest levels in history. In the 1970s, economists worried that fiscal deficits would lead to higher interest rates and lower investment. Western governments now face constraints that are common in developing countries, relating to fiscal policy, inflation and financial stability. To reduce the burden of their war debts, governments in Europe and the United States held interest rates below inflation.

☆ French petrol supply improving but Paris area still having problems - minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - There are signs of a general improvement in the supply of petrol to service stations in France, but the situation in the Paris/Ile-de-France area remains difficult, French Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told French radio. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThose protests have disrupted the supply of petrol to service stations, leading to long lines of motorists queuing to fill up their cars and causing general public anger. Energy company EDF (EDF.PA), which the French government is in the process of fully nationalising, has also been affected by strikes at its nuclear reactors. France's national grid operator RTE warned on Tuesday that those prolonged strikes at EDF could have "heavy consequences" for the country's electricity supplies over the coming winter. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Jan Harvey and Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Government measures to ease inflation pain
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In August, the government offered debt relief to former students and unveiled the $430 billion "Inflation Reduction Act". * Canada on Sept. 13 announced a C$4.5 billion ($3.29 billion) relief package. * Poland will spend over 30 billion zlotys ($6.07 billion) to freeze power prices and support companies. * The Czech Republic will cap electricity and gas prices next year. * Croatia will cap electricity prices from Oct. 1 until March.

☆ Factbox: How governments are trying to ease inflation pain
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

* Mexico will raise the minimum wage by 20% next year after an agreement was reached between employers, labour representatives and the government. EUROPE:* European Union countries are racing to reach a deal on a gas price cap by Dec. 13. The bloc's members are considering a slightly lower gas price cap than the one proposed by the European Commission, documents seen by Reuters showed. * Slovakia will spend 6 billion euros to cap energy prices for households next year. * Tunisia's government in September signed a deal with a major labour union to raise public sector pay and the minimum wage.

Search resuls for: "nationalising"

24 mentions found