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☆ British Airways accidentally flew a pet dog to Saudi Arabia instead of Nashville, leaving it traumatized, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

British Airways flew a pet dog to Saudi Arabia instead of Nashville by accident, per the Mirror. Bluebell was instead placed by IAG Cargo — BA's luggage handlers under the same owner — on a flight to Saudi Arabia, 7,000 miles from her intended location. Since her return, James told the Mirror that Bluebell had been left traumatized by the incident, and has caused thousands of dollars' worth of damage to their home since. "We simply cannot leave her alone," James told the Mirror. An IAG Cargo spokesperson told the Mirror: "We are very sorry for the recent error that occurred during Bluebell's trip to Nashville.

Carl Icahn had a textbook strategy for the Nevada-based energy utility Southwest Gas Holdings. In August, Southwest Gas' board decided against a divestiture, and the sale of subsidiaries that Icahn had urged remains uncertain. "Shareholders don't want to hear it, but you really have great difficulty selling a company at a good price today," the widely followed activist investor Icahn told Insider. via CNBCBut, like Icahn in the case of Southwest Gas, participants in this new onslaught may find themselves confounded by an increasingly complex and fraught business environment. According to Lazard, 37% of activist campaigns this year were launched by first-timers, the highest proportion since the company started tracking these figures in 2015.

Carl Icahn had a textbook strategy for the Nevada-based energy utility Southwest Gas Holdings. In August, Southwest Gas' board decided against a divestiture, and the sale of subsidiaries that Icahn had urged remains uncertain. That means that the sale of companies like Southwest Gas is off the table for the time being — or will get done at prices far lower than before. via CNBCBut, like Icahn in the case of Southwest Gas, participants in this new onslaught may find themselves confounded by an increasingly complex and fraught business environment. According to Lazard, 37% of activist campaigns this year were launched by first-timers, the highest proportion since the company started tracking these figures in 2015.

☆ North Carolina treasurer wants BlackRock CEO to go, but keeps assets at firm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Ross Kerber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Dec 9 (Reuters) - North Carolina's state treasurer on Friday called for BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) Chief Executive Laurence Fink to resign or be removed from the top asset management firm, citing its focus on sustainable investing, but said public assets will stay with the firm. A division of Folwell's office, the North Carolina Retirement Systems (NCRS), has about $14 billion invested through BlackRock. A focus on ESG is not a focus on returns," the statement said. Meanwhile, Democratic officials and investors want BlackRock and other companies to come to terms with issues like climate change or workforce diversity. Earlier this week, small activist hedge fund Bluebell Capital Partners also sought Fink's departure over the company's ESG efforts.

☆ 2023 is shaping up to be a big year for dealmaking in live sports. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Big deals for the big (and little) screen. Next year is shaping up to be a big one for media deals. Like many other industries, media quickly turned quiet on the dealmaking front this year as the economy soured. However, a stabilization of interest rates, along with money burning a hole in investors' pockets, could lead to a big 2023, insiders say. The landscape for media deals is fascinating when you consider the two opposing forces, as Lucia pointed out to me.

☆ Sinema widens gap between Democrats and Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Big finance has lost an ally in the U.S. Democratic Party. Some of the biggest names on Wall Street have similarly tied themselves to the Republican Party’s leaders. But the gap between Democrats and the financial sector has been growing for years. Sinema’s exit, while it won’t change much in Washington, gives Wall Street one more reason to come off the fence. Follow @BenWinck on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSSenator Kyrsten Sinema said on Dec. 9 that she will change her party registration from Democrat to political independent.

☆ Sinema widens gap between Democrats and Wall St
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] FILE PHOTO: Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, arrives at the DealBook Summit in New York City, U.S., November 30, 2022. The major prize Bluebell has so far scored was at Danone, where it helped oust a chief executive. By comparison, the average activist hedge fund was down 14% for 2022 in November, according to Hedge Fund Research data. BlackRock has also not responded to Bluebell's request to shake up its board and review its environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) strategy. Even if Bluebell does not win concessions from BlackRock, it has at least bet on a company that has performed well in the past.

☆ Meet the small hedge fund that thinks it can oust Larry Fink from BlackRock
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The fund has a tiny stake in BlackRock and is calling for the firm to replace Larry Fink as CEO. On one side stands a small, relatively unknown activist hedge fund with a tiny stake in a giant company. 1, the young hedge fund run by a longtime activist investor, and ExxonMobil. Joining a wave of heavy scrutiny of BlackRock and Fink over ESG, Bluebell accused BlackRock of a hypocritical posture toward sustainable investing, according to the letter, which was viewed by Insider. Bloomberg News ran the headline: "Tiny Activist Bluebell Quickly Becomes CEOs' Worst Nightmare."

☆ Watch CNBC’s full interview with Bluebell Capital CEO Giuseppe Bivona
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWatch CNBC’s full interview with Bluebell Capital CEO Giuseppe BivonaGiuseppe Bivona, Bluebell Capital co-founder, joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss his firm's call for BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to step down.

☆ Why activist investor Bluebell Capital is targeting BlackRock over 'ESG hypocrisy'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWhy activist investor Bluebell Capital is targeting BlackRock over 'ESG hypocrisy'Giuseppe Bivona, partner and co-founder of activist investment fund Bluebell Capital, explains why his firm is calling for BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to step down.

☆ Bluebell Capital CEO on BlackRock: The company isn't doing what it says it'll do
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBluebell Capital CEO on BlackRock: The company isn't doing what it says it'll doGiuseppe Bivona, Bluebell Capital co-founder, joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss his firm's call for BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to step down.

☆ Activist investor calls for BlackRock CEO Fink to step down over ESG ‘hypocrisy’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Larry Fink, Chairman and C.E.O. of BlackRock arrives at the DealBook Summit in New York City, November 30, 2022. David Dee Delgado | ReutersLONDON — BlackRock CEO Larry Fink is facing calls to step down from activist investor Bluebell Capital over the company's alleged "hypocrisy" on its environmental, social and governance (ESG) messaging. However, in a letter to Fink dated Nov. 10, shareholder Bluebell expressed concern about the "reputational risk (including greenwashing risk) to which BlackRock under the leadership of Larry Fink have unreasonably exposed the company." The company remains a major shareholder in the likes of Glencore and "coal intensive miners" Exxaro, Peabody and Whitehaven, Bivaro's letter to Fink on Nov. 10 noted.

Giuseppe Bivona and Marco Taricco, Bluebell's partners, wrote to Fink, saying they want someone else to run the company. Bluebell was founded in 2019 and has taken on companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Glencore, Vivendi and Danone, where it engineered the ouster of former CEO Emmanuel Faber. "Fink clearly has political ambitions because it is not his job as chief executive of BlackRock to dictate energy policy,” Bivona told Reuters in an interview. BlackRock did not support Bluebell's campaign to oust the CEO of chemical company Solvay or at Leonardo SpA (LDOF.MI), where Bluebell wanted to promote a liability action against the CEO. A BlackRock spokesman said it did not "support Bluebell's campaigns as we did not consider them to be in the best economic interests of our clients."

☆ Activist investor Bluebell seeks to replace BlackRock CEO Fink
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners Ltd has sought to replace BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, after taking a position in the asset manager. Bluebell, in a letter to BlackRock's board, has also asked the company to split the roles of chairman and CEO held by Fink and initiate a strategic review of its stance on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) policies. Bluebell said it wants Fink to be replaced for the "de-personalisation of the ESG strategy from the opinions of the current BlackRock's chairman and CEO". BlackRock did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. read moreReporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh and Anirban Chakroborti in Bengalur; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ BlackRock has frozen hires, reduced spending, says CFO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Carolina Mandl | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) Chief Financial Officer Gary Shedlin on Tuesday said his firm is freezing most hiring and reducing expenses. BlackRock also said there were some short-term performance challenges and it needed to think about resetting expenses relative to revenues. Shares in BlackRock are down roughly 30% this year, underperforming the benchmark S&P 500 Index. Separately, activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners Ltd said in a letter it has sought to replace BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink after taking a position in the asset manager. Reporting by Carolina Mandl in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ New GSK shines brighter with another forecast upgrade
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Natalie Grover | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Shingrix generated quarterly sales of 760 million pounds ($873 million), compared with the GSK-compiled analyst consensus forecast for 685 million pounds. GSK shares hit a 2-1/2 month high of 1,470.2 pence in early trade and were last up 1% at 1,461.3 pence. GSK said it had incurred a charge of 45 million pounds in the third quarter, primarily reflecting provisions for increased legal fees related Zantac. Originally marketed by a forerunner of GSK, Zantac has been sold by companies including Pfizer (PFE.N), Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi (SASY.PA), as well as many generic drugmakers. GSK reported a third-quarter adjusted profit of 46.9 pence per share on sales of about 7.83 billion pounds, topping analysts' forecasts for 40.1 pence and 7.32 billion pounds.

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