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☆ Twitter’s future isn’t just Elon Musk’s problem
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Buying Twitter is financially onerous, too, but compared with buying a bank, it’s pretty simple stuff. Social media companies, conversely, are a place where people tweet poop emojis and exchange cat GIFs. Congress isn’t blind to the legal vacuum in which large social media companies operate. But while politicians squabble, social media continues to shape society in ways that may only become apparent years later. In a tweet later that day, the Tesla chief said that buying Twitter would accelerate the creation of X, an "everything app."

☆ The idea of Jeff Bezos 'scared' me away from trying to buy the Phoenix Suns, says Shaquille O'Neal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The idea of bidding against the second-richest person in the world is understandably intimidating, even if you're legendary former NBA big man Shaquille O'Neal. O'Neal, a 7-foot-1 Hall of Famer, says Bezos' massive net worth "scared" him away from his plans to make a bid for ownership of the NBA's Phoenix Suns. "Nobody on this planet can compete with Big Man JB," O'Neal told TMZ Sports on Saturday, referring to Bezos, adding: "Because you know what? Bezos is one of multiple billionaires reportedly considering a bid for the Suns, according to ESPN. The Suns franchise is currently worth $1.8 billion, and could reportedly sell for at least $2.5 billion, according to a recent Forbes report.

☆ Blackstone, Apollo brace for deteriorating commercial real estate market that one analyst says could lose 30% of its value
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Year-over-year price growth has already slowed for commercial properties, signaling souring outlooks that could reduce values by 20 to 30%, the strategists wrote in a report. Executives at the Bisnow event pointed to high rents on multifamily properties, though growth is softening. Yardi"If this doesn't clear the market, then I don't know what does," Marcus said of her multifamily properties, which she described as large and relatively new. Andrew Holm, a cohead of US investments at Ares, the owner of more than $50 billion in commercial real estate, is hunkered down for the long haul, however. At the Bisnow event, he was so bearish on commercial real estate that he struggled to name a single sector that might be attractive over the next six months.

☆ Home cheat home: How real-estate agents are ripping off homebuyers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

The other day, Linda, the real-estate agent whom my wife and I used to buy our home, called me out of the blue. Real-estate agents, like doctors, are the friendly, knowledgeable face of a bewildering, price-gouging system. If Americans paid the same rate as the British, they would save more than $72 billion a year in real-estate commissions. The potential for big money, in turn, has led more and more Americans to become real-estate agents. Every dollar that is paid out in a real-estate transaction — to sellers, agents, inspectors, insurers, and the IRS — comes from you, the buyer.

☆ CVC’s burial business bets on lively market growth
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Jennifer Hughes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A pitch for a growing business in an under-penetrated market is different though. Growth will have been disrupted by the effect of pandemic lockdowns on the ability of Nirvana’s sales force to canvas for new business. That’s just above the rate cited by FWD for the Malaysian life insurance market and would be a more reasonable level. Bidders have entered a second round for the business, which specialises in selling pre-need premium products such as family plots in burial grounds. Nirvana Asia went public in Hong Kong in 2014.

☆ Christie's launches 'Department X' as collectible sneakers and street-wear boom
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Christie's is launching a new department to capitalize on the booming market for collectible sneakers, streetwear and sports history. The auction house on Monday announced its Department X, giving Air Jordans and Supreme skate decks their own category, alongside Impressionist & Modern Art and Old Masters. "When looking at the auction world and the way collectors are evolving and the new collectors coming into the marketplace, we felt this is a strong a robust marketplace," said Caitlin Donovan, Christie's head of Handbags, Streetwear and Sneakers, who will head Department X. Department X will sell rare collectibles across music, fashion, art and sports history, but sneakers and streetwear will be among its biggest categories. In June, Christie's held a "Six Rings − Legacy of the GOAT" sale dedicated to basketball legend Michael Jordan's career, with sales nearing $1.5 million.

☆ Greece gets two binding bids for Alexandroupolis port
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ATHENS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Greece received two binding bids for a majority stake in its northern port of Alexandroupolis, the country's privatisations agency HRADF said on Thursday. The bidders for a 67% stake in the port were Quintana Infrastructure and Development through Liberty Port Holdings Single Member, and International Port Investments Alexandroupolis, a joint venture of Black Summit Financial Group, Euroports, EFA Group and GEK Terna (HRMr.AT), the agency said in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe bidders were among four investors that had been shortlisted last year for the sale. In a separate announcement after unsealing their bids on Thursday, the agency said it has asked all three bidders to raise their offers. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bank of Cyprus bid makes case for lender buyouts
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Lone Star’s roughly 700 million euro offer for Bank of Cyprus (BOCH.CY) shows that the sector may have reached such a level in Europe. Chief Executive Panicos Nicolaou churned out a respectable 7.3% return on tangible equity (ROTE) in the first half of 2022, excluding one-off charges. That helps explain why the bank has rebuffed three offers from U.S. fund Lone Star, the last of which valued it at almost 0.4 times tangible equity. Even if Bank of Cyprus hits that lower number, a fair valuation might be closer to 0.8 times tangible equity, or around 1.3 billion euros – double Lone Star’s offer. In making the case for bank buyouts, Lone Star may be doing the whole sector a favour.

The Banco Sabadell logo can be seen behind leaves on top of a building outside Madrid, Spain, April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Andrea Comas/File PhotoLONDON/MADRID, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Spanish bank Sabadell (SABE.MC) has received indicative bids from France's Worldline (WLN.PA), Italy's Nexi (NEXII.MI) and U.S. firm Fiserv (FISV.O) for its payments arm, with a deal valued at up to 400 million euros ($393.64 million), three sources said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterSabadell, Worldline, Nexi and Fiserv declined to comment. In Spain, Sabadell has a strong presence on the payments front and accounts for close to 16.3% of the country's overall revenue generated at the point of sale (POS). Its payments arm, which is mainly focused on consumer lending, has core earnings of about 25-30 million euros, one of the sources said.

The likely purchase of the new asset and the $3 billion valuation of the toll road business has not been reported previously. Representatives from Road King did not respond to requests for comment. CVC and Road King's attempts to monetise the toll road business comes at a time of growing global investor interest for infrastructure assets, driven by sovereign, pension and private equity funds chasing long-term returns. Road King, a Chinese property developer, has operated expressways in the country since nearly three decades. It diversified into the Indonesian toll road business in 2019 and its expressways in China and Indonesia span over 600 kilometres in total, according to the company's website.

☆ Bank of Italy clears Benetton-Blackstone's bid for Atlantia
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of Italian infrastructure group Atlantia is seen outside its headquarters in Rome, Italy, October 5, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File PhotoMILAN, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The Bank of Italy has cleared a multi-billion euro buyout bid for infrastructure group Atlantia (ATL.MI) proposed by the Benetton family and U.S. fund Blackstone , the two bidders said in a statement on Wednesday. read moreThe bid heralds a new phase for Atlantia which sold its domestic motorway unit earlier this year to draw a line under a political dispute sparked by a deadly bridge collapse in 2018. The Benetton family, which already owns 33% of Atlantia, and Blackstone need to get the final go ahead from Italy's market watchdog Consob before they can launch the bid on the stock market. The proposed bid needed Bank of Italy's greenlight because the central bank oversees some activities of Atlantia's digital toll payment unit Telepass.

☆ How the creators of 'The Starters' built a hit NBA podcast for The Athletic after losing their TV show
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Colin Salao | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"No Dunks'' is an NBA podcast from the creators of "The Basketball Jones" and "The Starters." In 2019, after their NBA TV show contract ended, the creators signed a deal with The Athletic. The quintet is a far cry from the 20-man team and TV studio that Turner Sports' NBA TV provided during their six-year run with the network. How 'The Starters' became 'The Free Agents'"The Starters" got off in 2013 to a rough start on NBA TV as they struggled to translate their hour-long podcast to TV. Wasserman said the show is The Athletic's biggest NBA podcast and one of its highest-rated out of 77 podcasts.

☆ NASA chief says everyone 'poo-pooed' Elon Musk's SpaceX when it was pitted against Boeing but it's had more successful launches
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-13 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

NASA's Bill Nelson told Newsweek that critics "poo-pooed" SpaceX when it was bidding for the agency's crew programs. NASA has awarded SpaceX 14 missions and Boeing six missions. "When there was the beginning of the space cargo and crew [programs], the two serious bidders were SpaceX and Boeing, and everybody poo-pooed SpaceX and said, 'Oh, Boeing is a legacy company,'" Nelson told Newsweek. Nelson's comments follow the second launch attempt for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) being delayed in early September because of a liquid hydrogen leak. Although NASA has contracted SpaceX for 14 missions, the agency has previously said that the company's plan to send another 30,000 Starlink satellites into orbit could create "substantial congestion."

☆ Jim Cramer's Guide to Investing: Principles to help you manage your portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-06 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +40 min

At the CNBC Investing Club, we strive to help members manage their own portfolios by showing them how we do it. Principles 1-5 Principles 6-10 Principles 11-15 Principles 16-20 Principles 21-25 1. The reality is, you want to buy stocks that you believe will go higher, and sell those you believe will go lower. Don’t buy all at once; arrogance is a sin Accept that you will never be correct 100% of the time and use that knowledge to your advantage. Expect corrections; don’t be afraid of them When it comes to the stock market, eventually a correction will happen.

The Hong Kong billionaire is offering $240 million to buy out minority shareholders in Caymans-registered Lifestyle International (1212.HK), his department store chain. Several Hong Kong tycoons have fallen foul of the notorious tests, which the Cayman Islands will scrap at the end of this month. Hong Kong dropped the rule in 2014, but is home to just 8% of the city’s listed companies. Lifestyle is domiciled in the Cayman Islands, which at the end of August will drop a requirement for the so-called headcount test. Almost 60% of primary-listed Hong Kong companies are domiciled in the Caribbean tax haven.

☆ Musk gets Twitter for $44 billion, to cheers and fears of 'free speech' plan
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-26 | by ( Greg Roumeliotis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Musk’s move continues a tradition of billionaires' buying control of influential media platforms, including Jeff Bezos’ 2013 acquisition of the Washington Post. [1/2] Elon Musk twitter account is seen through Twitter logo in this illustration taken, April 25, 2022. Musk, who is worth $268 billion according to Forbes, has said he is not primarily concerned with the economics of Twitter. The White House declined on Monday to comment on Musk's deal, but said President Joe Biden has long been concerned about the power of social media platforms. "The president has long talked about his concerns about the power of social media platforms, including Twitter and others, to spread misinformation."

☆ UNICEF ITB 9168242, cleaning and hygiene supplies
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-01 | by ( Alte Articole | ) www.civic.md time to read: +5 min

Modalitatea de expediere a ofertei:Prin email, la adresa chisinautenders@unicef.org In plic sigilat, la receptia Casei ONU, str.31 August, nr. UNICEF Moldova invites interested companies to submit their bids for hygiene, sanitary and cleaning supplies and consumables: hand sanitizer, handwash liquid soap, surface disinfectant, toilet paper, trash bags, household gloves, paper towels, liquid bleach, WC cleaner, hands cream, diapers, toothpaste, toothbrushes, as per the attached ITB. Please find in the attached document details regarding the requirements and conditions for the products and suppliers. Any questions can be addressed to Elena Griu at egriu@unicef.org 48 hours before the tender deadline the latest. This advertisement and the relevant supporting documents is available at UNDP Moldova | Tender: UNICEF ITB 9168242, cleaning and hygiene supplies

Persons: August, Elena Griu Organizations: UNICEF Moldova, ONU, UNICEF, Tender Locations: Chisinau, permisurile, and, cream, diapers, toothpaste, Bidders, Moldova, cleaning and

☆ Inside BlackRock's powerful consulting arm that's made the most influential money manager an advisor to world powers
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-07 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

One of the reporters noted that Powell's public calendar showed calls with Larry Fink, BlackRock's chief executive, in March, April, and May. The exchange was hardly the first time no-bid contracts between the Fed and BlackRock's Financial Markets Advisory unit raised questions. Still, former employees told Insider that FMA has served as a clear source of public-facing clout for BlackRock. "The FMA clients have extended their advisory relationships to be multiyear." A little over a year ago, FMA pulled employees out of BlackRock's office there, three former employees said.

☆ UNICEF ITB 9163789 Nucleic acid extraction sets for automated purification and Laboratory consumables
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-07 | by ( Alte Articole | ) www.civic.md time to read: +4 min

UNICEF Moldova invites interested companies to submit their bids for Nucleic acid extraction sets for automated purification and Laboratory consumables, as per the attached ITB. Due to the teleworking arrangements of the staff involved, there will be no public opening of the bids. Please find in the attached document details on the requirements and conditions for the products and suppliers. Modalitatea de depunere a ofertei:Prin email, la adresa chisinautenders@unicef.org sau In plic sigilat, la receptia Casei ONU, str.31 August, nr. Ambalajul pentru Virf transparent/ incolor, universal cu filtru este rack a cite 96 virfuri fiecare si unitatea de masura pentru Virf transparent/ incolor, universal cu filtru este un rack.

Persons: Laboratory, August, . Asachi, Ala Organizations: UNICEF, Wednesday, UNICEF Moldova, DNA, Buc, mkl, ONU Locations: UNICEF Moldova, Bidders, buc, Chisinau, permisurile

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