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M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

8 Bill Gates about AI and his prediction for its future

22 UBS chairman Colm

Kelleher about UBS buying Credit Suisse: “It is essential for Switzerland and global finance”.

32 Finnish businessman

Thomas Zilliacus ready to buy Manchester United

40 TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is due to appear before the US Congress

53 Magic Johnson missed

a big deal with Nike 42 years ago

COVER STORY 4 Mobile buys Ryan Reynolds' Mint Mobile in a $1.35 billion deal GLOBAL NEWS 8 Bill Gates just published a 7-page letter about AI and his predictions for its future 11 The world according to Xi 14 Top M&A challenge: Culture integration 16 global weekend briefing EUROPE 18 Credit Suisse borrows more than $50 billion from Swiss National Bank after shares crash 30% 22 UBS is buying Credit Suisse in bid to halt banking crisis 25 Stellantis to invest 130 mln euros in German plant for new Opel electric car 27 UK is expected to see the weakest economic growth in Europe 29 Baltic Region embraces online banking and payments as cross border shopping demands increase 32 Finnish businessman Zilliacus ready to pay premium for Manchester United 34 UK's WPP buys Obviously to expand social influencer marketing business 35 The Algarve is the EU's 2nd region with highest GDP loss since pre-pandemic times 37 Hertha gets 30 million euros from 777 Partners AMERICAS 40 US government threatens to ban TikTok if Chinese owners don’t sell their stake 44 Fears of financial crisis after bank used by US tech sector fails 48 First Citizens acquires much of failed Silicon Valley Ban 53 Obituary - Gordon Moore, Co-founder Intel dies age 94 53 42 years ago, Magic Johnson left big Nike money on the table 57 Jounce dumps Redx Pharma for acquisition by Concentra 58 Mullen Automotive and Qiantu Motors to launch EV supercar branded Mullen GT and GTRS 60 Why choose an LLC in Belize? 2 |

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ASIA-PACIFIC 62 The long-running crisis at Japan's Toshiba 65 Deloitte's business in Beijing is fined, suspended 67 Chinese lithium price dives in heated auto price war 69 India's Tata Group mulls pumping $2b into super app venture 70 Mallya bought properties in the UK, France while airline in crisis 72 Japan's JERA to buy Belgium's wind company for $1.7bn 74 Origin Energy bought by Brookfield, EIG for $18.7b 76 US-listed company completes cross-border merger with Australian renewable energy co. 78 GEM plans nickel joint venture in South Korea to serve US demand ME-AFRICA 80 The Chinese dragon occupies America’s place in the Middle East 83 What the experts anticipate for the MENA region after 3 US banks collapsed, Credit Suisse crisis 87 Standard Chartered agrees to sell business in Jordan 88 Retail luxury sector in Saudi Arabia is fast evolving, says Harrods MD 93 Aramco and Samsung sign MoU for localising 5G technology in Saudi Arabia 94 DP World in top 5 overseas investors since 2012 96 Oman population passes 5m 97 From catfish to cassava: Seven Nigerian agribusiness Entrepreneurs to watch RESOURCES for ZERO CARBON 100 Made in Europe 102 Why all eyes are on Zimbabwe’s Lithium industry? 103 Do you know the difference between zero-carbon and carbon-neutral? EXTRAS 104 Cloud benefits: unlocking M&A 107 ESG investments - new industry standard? 108 Why an exit plan is critical when the time comes to sell 110 Not for greed 114 The 25 most valuable assets ranked by market cap 117 Letter to the Editor

70 On January 5, 2019, a

special court in Mumbai had declared Vijay Mallya a 'fugitive' – read the story.

88 Harrods MD, Michael Ward visits retail luxury sector in Saudi Arabia

94 Ahmed bin Sulayem,

CEO at DP World, an Emirati multinational logistics company, being in top 5 overseas investors since 2012.

100 Ursula von der

Leyen, President of the EU Commission, wants to promote domestic climateneutral technologies. ___________________ Search here for your M&A buy/sell opportunity

https://cba.associates/busin ess-opportunities/ 3 |

M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

COVER STORY

T-Mobile buys Ryan Reynolds' Mint Mobile in a $1.35 billion deal The telecommunications giant T-Mobile announced it's buying the budget cell service provider Mint Mobile — best known for its ads with actor and part-owner Ryan Reynolds. The cash-and-stock deal, which includes two other brands, is worth $1.35 billion.

Actor Ryan Reynolds is part owner of Mint Mobile and stars in ads for the budget cellular carrier which is being sold to T-Mobile. Lisa O'Connor/AFP via Getty Images 4 |

M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

New York - March 15, 2023 - T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said Wednesday that the company would use its size and resources to "supercharge" Mint, which uses T-Mobile's wireless network and offers plans for as little as $15 per month. "Over the long-term, we'll also benefit from applying the marketing formula Mint has become famous for across more parts of T-Mobile," Sievert added. Perhaps the single largest contributor to that marketing effort has been Reynolds, the Deadpool star, who's appeared in commercials for the company standing in front of a mintgreen background and delivering playful sales pitches. Mike Sievert, CEO T-Mobile

Mobile customers.

Reynolds said Wednesday that the deal would benefit Mint

"We are so happy T-Mobile beat out an aggressive last-minute bid from my mom Tammy Reynolds as we believe the excellence of their 5G network will provide a better strategic fit than my mom's slightly-above-average mahjong skills," Reynolds joked. In a video announcing the purchase, Sievert said T-Mobile would continue Mint's $15 per month pricing. Under the terms of the deal, T-Mobile will buy Ka'ena Corp., the parent company for Mint Mobile, a wireless service specializing in international calls named Ultra Mobile and wireless wholesaler Plum. Reynolds will continue on in his creative role for Mint, and Mint founders David Glickman and Rizwan Kassim will continue to operate the brands as a mostly separate business unit, T-Mobile said. The deal, which is expected to close later this year, will also permit Mint to continue using T-Mobile's network. Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds (46) is not only lucky in love and successful in the film business. He also has a knack for money. Reynolds regularly puts his millions, which he earns with hit films like "Deadpool", into companies that are sold in lucrative deals after some time. And now the 46-year-old has cashed in like never before. 5 |

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The T-Mobile group has acquired the mobile phone brand Mint Mobile for an incredible 1.35 billion US dollars (about 1.28 billion euros), in which Reynolds has a stake. The "Deadpool" star holds 25 per cent of the shares - and is now earning a golden nibble with the deal. On Twitter, Reynolds shared the sales success with his more than 21 million followers quite modestly: "I never dreamed I'd own a mobile phone company, and I certainly never dreamed I'd sell it to T-Mobile." He sums up his mega-success by saying, "Life is weird, and I'm incredibly proud and grateful." Runs in the Reynolds house: Ryan in 2015 with wife Blake Lively and daughters James and Inez. The couple now have four children Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Filmagic

Reynolds had only acquired shares in Mint Mobile in November 2019. Exactly how much money went into his pocket is not known. In any case, it will be a lot of money within three years - at least 300 million dollars (284 million euros). The actor doesn't have to worry about his finances anyway. He already proved in 2018 that he has a straight business sense when he bought shares in the gin brand "Aviation American Gin". Two years later, the company was sold for 610 million dollars (576 million euros). And according to the business magazine "Forbes", Reynolds took second place on the list of the highest-paid actors until June 2020. The actor does not take all this money for granted. Reynolds comes from a workingclass family: "There was hardly any money for holidays or presents. So at Christmas I usually got my three older brothers' old clothes or toys," the 46-year-old told BILD am SONNTAG in November. He also wants his children to know that despite millions of euros (or even more) in Dad's bank account, not everything can be taken for granted. This also applies to presents: "There are only two presents for the children on Christmas morning. One from Father Christmas and one from mum and dad." The Hollywood darling is not to be begrudged: Reynolds has probably already cracked the billion-dollar mark on his account. Source: BILD (translated from German by M&A NEWS, Cover photo: Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue 6 |

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M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

Bill Gates just published a 7-page letter about AI and his predictions for its future ▪ Gates focused on three sectors AI could transform: the workforce, healthcare, and education. ▪ The letter adds to the conversation and debate around AI chatbots, which have become popular.

Bill Gates, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1955). A photograph of Bill Gates wearing a bowtie. Taylor Hill/Getty Images

Seattle, March 21, 2023 - Bill Gates has been thinking a lot about artificial intelligence, and now he's put those thoughts to paper. The Microsoft cofounder published a sevenpage letter on Tuesday — "The Age of AI has Begun" — outlining his views on the future of AI. He wrote that developing AI is "as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the internet, and the mobile phone." 8 |

M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

The letter arrived the same day Google released its AI chatbot, Bard, which joins Microsoft's Bing in the AI arms race, and a week after OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, announced the much-anticipated evolution of its AI model, GPT-4. Gates has previously spoken about his excitement for the future of AI, namely how it could be used as a tutor in education or to provide medical advice to people where doctors aren't easily accessible. The billionaire also acknowledged in the letter concerns around artificial intelligence, including the risk that humans will misuse it, as well as the possibility of super intelligent, or "strong," AI that could "establish their own goals" as AI technology improves over time. In the letter, Gates elaborated on these ideas by discussing his thoughts on how AI can be used both as a tool to improve people's productivity, and how it can help improve global inequities — in the workplace, healthcare, and education. 'A white-collar worker available to help you with various tasks' Gates writes about how AI could be used in the workforce as a "digital personal assistant" to enhance employee productivity — an idea he previously spoke about in February. AI, integrated into digital work tools like Microsoft Office, could help with managing and writing emails, Gate wrote. He wrote that these AI-generated "personal agents" — equipped with vast knowledge and data on their company and industry — could also pose as resources for employees to communicate with. "As computing power gets cheaper, GPT's ability to express ideas will increasingly be like having a whitecollar worker available to help you with various tasks," he wrote. A digital helper to take on grunt work for healthcare workers In the healthcare industry, Gates wrote that AI could free up healthcare workers from certain tasks, including filing insurance claims, completing paperwork, and drafting doctor's visit notes. Gates wrote that for impoverished countries, where "many people in those countries never get to see a doctor," AI could enable healthcare workers to be more productive with the patients they do see. It's possible that AI could also aid in the treatment of patients who don't live near health facilities, Gates wrote. AI is already used in healthcare to analyze medical data and design drugs, Gates wrote, but the next wave of AI tools could assist with predicting medication side effects and calculating dosage levels. 9 |

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For crops and livestock in poor countries, Gates wrote that AI could help design seeds tailored to local climates and develop vaccines for livestock — developments that could be important "as extreme weather and climate change put even more pressure on subsistence farmers in low-income countries." Teachers aren't going away — but they'll need to adapt Gates predicted that AI could transform education in the next five to 10 years by delivering content tailored to a student's learning style, and learning what motivates individual students and causes them to lose interest in subjects. AI could also assist teachers by helping plan course instruction and assessing students' comprehension of classroom topics. "Even once the technology is perfected, learning will still depend on great relationships between students and teachers," the letter reads. "It will enhance — but never replace — the work that students and teachers do together in the classroom." Gates wrote that AI would also need to be made equally accessible to low-income schools in the US and across the globe "so that students in low-income households do not get left behind." Teachers will also have to adapt to students using new technologies in the classroom, like GPT. Gates listed an example of teachers enabling students to use GPT to write a first draft of an essay they would then have to personalize in later drafts. "To make the most of this remarkable new technology, we'll need to both guard against the risks and spread the benefits to as many people as possible," Gates wrote. Source: Yahoo!news

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M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

The world according to Xi Even if China’s transactional diplomacy brings some gains, it contains real perils London, March 25, 2023 - A lesser man than Xi Jinping might have found it uncomfortable. Meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week, China’s leader spoke of “peaceful co­existence and win-win co­operation”, while supping with somebody facing an international arrest warrant for war crimes. But Mr Xi is untroubled by trivial inconsistencies. He believes in the inexorable decline of the American-led world order, with its professed concern for rules and human rights. He aims to twist it into a more transactional system of deals between great powers. Do not under-estimate the perils of this vision—or its appeal around the world. On Ukraine China has played an awkward hand ruthlessly and well. Its goals are subtle: to ensure Russia is subordinate but not so weak that Mr Putin’s regime implodes; to burnish its own credentials as a peacemaker in the eyes of the emerging world; and, with an eye on Taiwan, to undermine the perceived legitimacy of Western sanctions and military support as a tool of foreign policy. Mr Xi has cynically proposed a “peace plan” for Ukraine that would reward Russian aggression and which he knows Ukraine will not accept. It calls for “respecting the sovereignty of all countries”, but neglects to mention that Russia occupies more than a sixth of its neighbour. This is just one example of China’s new approach to foreign policy, as the country emerges from zero-covid isolation to face a more unified West. On March 10th China brokered a detente between two bitter rivals, Iran and Saudi Arabia—a first intervention in the Middle East, which highlighted the West’s reduced clout there 20 years after the American-led invasion of Iraq. On March 15th Mr Xi unveiled the “Global Civilisation Initiative”, which argues that countries should “refrain from imposing their own values or models on others and from stoking ideological confrontation.” China’s approach is not improvised, but systematic and ideological. Deng Xiaoping urged China to “hide your capacities, bide your time”. But Mr Xi wants to reshape the post-1945 world order. China’s new slogans seek to borrow and subvert the normative language of the 20th century, so that “multilateralism” becomes code for a world that ditches universal values and is run by balancing great-power interests. 11 |

M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

The “Global Security Initiative” is about opposing efforts to contain China’s military threat; the “Global Development Initiative” promotes China’s economic-growth model, which deals with autocratic states without imposing conditions. “Global Civilisation” argues that Western advocacy of universal human rights, in Xinjiang and elsewhere, is a new kind of colonialism. Lula met with Xi Jinping on March 28 in Beijing, the first foreign leader to visit the Chinese leader since he secured a precedent-breaking third term as president. Photo Reuters

negotiate peace in Ukraine.

This transactional worldview has more support outside the West than you may think. Later this month in Beijing Mr Xi will meet Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, an advocate of a multipolar world, who wants China to help

To many, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 exposed the West’s double standards on international law and human rights, a point China’s state media are busy hammering home. After the Trump years, President Joe Biden has re-engaged with the world but the pivot to Asia involves downsizing elsewhere, including in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The West has shown resolve over Ukraine, but many countries are ambivalent about the war and wonder how it will end. At least 100 countries, accounting for 40% of global GDP, are not fully enforcing sanctions. American staying power is doubted. Neither Donald Trump nor Ron DeSantis, his Republican rival, sees Ukraine as a core American interest. All this creates space for new actors, from Turkey to the UAE, and above all, China. Its message—that real democracy entails economic development but does not depend on political liberty—greatly appeals to the elites of non-democratic countries. It is important to assess what this mercenary multipolarity can achieve. Iran and Saudi Arabia have been fierce enemies ever since the Iranian revolution in 1979. China is the biggest export market for both, so it has clout and an incentive to forestall war in the Gulf, which is also its largest source of oil. The agreement it has helped broker may de-escalate a proxy war in Yemen that has killed perhaps 300,000 people. Or take climate change. Chinese mercantilist support for its battery industry is a catalyst for a wave of cross-border investment that will help lower carbon emissions. Yet the real point of Mr Xi’s foreign policy is to make the world safer for the Chinese Communist Party. Over time, its flaws will be hard to hide. A mesh of expedient bilateral relationships creates contradictions. 12 |

M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

China has backed Iran but chosen to ignore its ongoing nuclear escalation, which threatens China’s other clients in the region. In Ukraine any durable peace requires the consent of Ukrainians. It should also involve accountability for war crimes and guarantees against another attack. China objects to all three: it does not believe in democracy, human rights or constraining great powers—whether in Ukraine or Taiwan. Countries that face a direct security threat from China, such as India and Japan, will grow even warier (see Asia section). Indeed, wherever a country faces a powerful, aggressive neighbour, the principle that might is right means that it will have more to fear. Because China almost always backs ruling elites, however inept or cruel, its approach may eventually outrage ordinary people around the world. Until that moment, open societies will face a struggle over competing visions. One task is to stop Ukraine being pushed into a bogus peace deal, and for Western countries to deepen their defensive alliances, including NATO. The long-run goal is to rebut the charge that global rules serve only Western interests and to expose the poverty of the worldview that China—and Russia—are promoting. America’s great insight in 1945 was that it could make itself more secure by binding itself to lasting alliances and common rules. That idealistic vision has been tarnished by decades of contact with reality, including in Iraq. But the Moscow summit reveals a worse alternative: a superpower that seeks influence without winning affection, power without trust and a global vision without universal human rights. Those who believe this will make the world a better place should think again. Source: The Economist

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Top M&A challenge: Culture integration A new global report says failed integration can derail acquisitions. •

People and leadership skills

•

Human resources

•

Global economy and markets

•

Strategy and innovation

•

Organisational management

The challenge of integrating the cultures of merging companies is one of the most common factors contributing to failed mergers and acquisitions (M&A), according to Bain & Company's Global M&A Report 2023. While about 80% of integrations address culture at or before the start of the diligence process, about 75% of integrations still struggle with cultural issues that lead to programme delays, personnel changes, or even reduced value or failure of the deal, according to Bain. Differences in value and purpose, decision-making, and ways of working are the main reasons integrations are often so difficult. The report recommends three steps that companies can take to meet these challenges: ▪

Diagnose which challenges are active and a threat to the integration.

▪

Make intentional choices about which approach to follow while working together.

▪

Use the integration management office, commonly set up for the purpose of M&A, as a test-and-learn laboratory to see what needs adjustment.

Other trending topics in the report: M&A in turbulent times. Many companies are wary about acquiring during the current downturn, but companies that acquired during the recession in 2008–2009 outperformed their less-active competitors over the long term. Companies that made one or more acquisitions during that period experienced an average shareholder return of 5.9%. Companies that made no acquisitions had a return of 4.7%. But, the report cautions, being an active acquirer is not "an end in itself". The most important objective of M&A is to help execute a company's strategy.

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M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

That could mean strengthening the core business and increasing scale or creating strategic options. The role of due diligence. The best way to succeed, according to the report, is with proprietary insights from a diligence that is "faster, deeper, and more focused than your competitors". Due diligence is an important part of structuring M&A transactions. It analyses many datapoints, and as FM contributor David A.J. Axson, a consultant and author, wrote in the linked article, "All of these datapoints feed into a financial model that develops valuations, establishes potential acquisition prices, and forecasts future financial returns." The best companies use due diligence to: ▪ ▪ ▪

Be proactive. Amplify value through proprietary insights. Plan for successful integration during diligence, not afterward.

According to Bain, a clear deal thesis is the top contributor to successful acquisitions, followed by a clear alignment on strategy, and conducting high-quality due diligence. But the most inaccurate areas of diligence are integration road maps, revenue synergies, and people issues. The report also identifies five M&A themes to watch for this year. Cash-rich companies make bold, strategic moves. Strong companies with an experienced track record of M&A will be the best positioned to do the largest transformational deals. A continued prevalence of small to midsize deals. Thousands of deals valued at less than $500 million make up most of the M&A activity each year. A balance of scale and scope deals. A high-interest-rate environment and weak economy put a premium on assets with cash flow and a line of sight to rapid synergies. Valuations coming under further pressure. Uncertainty regarding cost and availability of capital will likely cause dealmakers to be more conservative in valuations. Companies reshaping portfolios through separations and divestitures. Economic downturns and uncertainty force companies to re-evaluate their portfolios under new scenarios. Source: FM Financial Magazine

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::::::::::::::::: global weekend briefing ::::::::::::::::: Banks and turmoil. You can’t have one without the other • An unnerving week: Janet Yellen says everything is fine. Policymakers in Europe say the continent's banks are well capitalized. And yet, stock, bond and foreignexchange markets continue a collective freakout over the health of the financial system, while Wall Street seeks more aggressive action from Washington to shore up the industry. • Dare we ask what’s next? Deutsche Bank is the latest financial institution to suffer a crisis of confidence. The Federal Reserve sees a credit crunch coming. Do they see financial stress worsening? That would be a hard "no." Keep an eye on commercial real estate. Death, destruction and Donald Trump • Fire and rain: The former president warned of "death & destruction" if he faces criminal charges over hush-money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump also is planning a presidential campaign rally in Waco, Texas, 30 years after a raid there on the Branch Davidian religious set by federal agents resulted in 86 deaths. A spokesman said location was the reason, while some right-wing extremists see the incident as a seminal moment of government overreach. • Conservative takes: While Trump presumably would use any indictment to stoke anger among supporters, the tactic might not work. Far-right activists treated his recent incitement to protest as a government trap, and some Republicans in early-primary state New Hampshire say they're done with Trump. Russia attacks in eastern Ukraine • Lines on the map: Ukrainian military reports described heavy fighting along the front, but the Russian offensive has so far yielded scant gains despite thousands of troops killed on both sides in the bloodiest fighting of the war. • Spring: The big questions remain: How long can Russia sustain its offensive, and can Ukraine reverse the momentum with a counteroffensive. What will China do after Xi Jinping met "dear friend" Vladimir Putin? Experts analyzed their body language. Putin slouched and twitched, Xi was the alpha male, they say. TikTok: When short-form video gets a long-form hearing • Five hours in the chair: The social-video company's chief spent part of his day getting braised by members of a congressional committee who wish they knew 16 |

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whether the Chinese-owned app is a threat to national security. Nobody seems all that satisfied with what they heard. • Are they going to ban it or not? It's unlikely that it will happen any time soon, but advertisers and the platform's stars aren't thrilled. • At an unassuming industrial estate in northern Ukraine, two former Microsoft executives and a team of engineers are producing military drones that can travel over long distances and carry large payloads. We go inside the scramble for a "gamechanger" drone fleet. • US lawmakers grilled TikTok's CEO about potential Chinese influence over the platform and said its short videos were damaging children's mental health, reflecting bipartisan concerns about the app's power over Americans. Business & Markets • The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, March 23, 2023 • Banking stocks fell sharply in Europe with heavyweights Deutsche Bank and UBS Group hit hard by worries that the worst problems in the sector since the 2008 financial crisis were not yet contained. • The European Central Bank is pressing Raiffeisen Bank International to unwind its highly profitable business in Russia, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The push is upping the stakes for Austria and its second-biggest bank. • Business activity across the euro zone unexpectedly accelerated this month as consumers splashed out on services, but weakening demand for manufactured goods deepened the downturn in the factory sector, a survey showed. • Shares of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey's Block fell 4% in premarket trading, a day after the payments firm's Cash App business became the latest target of US short seller Hindenburg Research. • Chinese authorities raided the office of US corporate due diligence firm Mintz Group in Beijing and detained five local staff, the company said, stoking concern among foreign companies in China just as it hosts an international economic forum. • Indian industrial giant Reliance is reviving a historic local cola brand with plans to use its vast retail network, slash prices and tap nationalist sentiment to challenge US beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola in a key market. • At the incredible end to the first quarter for financial markets, rattled by bank turmoil, some stability will be much hoped for in coming days. But don't bet on it. Here's a look at the week ahead from our markets team. • Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will make sensitive stopovers in the United States on her way to and from Central America that China's foreign ministry condemned. Source: Reuters

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Switzerland

Credit Suisse borrows more than $50 billion from Swiss National Bank after shares crash 30% London, March 15, 2023 - Hours after the Swiss Central Bank said it was ready to provide financial support to Credit Suisse, the beleaguered megabank took it up on the offer, hoping to reassure investors that it had the necessary cash to stay afloat. Credit Suisse said it would borrow up to 50 billion Swiss Francs ($53.7 billion) from the Swiss National Bank. Investors sent shares in the country’s second biggest lender crashing by as much as 30% Wednesday. Headquarters of Swiss Bank in Zurich, Switzerland

The bank called the loan a “decisive action to pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity.” “This additional liquidity would support Credit Suisse’s core businesses and clients as Credit Suisse takes the necessary steps to create a simpler and more focused bank built around client needs,” the bank said in a statement. In addition to the loan from the central bank, Credit Suisse also said it repurchased billions of dollars of its own debt to manage its liabilities and interest payment expenses. The offer covers $2.5 billion of US dollar bonds and €500 million ($529 million) of euro bonds. 18 |

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The venerable but troubled bank, founded in 1856, is one of the biggest financial institutions in the world and categorized as a “global systemically important bank,” along with just 30 others, including JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and the Bank of China. Asian stocks fell sharply to start the day Thursday but bounced way off their lows after Credit Suisse’s action, cheered by the bank’s determination to restore confidence in its operations. Earlier Wednesday, in a joint statement with the Swiss financial market regulator FINMA, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said Credit Suisse (CS) met the “strict capital and liquidity requirements” imposed on banks of importance to the wider financial system. “If necessary, the SNB will provide CS with liquidity,” they said. Already on edge after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank in the United States last week, investors dumped shares in the embattled Swiss bank earlier in the day, sending them plummeting to a new record low after its biggest backer appeared to rule out providing any more funding. In their statement, the Swiss authorities said that the problems of “certain banks in the USA do not pose a direct risk of contagion for the Swiss financial markets.” “There are no indications of a direct risk of contagion for Swiss institutions due to the current turmoil in the US banking market,” the statement continued. Saudi backers ‘not inclined’ to increase funding The chairman of the Saudi National Bank — Credit Suisse’s biggest shareholder, following a capital increase last fall — said earlier Wednesday it would not increase its stake in Credit Suisse. “The answer is absolutely not, for many reasons,” Ammar Al Khudairy told Bloomberg, on the side lines of a conference in Saudi Arabia. “I’ll cite the simplest reason, which is regulatory and statutory. We now own 9.8% of the bank — if we go above 10% all kinds of new rules kick in, whether be it by our regulator or the European regulator or the Swiss regulator,” he said. “We’re not inclined to get into a new regulatory regime.” Once a big player on Wall Street, Credit Suisse has been hit by a series of missteps and compliance failures over the past few years that have damaged its reputation with clients and investors and cost several top executives their jobs. 19 |

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Customers withdrew 123 billion Swiss francs ($133 billion) from Credit Suisse last year — mostly in the fourth quarter — and the bank reported an annual net loss of nearly 7.3 billion Swiss francs ($7.9 billion), its biggest since the global financial crisis in 2008. In October, the lender embarked on a “radical” restructuring plan that entails cutting 9,000 full-time jobs, spinning off its investment bank and focusing on wealth management. Al Khudairy said he was pleased with the restructuring, adding that he didn’t think the Swiss lender would need extra money. Others are not so sure. Johann Scholtz, a European banking analyst at Morningstar, said Credit Suisse might no longer have enough capital to absorb losses in 2023 because its funding costs were becoming prohibitive. “To stem client outflows and ease the concern of providers of wholesale funding, we believe Credit Suisse needs another rights [share] issue,” he commented Wednesday. “We believe the alternative would be a break-up … with the healthy businesses — the Swiss bank, asset management and wealth management and possibly some parts of the investment banking business — being sold off or separately listed.” ‘Not just a Swiss problem’ The bank’s shares were last down 24% in Zurich on Wednesday, and the cost of buying insurance against the risk of a Credit Suisse default hit a new record high, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The crash spilled over into other European banking shares, with French and German banks such as BNP Paribas, Societé Generale, Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank falling between 8% and 12%. Italian and UK banks also slumped. Two supervisory sources told Reuters that the ECB had contacted banks to quiz them about their exposures to Credit Suisse. The ECB declined to comment. While the problems at Credit Suisse were widely known, with assets of about 530 billion Swiss francs ($573 billion) it presents a much bigger potential headache. “[Credit Suisse] is much more globally interconnected, with multiple subsidiaries outside Switzerland including in the US,” wrote Andrew Kenningham (photo left), chief Europe economist at Capital Economics. “Credit Suisse is not just a Swiss problem but a global one.” 20 |

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The blows keep coming for Switzerland’s second biggest bank. On Tuesday, it acknowledged “material weakness” in its financial reporting and scrapped bonuses for top executives. Credit Suisse said in its annual report that it had found “the group’s internal control over financial reporting was not effective” because it failed to adequately identify potential risks to financial statements. The bank is urgently developing a “remediation plan” to strengthen its controls. Speaking to Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Körner said the bank saw “material good inflows” of money on Monday, even as markets were spooked by the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank in the United States. Overall, outflows from the bank had “significantly moderated” after customers withdrew 111 billion francs ($122 billion) in the three months to December, Körner added. In its annual report, the bank said outflows had not yet reversed by the end of last year. Source: CNN BUSINESS

The shareholders of Credit Suisse Here’s is the list of Credit Suisse top 40 shareholders who seem now to be facing two options: A 25 cents offer by UBS; 2) A nationalisation which would bring the stock value to ZERO.

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M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

Meantime ……

UBS is buying Credit Suisse in bid to halt banking crisis London, March 20, 2023 - Switzerland’s biggest bank, UBS, has agreed to buy its ailing rival Credit Suisse in an emergency rescue deal aimed at stemming financial market panic unleashed by the failure of two American banks earlier this month. “UBS today announced the takeover of Credit Suisse,” the Swiss National Bank said in a statement Sunday. It said the rescue would “secure financial stability and protect the Swiss economy.” UBS is paying 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.25 billion) for Credit Suisse, about 60% less than the bank was worth when markets closed on Friday. Credit Suisse shareholders will be largely wiped out, receiving the equivalent of just 0.76 Swiss francs in UBS shares for stock that was worth 1.86 Swiss francs on Friday. Owners of $17 billion worth of “additional tier one” bonds — a riskier class of bank debt — will lose everything, Swiss regulators said. Extraordinarily, the deal will not need the approval of shareholders after the Swiss government agreed to change the law to remove any uncertainty about the deal. Credit Suisse (CS) had been losing the trust of investors and customers for years. In 2022, it recorded its worst loss since the global financial crisis. But confidence collapsed last week after it acknowledged “material weakness” in its bookkeeping and as the demise of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank spread fear about weaker institutions at a time when soaring interest rates have undermined the value of some financial assets. Shares in the 167-year-old bank fell 25% over the week, money poured from investment funds it manages and at one point account holders were withdrawing deposits of more than $10 billion per day, the Financial Times reported. An emergency loan of nearly $54 billion from the Swiss National Bank failed to stop the bleeding. But it did “build a bridge” to the weekend, to allow the rescue to be pieced together, Swiss officials said Sunday night. 22 |

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“This acquisition is attractive for UBS shareholders but, let us be clear, as far as Credit Suisse is concerned, this is an emergency rescue,” UBS chairman Colm Kelleher (photo right) told reporters. “It is absolutely essential to the financial structure of Switzerland and … to global finance,” he told reporters. Desperate to prevent the meltdown spreading through the global financial system on Monday, Swiss authorities initiated the search for a private sector solution, with limited state support, while reportedly considering Plan B — a full or partial nationalization. “Given recent extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances, the announced merger represents the best available outcome,” Credit Suisse chairman Axel Lehmann said in a statement. “This has been an extremely challenging time for Credit Suisse and while the team has worked tirelessly to address many significant legacy issues and execute on its new strategy, we are forced to reach a solution today that provides a durable outcome.” The emergency takeover was agreed to after a days of frantic negotiations involving financial regulators in Switzerland, the United States and United Kingdom. UBS (UBS) and Credit Suisse rank among the 30 most important banks in the global financial system, and together they have almost $1.7 trillion in assets. Regulators applaud the takeover Financial market regulators around the world cheered UBS’ action to take over Credit Suisse. US authorities said they supported the action and worked closely with the Swiss central bank to assist the takeover. “We welcome the announcements by the Swiss authorities today to support financial stability,” said US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a joint statement. “The capital and liquidity positions of the US. banking system are strong, and the US financial system is resilient.” Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, said the banking sector remains resilient but the ECB stands at the ready to help banks maintain enough cash on hand to fund their operations if the need arises. 23 |

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“I welcome the swift action and the decisions taken by the Swiss authorities,” Lagarde said. “They are instrumental for restoring orderly market conditions and ensuring financial stability. The Bank of England said it welcomed the measures taken by the Swiss authorities “to support financial stability.” “We have been engaging closely with international counterparts throughout the preparations for today’s announcements and will continue to support their implementation,” it said in a statement. “The UK banking system is well capitalized and funded, and remains safe and sound.” How UBS and Credit Suisse will fit together The global headquarters of UBS and Credit Suisse are just 300 yards apart in Zurich but the banks’ fortunes have been on very different paths recently. Shares of UBS have climbed 15% in the past two years, and it booked a profit of $7.6 billion in 2022. It had a stock market value of about $65 billion on Friday, according to Refinitiv. Credit Suisse shares have lost 84% of their value over the same period, and last year it posted a loss of $7.9 billion. It was worth just $8 billion at the end of last week.

UBS CEO Ralph Hamers will lead the newly-combined giant bank. Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters/FILE

Dating back to 1856, Credit Suisse has its roots in the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA), which was set up to finance the expansion of the railroad network and industrialization of Switzerland. 24 |

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In addition to being Switzerland’s second biggest bank, it looks after the wealth of many of the world’s richest people and offers global investment banking services. It had more than 50,000 employees at the end of 2022, 17,000 of those in Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank said it would provide a loan of 100 billion Swiss francs ($108 billion) to UBS and Credit Suisse to boost liquidity. UBS Chief Executive Ralph Hamers will be CEO of the combined bank, and Kelleher will serve as chairman. The takeover will reinforce the position of UBS as the world’s leading wealth manager with $5 trillion of invested assets and boost its ambition to grow in the Americas and Asia. UBS said it expects to generate cost savings of $8 billion per year by 2027. Credit Suisse’s investment bank is in the crosshairs. “Let me be clear. UBS intends to downsize Credit Suisse’s investment banking business and align it with our conservative risk culture,” Kelleher said. Source: CNN BUSINESS

Netherlands / Germany

Stellantis to invest 130 mln euros in German plant for new Opel electric car Amsterdam, March 22, 2023 - Carmaker Stellantis (STLAM.MI) said on Wednesday it would invest 130 million euros ($140 million) in its Eisenach assembly plant in Germany to produce a new battery electric vehicle (BEV) there from the second half of next year. The new BEV vehicle will be the successor to the Opel Grandland compact SUV currently produced in Eisenach, the automaker said in a statement. It will be based on the 'STLA Medium' platform, one of the four platforms that will underpin all Stellantis' new models starting from next year. "Adding a BEV to Eisenach's output supports Opel's bold commitment to a fully electric product line-up by 2028 in Europe," Stellantis said.

The new Opel plant in Eisenach, Germany 25 |

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Current production at the facility also includes plug-in hybrid versions of the Opel Grandland. Stellantis, the world's third-largest automotive group by sales, wants 100% of its European passenger car sales and 50% of its U.S. passenger car and light-duty truck sales to be battery electric vehicles by 2030. Its other brands include Peugeot, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Jeep.

Opel logo, REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

The Eisenach plant, in the German state of Thuringia, was opened in 1992, when Opel was part of General Motors (GM.N). As of 2022 it has produced a total of 3.7 million vehicles, Stellantis said. ($1 = 0.9271 euros) Source: Reuters About Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50–50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam. In terms of global vehicle sales in 2021, Stellantis was the world's fifth-largest automaker behind Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and General Motors. The primary listings for the company's stock are on Milan's Borsa Italiana and on Euronext Paris. The principal activity of Stellantis is the design, development, manufacture, and sale of automobiles bearing its 16 brands of Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Mopar, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, and Vauxhall. At the time of the merger, Stellantis had approximately 300,000 employees, a presence in more than 130 countries with manufacturing facilities in 30 countries. Source: Wikipedia

Who owns Stellantis (Type Public (N.V.) Net income €16.779 billion (2022) Total assets €171.8 billion Total equity €56.3 billion (2021) Owners Exor N.V. (14.35%), BlackRock (12.28%), Peugeot Invest (7.16%), Bpifrance (6.15%), Amundi (3.40%), Dongfeng Motor Corporation (3.17%) 26 |

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UK is expected to see the weakest economic growth in Europe London, March 20, 2023 – As the global economy and major economies have begun to rebound from the pandemic at the start of the new year, the UK has been struggling to turn the tide. Indeed, the UK is expected by some forecasters to see the weakest economic growth, bar Russia, of any advanced country during 2023. In part, this is due to high energy prices and inflation, increased taxes, rising mortgage costs, and worker shortages. However, the UK has managed to avoid a technical recession - defined as two successive quarters of negative GDP growth. And leading forecasters (IMF, OECD, OBR, etc..) have in fact been reducing the depth and severity of the long-expected recession for a number of months, consistent with flat or stagnant economic growth as we continue to expect a weak first half before an upswing later this year becomes more established into 2024. Outlook Set against this, inflation pressures have been easing - more so in the United States and other economies but less so in the UK and Europe. UK inflation which peaked at 11.1% October has been easing but did tick back-up in February to 10.4% on the back of continued high energy prices and an 18.2% surge in food prices, as well as restaurant and hotel prices. While the underlying trend shows easing inflation pressures, helped by base effects, the February numbers have raised concerns that inflation might well persist at more elevated rates and for longer. The independent Office For Budget Responsibility (OBR) latest March forecasts see inflation falling to 2.9% by the end of this year, down from 27 |

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their November forecast of 3.8%. With inflation now expected to undershoot the Bank of England's 2% target at the start of 2024. This underscores our view that after 10 interest rate rises by the Bank of England since December 2021, that interest rates are close to their peak. The Bank does remain vigilant as inflation, though easing, remains at historically elevated levels, and with the risk of a wage-price spiral and so-called second-round effects. But ultimately the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee has to assess medium-term inflation pressures to achieve its 2% target, which points to less need to raise interest rates much above 4%. Spring UK Budget Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a number of initiatives in his 15 March Budget designed to promote economic growth. These include 12 new ‘Investment Zones’ across the UK, the extension of 30 hours of free childcare for children over the age of nine months, a boost to subsidies for parents on Universal Credit, an extension to the Energy Price Guarantee and the freezing of duties on fuel and beer. Hunt also announced a slew of spending announcements aimed at reducing early retirement and improving the country's chronic worker shortage, such as increasing the cap on tax-free annual pension contributions to £60,000 from £40,000 and abolishing the lifetime allowance on tax-free pension pots, previously capped at £1 million. The Chancellor confirmed that there would be no new tax rises and that the economy was on track to grow with inflation halved this year and debt falling. Hunt’s vision is for the UK to be the best place in Europe for companies to locate, invest and grow. However, he confirmed that the hike in Corporation Tax to 25% from 19% will go ahead in April, which makes the UK less tax competitive and less attractive to globally mobile companies and investors. With only modest business rate relief and a temporary 3-year allowance for plant and machinery expenditure, only time will tell whether this really is a Budget for growth. Source: Fraser Coutts & Partners

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Estonia / Latvia / Lithuania

Baltic Region embraces online banking and payments as cross border shopping demands increase The pandemic-induced shift from in-store to online shopping has opened a new age in e-commerce and the Baltic region is no exception: according to Statista, e-commerce revenues in the upcoming year are expected to grow 13.66 per cent in Estonia, 14.80 per cent in Latvia, and 18.45 per cent in Lithuania. In response to the ongoing rise in demand, the region often dubbed as Europe’s fintech hub was quick to respond with innovative local payment solutions highlighted in an extensive Paypers European payments industry study commissioned by Deloitte, which featured an analysis of the emerging solutions in the Baltic region. According to data from Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian statistical institutions, more than half of the population in the region aged 16-74 made a purchase online at least once a month during a 12-month period. 29 |

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Moreover, data shows a growing number of Baltic residents shopping on international merchant websites: in 2021 approximately 50 per cent of Estonian online shoppers made cross-border purchases. The growth in the popularity of e-commerce in the region has fuelled the creation of new local payment methods to meet the needs of local consumers, who are keen on cross-border shopping. Many of the global online merchant’s paying options still revolve around credit cards, a fact that does not correlate with credit card penetration levels in the Baltic states with less than 30 per cent in Estonia and approximately 16 per cent in Latvia and Lithuania. The absence of preferred payment options results in digital shopping cart abandonment—as much as 60 per cent of Europeans abandon their cart if a favourite payment method is not presented to them at checkout. According to the Paypers report, 65 per cent of Baltic consumers prefer to pay by bank transfer, allowing most local payment providers to tailor their products around online banking. Alongside strong backing of all three local central banks, the environment is there to embrace the PSD2 and bring innovation using open banking — Lithuania currently leads the way in licensed payment and e-money institutions across Continental Europe. Banking is an example local payment option that connects virtually all of the leading financial institutions within the region—including both traditional and challenger banks—thus helping Baltic shoppers make cross-border payments in a convenient and undisrupted way. “We’ve partnered up with almost every bank in the Baltics, to give consumers the opportunity to shop globally by providing them with access to international vendors — all through the payment means they already use and trust,” explains Frank Breuss, CEO (pictured left), and co-founder of Nikulipe, contributor to the Paypers industry report as Baltic regional expert. “Region-specific payment solutions can open up a number of new opportunities not only for Baltic consumers but also for international merchants, who are looking to enter new and emerging markets.” Breuss adds that offering local alternative payment options will provide shoppers with enhanced shopping choices, free from geographical restraints and will most likely lead to a more competitive price landscape as shoppers will have the opportunity not only to browse global merchant websites, but actually make purchases and pay for products and services using familiar and trusted payment alternatives. Overall, with the growing demand for cross-border shopping, LPM solutions provide a long list of advantages such as lower abandoned online shopping carts and an improved customer experience that could further support the e-commerce growth in the region. 30 |

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Bridge the gap! Francophone Africa in one Day! 2 June 2023 in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany Africa has become a hot topic and one that holds many answers to current European issues, but it is also one opaque topic that many of you wish to understand and be much better informed about, to be successful in doing business with Africa. If you are ready for authentic expertise, on the ground feedback on micro and macro-economic trends, business cases, direct contacts and answers on how to tango with Africa, discuss critical issues, curious or just want to dip your toes into francophone African business, then you are most welcome and I hereby invite you to attend the • • • • •

The Francophone African region is expected to deliver some of the fastest-regional growth rates, Second only to the East African region. Côte d’Ivoire is projected to be the fastest-growing economy in SSA according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts. With infrastructure projects underway and continued funding, Senegal’s GDP growth is expected to average a very robust 6.9% per year over the 2017-18 period. Cameroon is often seen as a gateway to the Central African Monetary Union economic area, represents a market of over 50 million people and annual GDP of about US$100bn. Economic growth is projected to accelerate in 2022 and 2023 to 6.5% and 7.2%, led by agriculture and supported by the new “3N” agricultural initiative — Les Nigériens nourrissent les Nigériens — continued public investment in infrastructure, and increased FDI in the extractive sector.

We will discuss Francophone Africa with a particular focus on Niger being our patron country this year. Other government officials will be from Ivory Coast, Togo, DRC, Congo Republic, Gabon, Mauritania and many more. Companies like Wietmarscher Ambulanzfahrzeuge, SÜDVERS, KPMG, Kärcher, Kiel Institute for Global Economics, BGFIBank, Vodacom and many more are our official partner and will be sharing their experiences and advice with us for your market entry success and more. The British Francophone Business Council and the Mauritania British Business Council will be coordinating our guests from London to make the African Investment Day a truly international meeting. Nadine Tinen, PWC will be one of the many afriCAN women talking us through audit and female leadership francophone Africa and Sadio Wade, ACTIS will add his deep knowledge about Energy Africa deals. Contact us for more information: [email protected] 31 |

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“The Baltic consumer has transitioned from cash and card to using online banking as the preferred payment medium when shopping online. This allows LPM providers to bring local solutions with native language checkouts and payment options consumers recognise,” states Breuss. “Online banking transactions also solve some of the issues that card transactions had — such as eliminating chargebacks and increasing transaction speed.” Source: THE FINTECH TIMES Online banking options in the Baltics All over the world, online banking is on the rise. In the Baltic Countries, you can choose to open an online bank account compared to a brick and mortar account. The best online banks in the Baltics include the following (in alphabetical order): Bankera, Mistertango, Paysera, Paylar, Revolut, wamo, Wittix, Wise

Finland / United Kingdom

Finnish businessman Zilliacus ready to pay premium for Manchester United Helsinki / Manchester, March 23, 2023 - Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus has placed a bid for Manchester United (MANU.N) and is willing to pay a premium for the English soccer club, the former Nokia executive told Reuters on Thursday. A small portion of the club's shares is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The market capitalization was more than $4 billion as of Wednesday's close. "We are willing and expect to go higher than that $3.9 billion," Zilliacus said in a statement. 32 |

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United's current owners, the Glazer family, began looking at options including new investment or a potential sale in November, 17 years after they bought the record 20time English champions for 790 million pounds ($971.70 million). Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - March 12, 2023 - General view of seats in a stand inside the stadium. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Zilliacus said he hoped the Glazer family would want "to go down in history as sellers who enabled the fans of Manchester United to become owners of the club".

make sporting decisions for the team.

As part of the bid, he expects to invite fans of the club from around the world to be co-owners and

"I want the fans to feel that they have a say in all the key sporting decisions of the club," Zilliacus said. Manchester United declined to comment. Any sale of the club would likely exceed the biggest sports deal so far - the $5.2 billion including debt and investments paid for Chelsea - sources had told Reuters previously. British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, a life-long United fan and founder of chemicals producer INEOS, put in a bid for the club in February. ($1 = 0.8130 pounds) Source: Reuters

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United Kingdom / United States

UK's WPP buys Obviously to expand social influencer marketing business London, March 27, 2023 - British advertising group WPP (WPP.L) said on Monday it has acquired Obviously, a New York-based social influencer marketing agency, for an undisclosed sum. Branding signage for WPP, the largest global advertising and public relations agency at their offices in London, Britain, July 17, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File

The deal comes less than a week after WPP agreed to buy Goat, an influencer marketing specialist, which focusses on marketing campaigns that aim to improve customer engagement for brands including Dell, Tesco, Uber and Natura. Obviously's team of nearly 100 people will join WPP subsidiary VMLY&R, a marketing agency with over 13,000 employees, WPP said. WPP said Obviously's proprietary "next-generation" tech platform helps the agency service large-scale complex campaigns for enterprise clients including Google, Ford, Ulta Beauty and Amazon. Obviously was founded by Mae Karwowski and Maxime Domain in 2014 and has operations in San Francisco and Paris. WPP's shares were up 1.5% at 931 pence as of 1415 GMT.

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Source: Reuters

M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

Portugal

The Algarve is the EU's 2nd region with highest GDP loss since pre-pandemic times With a drop of 13.8% in 2021, the Algarve was one of the regions in Europe that saw real GDP fall by up to 15% in 2021 compared to 2019.

The Algarve economy is highly reliant on tourism

Lisbon, 20 March 20, 2023 - In 2021, the Algarve was the second region in Europe with the greatest loss of wealth compared to 2019, that is, compared to the pre-pandemic period. Only the Balearic Islands, in Spain, had a greater fall in real GDP during the two periods under review. This is one of the conclusions to be drawn from the data released at the end of February by Eurostat. They indicate that most of Portugal's territory has a per capita GDP of less than 75% of the European average. Portugal's southernmost region is known for its beautiful beaches, warm climate, and tourism industry. This means that the region's economy is heavily reliant on the tourism sector, which accounts for a significant portion of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 35 |

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According to the Portuguese newspaper Expresso, which relies precisely on the European statistics office, the Algarve, with a drop of 13.8% in 2021, was one of the European regions that saw its real GDP - measured at constant prices, that is, without taking into account the impact of inflation - fall by up to 15% in 2021 compared to 2019. The Balearic Islands and the Algarve are joined by the Canary Islands, also in Spain and another region where tourism is the driving force. The European regions that recorded the highest increases in real GDP in 2021 compared to 2019 were those corresponding to the south, east and interior of Ireland (Southern, Eastern and Midland), with positive changes of 28.4%, 15.4%, and 14.1%, respectively.

Eurostat concludes that in 2021, there were 79 regions with a higher GDP than in the last pre-pandemic year. For Portugal, most of the country has a per capita GDP below 75% of the European average. Only the regions of Lisbon and Algarve (with 96% and 76%, respectively) escape, and the regions of Norte (65%), Centro (66%), Azores (66%), Madeira (70%) and Alentejo (71%) are further away from the wealth generated in average terms in the EU. The Alentejo region was, moreover, at a national level, the region that had the largest increase in GDP in 2021: a growth of 6.8%, in this case compared to 2020. Source: Idealista

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Germany / United States Instant cash injection:

Hertha gets 30 million euros from 777 Partners

Happy faces: Hertha President Kay Bernstein and Josh Wander, investor 777 Partners

The deal is closed - and will bring Hertha BSC urgently needed fresh money. According to information from kicker, the entry of the new club investor 777 Partners, which has been in preparation for months, was completed today. Berlin, March 13, 2023 - Some of those involved had initially even set Christmas as the target date, later there was talk of mid-February. But the negotiations and the finetuning of the contracts dragged on, with a whole armada of lawyers working on both sides. 777 is to be granted more say than the previous investor Tennor, in compliance with 50+1 and in accordance with the statutes. Now, according to reports from both the Hertha BSC management and the US private equity firm 777, everything is clear, just in time before the submission of the licensing documents to the DFL (German Football League) on 15 March - the entry of 777 Partners is to go through. Upon conclusion of the contract, 30 million euros, the first of three tranches, are to flow in. A total investment volume of 100 million euros is planned. 37 |

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777 is not only to take over the shares of the previous Hertha investor Lars Windhorst, who holds 64.7 per cent of Hertha-KG, but to increase them by a further 10 per cent. Everything was already clear between Windhorst, who had invested a total of 375 million euros in the club since summer 2019, and the 777 bosses at the end of December. There was talk of a total package worth around 200 million euros apparently including Windhorst's stake in a division of 777. Joshua C. Wander, Steven W. Pasko (r) Managing Partners And co-founders 777 Partners

The Miami-based private equity firm, founded in 2015 by Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, originally came from the insurance industry, but has been investing heavily in the aviation sector for years - and wants to build a global football empire. Hertha becomes the seventh football club in which 777 invests, following its stakes in Sevilla FC, CFC Genoa, Standard Liege, Red Star Paris, Vasco da Gama and Melbourne Victory. Unlike Windhorst's Tennor Holding, 777 has a large network and a lot of know-how in the professional sports business; at the end of the last winter transfer period, 777 was already involved in the background at Hertha. Consolidation and restructuring were key issues in the negotiations For the capital club, which has been operating at a high deficit for years, the designated ad hoc aid of 35 million euros is bitterly needed. Despite the 375 Windhorst millions that have flowed since 2019, which have been burned without any sporting effect, the club is in a dramatic financial predicament. Hertha BSC KGaA closed the 2021/22 financial year with a deficit of 79.75 million euros, and the club, which has been living beyond its means for years, had already presented disastrous balance sheet figures in 2019/2020 (a deficit of 53.5 million euros) and 2020/21 (a deficit of 77.9 million euros). In the current business year, according to the financial report presented the previous week, a loss of 44.6 million euros was reported for the first half of the year, and the club expects a loss of 64 million euros for the year as a whole. Personnel costs had climbed to record levels in the 2021/22 financial year (97.7 million), while liabilities amounted to 90.8 million euros at the end of the previous year. Above all, the 40 million Nordic bond, raised in November 2018, the repayment of which is due in November 2023, is considered a huge mortgage.

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The entry of 777 Partners - and the associated influx of money - provides some breathing space for the struggling club, which had to announce negative equity of €15 million as of 31 December 2022. In the months-long negotiations with 777, the noalternative path of consolidation and restructuring was a core topic. Part of the investment is to be tied to savings targets. Cooperation with US investor not new territory for Hertha For Hertha, cooperation with a US investor is not new territory. Between 2014 and 2018, the New York-based private equity firm KKR had held shares in Hertha KG. KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) had invested 61.2 million euros in January 2014 - also at a time when the club was at least up to its neck in debt. KKR's share in Hertha was increased in two steps from 9.7 to 12.79 per cent, unnoticed by the public. KKR held the option to increase the shares up to 33.3 per cent. At the end of 2018, Hertha redeemed KKR with 71.2 million euros with the help of the 40-million bond raised at an interest rate of 6.5 per cent - to clear the way for that XXL investment by Tennor, which then went crushingly wrong due to several wrong operational decisions by club officials, failed communication and different expectations. (translated from German by M&A NEWS) Source: Kicker

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United States / China

US government threatens to ban TikTok if Chinese owners don’t sell their stake The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, which oversees national security risks, unanimously recommended the divestment Dubai, March 15, 2023 - The United States has told Bytedance, the company that owns the popular social media app TikTok, that either its Chinese owners divest their stake, or face a ban in the country. This is the second serious attempt to ban the video app. Republican President Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok in 2020 but was blocked by US courts. According to a report first published in Wall Street Journal, US President Joe Biden’s administration wants ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok to create a clear break from China. The newspaper said the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS), which oversees national security risks, unanimously recommended the divestment. ByteDance confirmed that 60 percent of its shares are owned by global investors, 20 percent by employees and the rest 20 percent by its founders. Video-sharing social networking service later confirmed to several media outlets that CFIUS had contacted the company. The company declined to discuss specifics of the US government’s request, including details around its timing. TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter told Reuters: “If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.” 40 |

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TikTok and CFIUS have been negotiating for more than two years on data security requirements. Image: Reuters

Another spokesperson, Maureen Shanahan, said in a statement to CNN: “The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification, which we are already implementing.” Last month, the White House ordered all government agencies to ensure they do not have TikTok on federal devices and systems within 30 days. TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew is due to appear before the US Congress next week. TikTok and CFIUS have been negotiating for more than two years on data security requirements and the company said it has spent more than $1.5 billion on rigorous data security efforts and rejects spying allegations. Source: Arabian Business

Shou Zi Chew joined TikTok parent ByteDance in March 2023. Photo: Bloomberg 41 |

M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

TikTok’s Singaporean CEO, Shou Zi Chew is the Harvard graduate who even helped start Facebook. Chew was CFO of Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi before joining TikTok’s parent company ByteDance under the same title. Chew’s predecessor at the video-sharing app, Kevin Mayer, left after just three months – despite resigning from Disney for the position. UAE’s G42 invests over $100mn in TikTok parent company G42 is controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Abu Dhabi, March 15, 2023 - Abu Dhabi AI firm G42 has acquired a stake of more than $100 million in ByteDance, valuing the Chinese internet firm at around $220 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. The valuation is lower than the $300 billion set by TikTok’s parent company during a recent share buyback programme. Another fund bought into ByteDance at $225 billion shortly after, sources said. ByteDance’s value has fluctuated significantly due to uncertainty surrounding the possible banning of TikTok in the US on national security grounds. 42 |

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However, ByteDance’s popularity with advertisers has resulted in the service generating an estimated $12 billion in revenue in 2022 alone. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE royal and son of the nation’s founding father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, controls G42. Sheikh Tahnoon has built a portfolio through the firm in everything from cloud computing to vaccines and driverless cars. G42 ByteDanceByteDance has been one of a handful of Chinese app developers to hit the big time

G42’s $10 billion 42XFund, which has additional financial backers, invests in technology companies across emerging markets, the report said. The firm’s recent hiring of Jason Hu, the former investment head with China’s JD.com, indicates its plans to expand its footprint across Asia. The company’s acquisition of the ByteDance stake reflects its growing enthusiasm for AI and could be a bet on the longer-term potential of Chinese tech giants. In September last year, ByteDance offered to buy back $3 billion of its own shares at a valuation of about $300 billion. The Chinese company, which is also backed by SoftBank Group Corp. and Temasek Holdings Pte, has explored options for an IPO in Hong Kong or the US. However, due to global market volatility, the IPO is still a ways off, the report added. ByteDance has been one of a handful of Chinese app developers to hit the big time abroad, alongside upstarts like fast-fashion purveyor Shein Group, AliExpress, and PDD Holdings Inc.’s bargains app Temu. According to the report, ByteDance’s marquee service, TikTok, drew advertisers keen on hitting a more youthful demographic, and it has carved out a niche selling goods to millions of social media users via livestreams across the world. Source: Bloomberg

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United States

Silicon Valley Bank collapse:

Fears of financial crisis after bank used by US tech sector fails Santa Clara, 12.03.2023 - US regulators rushed to seize the assets of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on Friday after a run on the bank, the largest failure of a financial institution since the height of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. Silicon Valley, the country's 16th largest bank, failed after depositors - mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies - hurried to withdraw their money this week as anxiety over the bank’s situation spread. The bank could no longer cope with the massive withdrawals of its customers and its last attempts to raise new money did not succeed. 44 |

M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

US authorities therefore officially took possession of the bank and entrusted its management to the U.S. agency responsible for guaranteeing deposits, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Little known to the general public, SVB had specialised in financing start-ups and had become one of the largest banks in the US by asset size: at the end of 2022, it had $209 billion (€196 billion) in assets and about $175.4 billion (€164.5 billion) in deposits. Anxiety growing among tech workers Its demise represents not only the largest bank failure since that of Washington Mutual in 2008, but also the second-largest failure of a retail bank in the United States. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called several financial sector regulators together on Friday to discuss the situation, reminding them that she had "full confidence" in their ability to take appropriate action and that the banking sector remained "resilient". Outside the bank's Santa Clara headquarters in California on Friday, a few nervous customers wondered how they could access their funds, some trying to guess what was going on through the closed glass doors. On the front, an FDIC piece of paper said they could, starting Monday, withdraw up to $250,000 (€235,000). "This is not good. A lot of the bigger [venture capitalists] have very high deposits here," remarked one customer who did not wish to give his name. A start-up boss, he used the bank to pay his employees and is worried about them. On the markets, the panic movement started on Thursday, after SVB announced that it was seeking to raise capital quickly to cope with the massive withdrawals of its customers, without succeeding and having sold for $21 billion (€19.7 billion) of financial securities, losing $1.8 billion (€1.7 billion) in the process. The announcement surprised investors and rekindled fears about the soundness of the entire banking sector, especially with the rapid rise in interest rates, which is lowering the value of bonds in their portfolios and increasing the cost of credit. The four largest US banks lost $52 billion (€49 billion) on the stock market on Thursday and in their wake, Asian and then European banks floundered.

The economist Allan Meltzer liked to say that “capitalism without failure is like religion without sin. It doesn’t work.” 45 |

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Ripple effect outside the US In Paris, Société Générale lost 4.49 per cent, BNP Paribas 3.82 per cent and Crédit Agricole 2.48 per cent. Elsewhere in Europe, the German bank Deutsche Bank dropped 7.35 per cent, the British bank Barclays 4.09 per cent and the Swiss UBS 4.53 per cent. Santa Clara Police officers exit Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California, Friday, March 10, 2023, after it collapsed. Copyright Jeff Chiu/AP

On Wall Street, the big banks recovered Friday after the rout of the previous day: JPMorgan Chase took 2.54 per cent while Bank of America and Citigroup lost less than 1 per cent. Mid-sized banks or more focused on one type of customer, on the other hand, faced greater in turmoil, with First Republic, for example, dropping nearly 15 per cent and Signature Bank, close to the cryptocurrency scene, dropped 23 per cent. "As is often the case in finance, the problem didn't come from where we expected," says Alexander Yokum of CFRA. "A lot of observers were wondering about the debt piling up on credit cards or in the office real estate market. A bank run was not expected," a chain reaction that begins with massive customer withdrawals, he told AFP. Stephen Innes, an analyst at SPI Asset Management, is reassuring, estimating "low", in a note, the risk of "a capital or liquidity incident among major banks". Since the financial crisis of 2008/2009 and the collapse of the American bank Lehman Brothers, banks have had to provide their national and European regulators with reinforced proof of solidity. For example, they must justify a higher minimum level of capital to absorb any losses. For Morgan Stanley analysts, "the funding pressures facing the SVB are very unique" and other banks are not facing a "liquidity crunch". Source: euronews.next 46 |

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Comments in Social Media These are the companies that have disclosed their exposure with Silicon Valley Bank, SIVB, so far …. -

Circle: $3.3 billion BlockFi: $227 million Ginkgo Bio: $74 million RocketLab: $38 million LendingClub: $21 million

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Roku: $487 million Roblox: $150 million IRhythm: $55 million SangamoTherapeutics: $34 million Payoneer: $20 million

Scary?!!! No, the worst part is SVB has nearly $200 billion in deposits with 97% of those deposits above the $250,000 – FDIC limit. Things like this never can end well. O, BTW, it’s good to know Silicon Valley Bank Management Team: -

CEO: Director at SanFranciscoFed CFO: Former analyst at Freddie Mac Chief Admin Officer: Former CFO of Lehmanbrothers Chief Risk Officer: Led credit ratings in 2007 Chief Legal Officer: General Counsel at Citibank in 2008

And over the last 2 weeks, management sold nearly $5 million in stock.

Atefeh Ebadian, MBA March 12, 2023 Found in LinkedIn

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M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

Meantime ….. First Citizens, based in Raleigh, N.C., was the 30th-largest U.S. bank as of December Photo: Elijah Nouvelage / Bloomberg News

First Citizens acquires much of failed Silicon Valley Bank Deal with federal regulators will make lender one of the top 25 U.S. banks New York, March 27, 2023 - First Citizens Bancshares Inc., FCNCB 45.45% one of the nation’s largest regional banks, is buying large pieces of Silicon Valley Bank more than two weeks after the lender’s collapse sent tremors through the banking system. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said First Citizens is acquiring all of Silicon Valley Bank’s deposits, loans, and branches, which will open Monday morning under the new ownership. The purchase includes $56.5 billion in deposits and about $72 billion of SVB’s loans at a discount of $16.5 billion. Some $90 billion of SVB’s securities will remain in receivership. Regulators took control of Santa Clara, Calif.-based SVB on March 10. The collapse sparked a panic that led to the weekend failure of Signature Bank and a dramatic intervention by financial regulators aimed at easing fears that depositors would flee smaller lenders. 48 |

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CBA: Buyer mandate for technology-based companies Stockholm, September 16, 2022 - Buyer seeks technology-based companies active in trade and manufacturing of industrial products and services in Europe and the US in well-defined product and market niches. Ideal purchase price in the region of euro 10-50 million per acquisition. Revenue: between euro 10 million to euro 75 million per acquisition with strong management and own products (i.e. not contract manufacturing). The key customer segments could include manufacturers and suppliers within telecom, automation, commercial vehicles, military, digital signage, and renewable energy, as well as electrical contractors and construction companies. Only profitable companies (EBITDA margin above 10%) or able short term to reach that level; no turn-around or distressed situations. • • • • • • • •

Lighting and emergency lighting, intrusion and fire alarms, measurement instruments, electrical panels and switchgear, UPS systems and EMC components Tailored solutions based on electronic components and systems Equipment, consumable materials and support services for electronics production and industrial automation Industrial safety equipment Magnetic components for power supply and signal applications Lifting and materials handling, personal workplace safety and industrial filters Lightning and spotlighting in homes and public spaces as well as workplace lightning Products and solutions for vibration damping, machine shoes and workplace mats

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Retail solutions including e.g. in-store communication, signage programs, digital signage and product display • Rack and service for secure, in-store display of theft-prone goods • Logistics and data processing in retail stores, healthcare, and industry • Solutions for streamlining logistics in warehouses and manufacturing industry Buyer is founded and needs no source of financingFor more information contact Mikael Dahlbeck at [email protected] See more buy/sell opportunities here: https://cba.associates/mandate/acquisition-of-industrial-companies-in-europe-and-the-us/ 49 |

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The sale represents a milestone in regulatory efforts to clean up after two of the largest bank failures in history, at a time when investors are on edge about the health of the global financial system. Shares of First Citizens surged more than 40% shortly after the opening of trading Monday. Shares of other regional banks including First Republic Bank, PacWest Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp were also higher. First Citizens, based in Raleigh, N.C., was the 30th-largest U.S. bank as of Dec. 31, 2022, with $109 billion in assets, according to the Federal Reserve. Monday’s deal would put the lender in the top 25 U.S. banks in terms of assets. The FDIC agreed to share any of First Citizens’ losses or potential gains on SVB’s commercial loans. Overall, the FDIC estimated the failure of SVB will cost a federal insurance fund it oversees about $20 billion, or roughly 10% of the bank’s assets before its failure. “We look forward to building relationships with our new customers and positioning our company for continued success as we affirm our commitment to support the integrity of our nation’s banking system,” First Citizens Chief Executive Frank Holding Jr. said in a news release. On top of the loss-sharing agreement, the FDIC will help finance the deal with a fiveyear, $35 billion loan. The agency also is providing a $70 billion line of credit to help cover potential deposit flight. “It looks to me like a pretty substantial support network around this transaction,” said Alexander Rolfe, a former FDIC official who is now a consultant. That could set a precedent for future deals, he said. The worries about American banks have centered on regional lenders that are perceived to be subject to the threat of deposit flight. Both SVB and Signature had large amounts of uninsured deposits—or customers with more than the standard insurance cap of $250,000 per depositor. First Republic Bank, a San Francisco lender that also has a large uninsured deposit base, has been in the crosshairs despite multiple efforts to bolster its health. The bank has hired advisers to consider its options, but its bonds continue to trade at distressed levels. Officials both in the U.S. and in Europe have taken several steps to attempt to shore up confidence in the global financial system. The U.S. moved to back uninsured depositors of Signature and Silicon Valley Bank following their failure, in a bid to ease the anxieties of similar depositors at other banks. The FDIC last week sold “substantially all” of the deposits and some of the loans of Signature Bank to a unit of New York Community Bancorp Inc. 50 |

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Swiss officials a week ago engineered a takeover of troubled Credit Suisse Group AG by its rival UBS Group AG, following a period of intense customer flight from Credit Suisse that raised concerns about the entire Swiss economy. Afterward, officials said they believed banks were safe and sound. On Friday, shares of German lender Deutsche Bank AG tumbled as much as 15% before closing 8.5% lower in Frankfurt, ending a day of declines for many of the largest European banks. The reason for the selloff wasn’t entirely clear, numerous investors said, given Deutsche Bank’s strong recent profitability and relatively low risk profile. Some said the declines reflected a mentality left over from the financial crisis. At the same time, deposits continued to depart smaller U.S. banks following a surge in inflows during the Covid-19 pandemic. The outflows have gone in part to the largest U.S. lenders, many of which are viewed as enjoying implicit government backing. The outflows also reflect, in part, the higher rates offered by money-market funds and shortterm Treasury debt as the Federal Reserve has sharply raised interest rates in a bid to quell high inflation. Silicon Valley Bank failed because its core business of banking venture-capital firms and their startups was bleeding funds, creating a continuing cash need. The bank had invested heavily in long-term bonds whose value was badly hurt by the Fed’s interestrate increases over the past year, meaning it could sell them only at a loss. When SVB tried to raise cash anyway, its depositors, largely business customers whose accounts were well above the standard $250,000 FDIC insurance limit, fled. Uninsured depositors across the system took notice and several other similarly situated midsize banks such as Signature and First Republic, came under scrutiny. SVB’s implosion marks the biggest test to date of the post-financial-crisis regulatory architecture designed to force banks to curtail risk and monitor it more closely. Officials have sought to reassure investors that the system remains strong. “Fundamentally, the banking system is sound,” said Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “The banking system has a lot of capital to be able to withstand these pressures.” Risks to SVB’s financial condition were apparent months before its failure. The bank’s parent company disclosed that the market value of its held-to-maturity bonds was $15.9 billion less than their balance-sheet value at the end of September 2022. That gap was slightly more than SVB’s $15.8 billion of total equity at the time, a measure of the bank’s net worth. Regulators will likely spend months, if not years, getting to the bottom of what happened at SVB and why its banking supervisors didn’t move quickly or decisively enough to stop its problems from snowballing into a crisis. 51 |

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The Fed, FDIC and Treasury Department appear to have limited the contagion by moving on March 12 to use emergency powers to guarantee uninsured deposits at SVB and Signature, while also setting up a new Fed lending program to allow banks to meet withdrawal requests. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has unveiled an internal Fed review of what went wrong, to be completed by May. Lawmakers plan to hold hearings beginning Tuesday. Already, the Fed is rethinking a number of its own rules related to midsize banks in response to the tumult, potentially extending restrictions that currently only apply to the biggest Wall Street firms. A raft of tougher capital and liquidity requirements are under review, as well as steps to beef up annual “stress tests” that assess banks’ ability to weather a hypothetical recession, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. The rules could target companies with between $100 billion and $250 billion in assets, which at present escape some of the toughest requirements. There are about two dozen banks within the range. The Fed was already conducting a review of a number of its regulations, led by Michael Barr, the central bank’s point person on banking supervision. But this month’s banking crisis has caused officials to re-evaluate parts of their review and to refocus their efforts on smaller institutions. Source: The Wall Street Journey __________________________________________________________________________________

Obituary Six decades ago, Gordon Moore accurately predicted the pace of computer chip advances that would transform modern life. By doing so, the co-founder and former chairman of Intel, who died Friday at age 94, set the stage for the rise of Big Tech. Gordon Moore holds a silicon wafer at Intel HQs in Santa Clara, California, in 2005. Image AP.

Quote: Current smartphones boast 10 million times the computing power of Apollo 17 launched in 1972, in line with Moore's Law, which argued that the number of transistors that can be mounted on a silicon chip would continue to double for the foreseeable future. 52 |

M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

42 years ago, Magic Johnson left an estimated $5.2 billion of Nike money on the table You probably know the Air Jordan story. But did you know Nike offered Magic stock five years before Michael Jordan's deal?

Magic Johnson. Photo: Getty Images

If you're watching the HBO series Winning Time, you know Magic Johnson turned down a shoe deal with Nike -- one that would eventually have been worth $5.2 billion -- to take a $100,000 deal with Converse. (We'll talk about that $5.2 billion in a moment.) As Johnson said: When I first came out of college, all the shoe

Companies came after me – and this guy, Phil Knight, who had just started Nike.

All the other companies offered me money, but [Nike] couldn't offer me money because they just started. So. he said, "Stock. I'm going to give you a lot of stock." 53 |

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I didn't know anything about stock. I'm from the inner city. We don't know about stocks. [Laughs] Big mistake? Apparently. Or maybe not. Let's talk math Yes, $5.2 billion is an eye-catching number. Yet not particularly accurate. While Nike offered Johnson stock in the summer of 1979 (something I've written about before), the company didn't actually go public at 18¢ per share until December 1980. So the per share value of the stock offered is clearly too high. Then there's the amount; Winning Time assumes (if only because it makes the comparison easier) that Nike offered $100,000 worth of stock. The actual amount? Who knows. And then there's this: Winning Time says Nike offers Magic a $1 royalty per shoe sold, but that's probably twice what the actual amount would have been. As Darren Rovell writes, the standard royalty at the time was 5 percent of gross; in this case, about 50¢ per shoe. So yeah: The Winning Time math doesn't work. But the Nike offer was still a potentially huge deal. Since we don't know how many shares Magic was offered, let's pick a round number to use as an example. Say Magic was offered $1,000 worth of stock. At Nike's IPO, $1,000 would have purchased 5,555 shares. Adjusting for splits turns the original 5,555 shares into 711,040 shares, and the initial price of 18¢ per share into .000004¢ per share. Since Nike stock recently closed at $135.87 per share, that means a $1,000 IPO stock purchase would now be worth over $96 million -- and that doesn't count the value and compounding power of reinvested dividends.

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So you can certainly understand when Johnson says:

Boy, did I make a mistake. I'm still kicking myself. Every time I'm in a Nike Store, I get mad. I could have been making money off of everybody buying Nikes right now. Even if Johnson "only" got $10,000 in Nike stock, those shares would now be worth nearly $1 billion. But that assumes he never sold Imagine you buy, say, $10,000 worth of Tesla stock. And then the stock doubles. And doubles again. Your original $10,000 is now worth $40,000. Do you continue to hold? If you're like me, probably not. Science agrees. Research by Daniel Kahneman, author of the great book Thinking, Fast and Slow, indicates that losses are twice as psychologically powerful as gains. (To most of us, a bird in the hand truly does seem worth two in the bush.) That bias is understandable. A loss means giving up something we actually have; not acquiring a gain means giving up something theoretical rather than actual. If we have a chance to make another $10,000 but don't, that sucks. But if we have $40,000 and lose some or all of it, that really sucks. So I'm only guessing, but it's safe to assume Johnson would have sold his Nike stock somewhere along the way. Maybe to avoid a potential loss, but more likely to finance one of many business ventures. Because make no mistake: Johnson is one kick-ass entrepreneur. And that assumes Nike would have become Nike Magic's Nike deal would have started in 1979. Was Nike in a position -- in terms of finances, infrastructure, marketing savvy, etc. -- to take full advantage of that deal? Compare with 1984, when Nike signed Michael Jordan. By then, Nike wasn't just thinking about signing an athlete endorser -- it was thinking about building a brand.

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The Air Jordan brand Is Nike the company it is today without Jordan? Absolutely not. Nike's three-year sales goal was $3 million; in fact, first-year sales generated over $126 million in revenue. Today the Jordan brand generates approximately $4 billion per year. And that's just the money side; Jordan's popularity -- and the cool factor of Nike's Jordan-centric advertising campaigns -- attracted other professional athletes to the brand. Without Jordan, Nike arguably wouldn't be Nike. Which means Johnson's stock would probably not be worth as much. All of which leads us to hindsight bias (and unjustified regret) In 1979, Nike was an undercapitalized running shoe manufacturer trying to enter a broader market dominated by legacy brands. And Converse was the basketball shoe brand leader. Would you have turned down a sure $100,000 from the dominant player to bet on Nike? I wouldn't have. That's the problem with hindsight: It's easy to think you knew the right thing to do. Take me: In the 1980s, my next-door neighbour, a computer science professor, started a language learning company from his living room. That fledgling company was Rosetta Stone. Sure, I could look back now and think, "Wow, I should have invested." But that's now. At the time, I thought he was very nice but kind of odd; I would never have invested in his startup. Only in hindsight does it seem smart. As forgotten Apple co-founder Ronald Wayne -- who famously relinquished his stake in the company after two weeks, an ownership share that would today be worth $75 billion -- says: 56 |

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I have never had the slightest pangs of regret because I made the best decision with the information available to me at the time. Magic made the best decision he could with the information -- and knowledge and experience -- he had at the time. In fact, you could argue that the Nike experience sparked his desire to become a better businessperson. Realizing what he didn't know fuelled his desire to learn, and grow, and develop, and build a staggeringly successful portfolio of companies and investments. So maybe he does regret turning down the Nike offer. But he surely can't regret what he did in response to that "mistake." And that's the real lesson of Magic Johnson and Nike: Past mistakes don't define you. What you do after you make a mistake? That's what defines you. And determines your future. Source: Inc.

United States / United Kingdom

Jounce dumps Redx Pharma for acquisition by Concentra; to cut 84% of jobs Massachusetts, March 27, 2023 - Jounce Therapeutics Inc (JNCE.O) on Monday agreed to be acquired by privately held Concentra Biosciences for $96.46 million, while spurning a merger deal with British biotech firm Redx Pharma (REDX.L). The new Concentra deal also involves a workforce reduction of about 84% of Jounce's employees, compared to about 57% as part of the Redx deal, Jounce said in a statement. 57 |

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The deal with Concentra, which is controlled by Jounce investor Tang Capital Partners, provides an upfront payment of $1.85 per share to Jounce's shareholders, plus contingent value rights of 80% of the net proceeds that come from licencing or disposing of some Jounce assets. Richard Murray, CEO of Jounce Therapeutics

Concentra Biosciences' offer price represents a 22.5% premium over the last close. The private firm will acquire the shares through a tender offer by April 7, Jounce said. The Concentra deal closure, expected in the second quarter, is subject to Jounce having at least $110 million in net cash reserves. Tang Capital owns a 10.2% stake in Jounce. Jounce Therapeutics' shares rose 23% to $1.85 in morning trade. Source: Reuters

United States

Mullen Automotive and Qiantu Motors to launch EV supercar branded Mullen GT and GTRS Qiantu K50 rebranded and relaunched as Mullen GT and GTRS ▪

Mullen is granted a license for IP and exclusive distribution rights in North and South American markets for the Qiantu K50/DragonFLY.

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Mullen will finalize vehicle engineering pursuant to U.S. standards with final assembly in Mishawka, Indiana.

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EV supercar will be rebranded and refreshed to sell under the Mullen GT & GTRS brands with expected performance specs of 0-60 MPH in 1.95 seconds and a top speed over 200 MPH. 58 |

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Brea, Calif., March 20, 2023 - Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN) (“Mullen” or the “Company”), an emerging electric vehicle (“EV”) manufacturer, announces today that it has been granted the North and South American IP and distribution rights from Qiantu Motors and affiliated companies as part of a license agreement allowing assembly and distribution of the DragonFLY K50 in the Americas. The DragonFLY vehicle proportions, and carbon fibre construction contribute to a striking design that is dramatic and timelessly beautiful. Mullen will begin its program to re-engineer and re-design the product to meet homologation requirements for U.S. certification and customer expectations for today’s supercars. These modifications will be in line with Mullen’s vehicle design language currently found in the Mullen FIVE and Mullen FIVE RS. To ensure supercar status, the vehicle will also feature an updated powertrain, targeting sub 2.0 sec 0-60 MPH and a top speed exceeding 200 MPH. “Qiantu has been working on developing electric vehicles since 2013. We are honoured to cooperate with Mullen Automotive to bring Qiantu K50 to the U.S. market,” said Chairman Lu of Qiantu Motors. “As an important step in Qiantu's internationalization, we are confident that the Qiantu K50 will reach even more customers and provide a superior driving experience. With its sleek design, excellent driving and handling performance, and impressive full carbon fibre exterior, we believe the Qiantu K50 will be a success in the U.S. EV market, offering users a new level of performance and convenience.” Chairman Lu of Qiantu Motors

“This agreement with Qiantu is an important milestone for the Company. Not only does it settle a long outstanding dispute between our respective companies, but also presents the opportunity to fulfil my vision for a supercar that would rival some of the best supercars in the world,” said Mullen’s CEO and Chairman David Michery. “Since day one, we have received overwhelming positive feedback for this vehicle, including our original debut at the 2019 New York Auto Show and the Indy 500 in May 2019. We are excited to start the GT and GTRS programs on March 20, 2023.” David Michery, Mullen’s CEO 59 |

M&A NEWS | #95 | April 2023

Belize

Why choose an LLC in Belize? An LLC is a great alternative for your offshore company. This structure has excellent asset protection characteristics that are important for any international business. Moreover, starting a business in Belize is a great option for global investors and entrepreneurs. If you want to know what is an LLC and find out the advantages of Belize, you’ve found the right article. What is an LLC and what are its benefits LLC is short for “limited liability company”. This is a commercial structure that offers pass-through taxation while protecting the owner’s personal assets. In other words, an LLC protects each member through a special tax strategy. For those trying to open a company in Belize, the LLC as a structure is easy to set up and offers protection: the owner's personal assets are protected against legal claims aiming to attack the company. What is an LLC: pass-through taxation This is a picturesque term to describe the particular treatment of taxation coming from an LLC in Belize and any other jurisdiction. Let's suppose you have a business in Belize under an LLC. Instead of paying corporate taxes, the LLC passes through the taxation to your personal return. As a member, you will declare your earnings from the company as personal income. In the same way, an LLC in Belize helps you protect your patrimony: you won’t have to respond with your own assets for the company's liabilities. Source: Mundo Belize: corporate centre with one-of-a-kind advantages • Full privacy • Low costs • Convenient tax system • Developed banking sector 60 |

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Immigration & Business Opportunities for Sale in the USA Multi-Unit Breakfast and Lunch Restaurant Franchise Location: Tampa Bay, Florida, USA Price US$1,175,000 Revenues: $1,092,532 Multi-unit breakfast and lunch restaurant franchise opportunity available in Tampa Bay, Florida. The restaurants are all located in beautifully built-out Class A office spaces; are only open Monday through Friday; and have a strong management team and employees in place. The business has capitalized on the steady stream of occupants returning to work and has also been augmented with revenue guarantees. The franchise carries a strong brand reputation and offers their franchisees excellent support. Click here to read more about this opportunity.

Established Glass Company Location: San Antonio, TX, USA Price: US$1,135,000 Revenues: $1,769,985 Great opportunity to acquire a successful business in one of the cities with the highest growth economy within the USA! They specialize in shower doors, glass mirrors, and storefront windows that take interior design and remodeling to the next level. Home improvement projects and the rapid growth of the Greater San Antonio area offer a tremendous opportunity to grow the business. Click here to read more about this opportunity

Wholesale Distributor Location: Midwest Minnesota, USA Price: US$1,400,000 Revenues: $6,352,623 The Company’s 65-year history in the Upper Midwest region has allowed them to build strong relationships with its customers and vendors alike. Industry: Food, grocery related products distribution and supply chain has been fast growing industry. Equipped with multiple walk-in cooler and freezer units and there is room to grow its capacity. Efficient and effective labor force with years of experience and many suppliers in place. Click here to read more about this opportunity.

VR is CBA’s Alliance Partner in North America

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Japan

The long-running crisis at Japan's Toshiba Tokyo, March 23, 2023 Toshiba Corp's (6502.T) board on Thursday accepted a buyout offer from a group led by private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), ending months of speculation over whether the investors would be able to take it private. The logo of Toshiba Corp. is displayed atop of the company's facility building in Kawasaki, Japan June 24, 2022. REUTERS/Issei Kato

The deal would potentially draw a line under the Japanese conglomerate's recent troubled history. Here is a timeline of Toshiba' woes since 2015. 2015 - Toshiba discloses accounting malpractices across multiple divisions, which involved top management. It overstated pretax profit by 230 billion yen ($1.8 billion) over seven years. Dec. 2016 - Toshiba says it will take a charge of several billion dollars related to a nuclear power plant construction company that U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric had bought a year earlier. March 2017 - Westinghouse files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Faced with more than $6 billion in liabilities linked to Westinghouse, Toshiba decides to put prized chip unit Toshiba Memory up for sale. 62 |

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Sept. 2017 - Toshiba agrees to sell the chip business to a consortium led by Bain Capital for $18 billion, while retaining a large stake. The company is desperate to close the deal by the end of the financial year in March to help right its finances and avoid a potential delisting. That is jeopardised by a prolonged dispute over the sale with Western Digital Corp (WDC.O), its partner in a chip joint venture. Antitrust reviews are expected to take months. Dec. 2017 - Toshiba secures a $5.4 billion cash injection from more than 30 overseas investors, helping it avoid a delisting but bringing in prominent activist shareholders including Elliott Management, Third Point and Farallon. Dispute with Western Digital is settled. Jan. 2020 - Toshiba finds fresh accounting irregularities at a wholly owned subsidiary. July 2020 - Five director candidates nominated by activist shareholders get voted down at annual general meeting. Sept. 2020 - Toshiba discloses more than 1,000 postal voting forms for its AGM went uncounted. The bank that counted the votes, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (8309.T), later reveals widespread failure to count all valid votes at AGMs of client firms over past two decades. March 2021 - Shareholders approve an independent investigation into allegations that investors were pressured ahead of the previous year's AGM. April 2021 - CVC Capital Partners makes an unsolicited $21 billion offer to take Toshiba private. A week later, Toshiba's CEO resigns amid controversy over the CVC bid, perceived by some within company management as designed to shield him from activist shareholders. Toshiba's subsequent dismissal of the CVC offer angers some activist shareholders. June 10, 2021 - A shareholder-commissioned investigation concludes Toshiba colluded with Japan's trade ministry - which sees Toshiba as a strategic asset - to block overseas investors from gaining influence at 2020 shareholder meeting.

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June 25, 2021 - Shareholders oust board chairman Osamu Nagayama after critics accuse board of failing to address allegations of pressuring investors. Toshiba pledges to undertake a full review of assets and engage with potential investors. Nov. 2021 - Toshiba says it will split into three companies, one for energy, one for infrastructure and the third to manage its Kioxia stake. Feb. 2022 - Toshiba announces a new plan to split into two, spinning off only its devices unit. March 1, 2022 - CEO Satoshi Tsunakawa resigns. Taro Shimada, a former Siemens AG executive who joined in 2018, appointed as interim CEO to proceed with the spin-off plan. March 24, 2022 - Shareholders vote against spin-off plan. A separate motion backed by activist shareholders that called for the conglomerate to solicit buyout offers also fails to pass. April 2022 - Toshiba sets up a special committee to resume a strategic review that could see it taken private. May 13, 2022 - Ten potential investors express their interest. Under pressure from shareholders, Toshiba announces a special dividend of some $545 million. June 2022 - Toshiba receives eight buyout proposals. Directors publicly trade criticism over governance and the nomination of hedge fund executives to its board. Shareholders later approve two activist directors, a historic shift. July 2022 - Toshiba selects four bidders including private equity firms Bain Capital, CVC Capital Partners and a consortium involving JIP and state-backed Japan Investment Corp (JIC) to proceed to a second bidding round. JIC and JIP disagree over the proposal and decide not to pursue a bid together. Oct. 2022 - The JIP-led consortium, involving a number of Japanese firms such as Orix Corp (8591.T) and Chubu Electric Power Co (9502.T), is given preferred status. Feb. 2023 - After months of speculation, Toshiba confirms that it has received a proposal from an all-Japanese group led by JIP, which sources said secured $10.6 billion in loan commitments. March 23, 2023 - Toshiba's board accepts JIP's 2 trillion yen tender offer at 4,620 yen a share, versus its last closing price of 4,213 yen. ($1 = 130.8500 yen) Source: Reuters 64 |

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China

Deloitte’s business in Beijing is fined, suspended New York, March 19, 2023 - China’s Finance Ministry has suspended the operations of Deloitte’s Beijing office for three months, citing “serious audit deficiencies” in the firm’s work with a big state-owned asset manager. The move followed an investigation into its audits of China Huarong Asset Management Co., a firm that was bailed out in late 2021. The Finance Ministry said that Deloitte Hua Yong, the Chinese name of the auditor’s local affiliate, didn’t assess the true value of China Huarong’s assets or pro-vide proper audit opinions on unusual transactions even after identifying them. Deloitte fined $46m by China for auditing negligence

Deloitte said Friday that it had cooperated fully with the ministry’s inspection. “We respect and accept the Ministry of Finance’s penalty decision. We regret that, in this matter, the Ministry of Finance considers certain aspects of our work fell below the required auditing standards,” the firm said. “To be clear, there is no suggestion by the Ministry of Finance that either Deloitte Hua Yong, its Beijing branch, or any of its people have done anything unethical,” it added. The ministry also fined the auditor the equivalent of around $31 million. Deloitte Hua Yong was the asset manager’s auditor in 2015, the same year it closed a $2.3 billion IPO in Hong Kong. It worked for China Huarong until the completion of the firm’s 2019 accounts, after which it was replaced by the local unit of Ernst & Young. 65 |

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China Huarong was the largest of four stateowned bad-debt managers established in the late 1990s to clean up the balance sheets of China’s large state-owned banks. The asset manager initially focused on buying defaulted or troubled commercial loans, but over time expanded aggressively into other areas. HQs of China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd in Beijing

China Huarong’s troubles started to surface in early 2021, when the company didn’t release its 2020 annual report on time. Five months later, it revealed a $16 billion loss for that year. The company wrote down the value of many of its assets. In late 2021, the asset manager was bailed out. A group of state-owned financial institutions injected $6.5 billion into China Huarong. Its former chairman, Lai Xiaomin, was handed a death sentence in January 2021 after pleading guilty to bribery and embezzlement. He was executed a few weeks later. The Finance Ministry began investigating Deloitte Hua Yong’s auditing work of China Huarong in 2021. It set up a special inspection team to conduct on-site inspections at both China Huarong and Deloitte, interview relevant personnel, review documents, and conduct hearings. Deloitte Hua Yong employs more than 20,000 professionals across 30 cities in China, the auditor said on its website. The regulator also fined China Huarong and seven of its subsidiaries 100,000 yuan each, or about $14,500 each. Source: Wall Street Journal

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China

Chinese lithium price dives in heated auto price war Beijing, March 24, 2023 - China's lithium prices are plunging faster than expected this year, down 34% in the last four weeks alone, hit by a slump in demand for electric vehicles in the world's biggest market that has left stocks of the metal piling up. Spot lithium carbonate prices assessed by Fastmarkets fell to 260,000 yuan ($38,079.06) per tonne this week, less than half the price quoted last November. Though prices have been falling since late last year, the decline has accelerated in the last four weeks, exceeding the 22% drop during the three months from November to February. Five analysts polled by Reuters last month had expected the price would drop to 300,000 yuan by the end of this year. "The scope of such a price fall has exceeded our expectations," consultancy Rystad Energy said in a March 17 note. The world's biggest EV market was already facing slowing demand after China cut subsidies to the sector from this year. Now EVs are also facing fierce competition from conventional vehicles after carmakers, including SAIC Volkswagen Automotive Co and Geely Automobile, slashed prices on more than 40 brands ahead of stricter emissions rules taking effect on July 1. Traditional car makers and dealers are cutting prices to clear inventories of vehicles that do not meet the new standard. The price war in China's car market, escalating from EVs to internal-combustion-engine vehicles (ICEVs), will potentially last through the second quarter, and the entire supply chain is likely to share the profit losses this year, said Jing Yang, Director of Asia-Pacific Corporate Research at Fitch Ratings. Jing Yang, Director Fitch Ratings

"The unprecedented price cuts among traditional auto makers will eat EVs' market share in the short term, hitting lithium demand further," said Vicky Zhao, a Beijingbased senior analyst at Fastmarkets. 67 |

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Lithium ion batteries are seen on a production line inside a factory in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China October 16, 2018. Picture Reuters/Joyce Zhou/File Photo

Supercharged in the past two years by strong demand for EVs and limited supply, lithium prices had soared more than 10 times from early 2021 to a record 597,500 yuan last November. Waning demand for EVs in recent months is being exacerbated by mounting supplies of the metal. Readily available stocks in the market are likely in the tens of thousands of tonnes, compared with barely any stocks in the market last year, according to Rystad and Fastmarkets. Lithium prices in the United States and Europe have also fallen, albeit less sharply, amid rising but still tight supplies and a stronger outlook for EV sales. Lithium carbonate prices in Europe and the United States have declined to $61.50 per kg on March 16, down 24% from a peak of $81 per kg late last year, according to Fastmarkets. ($1 = 6.8279 Chinese yuan renminbi) Source: Reuters

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India

India's Tata Group mulls pumping $2 bln into super app venture

The logo of Tata Group is seen at a business meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi March 23, 2009. REUTERS/Vijay Mathur

Bengaluru, March 23 - Indian salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group is considering injecting another $2 billion into its super app venture to bolster its digital business, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The funds would help the group's online platform Tata Neu strengthen its digital offerings, fix technical glitches, and meet any new spending needs, the report said. The injection would take place over two years if the deal goes through, it added. Tata Group has also asked Tata Digital to look for ways to boost the valuation of the super app, according to the report. A Tata Group spokesperson and Tata Digital declined to comment on the report. Tata launched the e-commerce super app in April last year, offering everything from apparel to air tickets in a renewed push for a slice of a fast-growing market dominated by Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Walmart's (WMT.N) Flipkart. Source: Reuters 69 |

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India

Mallya bought properties in the UK, France while airline in crisis CBI Vijay Mallya bought properties worth Rs 330 crore in England and France during 2015-16 even as his Kingfisher Airlines was facing a cash crunch at that time.

Vijay Mallya

Delhi, March 22, 2023 - Beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya bought properties worth Rs 330 crore in England and France during 2015-16 even as his Kingfisher Airlines was facing a cash crunch at that time and banks had not recovered the loans defaulted by the liquor baron, the CBI has claimed in its supplementary chargesheet filed in a court here. Mallya is an accused in the alleged over Rs 900 crore (EUR 125m) IDBI Bank-Kingfisher Airlines loan fraud case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The central agency recently filed a supplementary chargesheet before a special CBI court here. Along with all the 11 accused named in the earlier chargesheets, the probe agency has added the name of Buddhadev Dasgupta, former general manager of IDBI Bank in its latest supplementary chargesheet. The probe agency alleged that by abusing his official position, Dasgupta conspired with the officers of IDBI Bank and Vijay Mallya in the matter of sanction and disbursement of the short-term loan (STL) of Rs 150 crore in October 2009. 70 |

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The said loan of Rs 150 crore as envisaged originally by Dasgupta (by proposal circulated among credit committee members) was to be adjusted/repaid from the aggregate loan of Rs 750 crore originally sought by the airlines. However, after circulation, there was change in the proposal to show as if the credit committee had treated this as a separate loan, which may (or may not) be adjusted/recovered from the aggregate loan. The chargesheet said the exposure of IDBI Bank was to be restricted to the aggregate amount of Rs 750 crore, but it became Rs 900 crore in December 2009 because the STL of Rs 150 crore was kept as a separate loan, largely at the behest of Dasgupta. During the course of investigation, letters rogatory (LRs) had been sent to the United Kingdom, Mauritius, the USA and Switzerland as per the permission of the CBI court. Courts of one country seek the assistance of the courts in another for the administration of justice there through letters rogatory. The chargesheet mentioned the evidence collected during foreign investigation from these countries. "The properties in the UK (Ladywalk in 2015-16 for GBP 12-13 million or Rs 80 crore) and France ('Le Grand Jardin' in 2008 for Euro 35 million or Rs 250 crore approximately) were acquired by Mallya even as Kingfisher Airlines was facing severe a cash crunch (2008) and the lenders were yet to recover the loans defaulted upon by Mallya and the Airlines (2015-16)," it said. The chargesheet claimed that Mallya had adequate funds at his disposal between 2008 and 2016-17, but none of it was brought to support the airlines as equity infusion or to honour his obligations as a personal guarantor for the loans availed by KAL from IDBI and other banks in India. The chargesheet, citing the evidence collected through LRs, said that sizable amounts were transferred to Force India Formula 1 Team between 2008 and 2012, it said. The chargesheet further said that significant amounts were diverted from 2007 to 201213 and used to make payments towards acquisition and repayment of loan for the corporate jet used personally by Mallya. Besides the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing a money laundering case against Mallya. On January 5, 2019, a special court in Mumbai had declared Mallya a 'fugitive'. Under the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, once a person is declared a fugitive economic offender, the prosecuting agency has the powers to confiscate his property. Source: Business Standard 71 |

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Japan / Belgium

Japan's JERA to buy Belgium's top offshore wind company for $1.7bn Acquisition will raise utility's total renewable assets by 27% to 2.8 gigawatts

Parkwind's offshore wind farm in Germany. The acquisition will increase by 27% JERA's renewable energy assets which also include existing offshore wind investments in Taiwan and the U.K.

Tokyo, March 22, 2023 - Japan's top utility JERA has agreed to buy Parkwind, Belgium's largest offshore wind platform, for 1.55 billion euros ($1.7 billion), as it expands in renewable power to meet decarbonization goals. JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings and Chubu Electric Power Co Inc, will add Parkwind's four offshore wind farms in Belgium and a new wind farm being built in Germany to its renewable portfolio through the deal. The acquisition will increase JERA's renewable energy assets, which include existing offshore wind investments in Taiwan and the United Kingdom, to 2.8 gigawatts from 2.2 GW as of the end of 2022.

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"We want to gain Parkwind's know-how and knowledge of offshore wind power projects in Europe that can be utilized in JERA's existing wind farms and new projects mainly in Asia," Ken Matsuda, the head of JERA's overseas offshore wind power business group, told a news conference. JERA aims to boost its renewable power assets to 5 GW by March 2026 through new development and acquisitions, he added. Virya Energy, which agreed to sell Parkwind to JERA, will study the possibility of reinvesting in a minority stake in Parkwind's Belgian wind farms, JERA said. The deal is to be closed later this year, pending approvals. Parkwind currently runs 201 turbines off the coast of Belgium with a capacity of 771 megawatts, able to supply 800,000 households, and has another 1.1 GW in development worldwide, including in Germany and Ireland. JERA told Reuters this month it had decided to sell its 44% stake in the Formosa 3 wind project off the centralwestern coast of Taiwan, while keeping its exposure to the Formosa 1 and 2 projects. Colruyt, the Belgian group that controls Virya, cited the energy market situation and public plans to support the green transition as reasons for the sale, as investors in offshore wind projects must contend with increased financial exposure, fierce competition, and the need for increased investments. Sources: Nikkei Asia / Reuters

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Australia /United States / Canada

Origin Energy bought by Brookfield, EIG for $18.7b Sydney, March 28, 2023 - Origin Energy’s two North American suitors have finally signed a binding deal, agreeing to the terms of an $18.7 billion takeover for the Australian power and gas giant, ending a drawn-out due diligence process and more than four months of talks. Origin, one of the largest Australian energy suppliers, last year opened its books to a consortium of Canadian asset giant Brookfield and US-based energy investor EIG, which lobbed a surprise $9-a-share bid to buy the company and divide its assets between them.

Origin Energy’s board intends to unanimously recommend shareholders support the deal when it is put to a vote. Credit: Bloomberg

The bidders subsequently pared back their offer price slightly from $9 to $8.90 a share, following large swings in global energy prices and the federal government’s introduction of temporary limits on coal and gas sales on Australia’s eastern seaboard, which will affect revenue from Origin’s interest in a Queensland liquefied natural gas (LNG) venture. 74 |

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On Monday night, Origin, Brookfield and EIG said they had entered into a binding agreement, which Origin Energy’s board intends to unanimously recommend shareholders support when it is eventually put to a vote. The final offer increases value of the proposal to $8.91 for each Origin share – a 53 per cent premium to the company’s share price before the initial offer was made in November. “The board is unanimous in its view that this transaction is in the best interests of shareholders,” Origin chairman Scott Perkins said. “The transaction represents a significant premium to the share price prior to the original indicative proposal, and reflects the strategic nature of Origin’s platform, its growth prospects and anticipated earnings recovery.” Brookfield, which is seeking to acquire Origin’s domestic energy generation and retail business to accelerate its shift to renewables, has said it believed the company will play a lead role in helping the nation meet its climate targets.

Origin last year opened its books to a consortium of Canadian asset giant Brookfield and US-based energy investor EIG after a surprise bid was lobbed. Credit: Joe Armao

If the takeover deal succeeds, the Canadian-based asset manager says it will invest another $20 billion to build an additional 14 gigawatts of renewable energy and storage to help replace the looming closure of Origin’s Eraring coal-fired power plant in NSW and transform Origin into Australia’s largest clean energy owner by the end of the decade. 75 |

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“We will build on the success of our global renewable power and transition business where we have a mandate to ‘go where the emissions are’ in putting billions of dollars behind an executable plan to reduce emissions at Origin,” Brookfield Asia-Pacific chief executive Stewart Upson said. As the energy grid’s shift away from coal-fired power continues to gather speed, Brookfield’s chairman, Mark Carney, said Brookfield believed Origin could “lead the way ... at this critical moment for the Australian economy”. “What’s needed is increasingly clear: faster deployment of large-scale renewables, the accelerated, responsible retirement of coal generation, and an interim, supportive role for gas as the dependable back-up fuel,” Carney said. Brookfield on Monday revealed its co-investors would include Singaporean institutional funds GIC and Temasek. EIG, which is seeking Origin’s 27.5 per cent interest in the Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) gas venture, said APLNG had an important role to play in the energy transition and would serve as the foundation for the company’s larger LNG ambitions. The takeover offer is conditional on the support of Origin shareholders and on approvals from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). One potential area of competition concern may arise from Brookfield’s ownership of Victorian electricity transmission and distribution network operator AusNet. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Australia / United States

US-listed company completes cross-border merger with Australian renewable energy co. Sydney, March 16, 2023 - American special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Nabors Energy Transition Corp has been advised on its US$586 million cross-border merger with leading Australian renewable energy company Vast Solar. Deal: KWM has advised NETC on its entry into a business combination with Vast Solar, which produces concentrated solar thermal power, delivering clean, dispatchable power and heat and green fuels. 76 |

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“The combined entity will be named Vast Limited and, as part of the transaction, Vast is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange while remaining headquartered and incorporated in Australia,” KWM noted in a statement. Area: Corporate, financial services; Value: US$586 million Key players: The KWM team was led by partners David Friedlander and Nicola Charlston, who were supported by senior associate Richard Hanson and solicitors Clare Magee and Stephen Catros, partner Berkeley Cox and solicitor Trishala Shah, partner Greg Protektor, partner Angela Weber and solicitor Jedda Bamford. Deal significance: Ms Charlston (photo left) said: “We’re delighted to have advised NETC on this market-leading transaction. Nicola Charlston, Advisors KWM King & Wood Mallesons

“This deal is indicative of the continued interest we are seeing in major energy and resources companies developing their capabilities in the renewable energy space, and it will be great to have another Australian company listed on NYSE.” Source: LawyersWeekly

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China / United States / South Korea

GEM plans nickel joint venture in South Korea to serve US demand

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks as he celebrates the enactment of the "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022," which Biden signed into law in August, on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 13, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque//File Photo

Beijing, March 24, 2023 - China's GEM Co Ltd (002340.SZ), a battery and material recycler, has signed a joint venture agreement with SK On and ECOPRO Materials to set up a plant in South Korea to meet the conditions of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), it said on Friday. The joint venture would aim to invest about 1.21 trillion won ($932.56 million) between 2023 and 2026 to build a factory with a minimum capacity of 43,000 tonnes of nickelbased battery material annually, GEM said in a Shenzhen filing. The plant would aim to meet the battery material sourcing requirements of the U.S. IRA signed into law last August that requires automakers to source 50% of the critical minerals used in EV batteries from North America or U.S. allies by 2024, rising to 80% by the end of 2026. "GEM hopes to stabilise its core South Korean market, sell into the U.S. and European markets, as well as achieving its vision of 500,000 tonnes of (battery) precursor sales by 2026," the company said. 78 |

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Setting up a joint venture in South Korea, a U.S. ally, would allow GEM to move capacity out of China and help the country to retain its dominance of mineral processing needed for the tradition to a greener economy. The IRA law limits EV tax credits to vehicles assembled in North America and was partly aimed at weaning the United States off batteries from China, which make up 70% of global supply. GEM will own 49.0% or less in the joint venture, with ECOPRO and SK On holding 25.5% or above, it said, adding it was willing to adjust its shareholding to meet the IRA's tax credit requirements. The U.S. Treasury Department said earlier this week guidance on electric vehicle battery tax subsidies will be released next week under Biden's climate change law. ($1 = 1,297.5000 won) Source: Reuters

India / Japan

ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel India JV signs $5 bln loan deal with Japanese banks Bengalaru, March 31, 2023 - ArcelorMittal SA (MT.LU) on Friday said its Indian steelmaking joint venture with Asian peer Nippon Steel Corp (5401.T) has entered into a $5 billion loan deal with a consortium of Japanese lenders. The proceeds would be used to fund the expansion of the JV's annual steelmaking capacity at its Hazira plant in India to 15 million tonnes from 9 million tonnes, the European steelmaker said in a statement. The expansion would include the development of downstream rolling and finishing facilities for a string of sectors including defence, automotive and infrastructure, and add 60,000 jobs, it said. The JV, called AM/NS India, is owned by AMNS Luxembourg Holding SA, in which ArcelorMittal holds a 60% interest and Nippon Steel the rest. The Japanese banks include Japan Bank for International Cooperation, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Mizuho Bank, Mizuho Bank Europe NV. Source: Reuters 79 |

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Middle East

Opinion | The Chinese dragon occupies America’s place in the Middle East

Cairo, March 22, 2023 - One of the biggest and most important repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war is closing the curtain on a unipolar world and establishing a new multipolar world. Thus, for the first time, we find the Chinese dragon moving from neutrality to positive action in political issues. A few days ago, Beijing was the incubator and platform for announcing the historic agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to end tension and resume relations, which have been in crisis since the 1970s. Immediately after that, the Chinese president announced his visit to Moscow to launch an initiative to start negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to settle the conflict there, which led to a sharp decline in all economies of the world. 80 |

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In fact, the Saudi Iranian agreement came as a surprise to everyone, including the United States of America, which did not expect such a quick step. Therefore, confusion was the master of the situation for the West in dealing with the new Chinese dynamism, as it jumped at rapid steps in issues that were described as being historically within the scope of American hegemony. Southern Europe, Southern Asia, Middle East North Africa

As usual, diplomacy in the White House dealt with the matter emotionally. Thus, the American decision-maker did not find anything to respond to the Chinese leap into the heart of the American spheres of influence except to raise the issue of sending nuclear submarines to Australia. This deal, frozen for nearly two years, was essentially a submarine deal contracted by French companies for the Australian military. However, Washington jumped on its ally France and seized the deal directly, which caused an acute crisis between the White House and the Elysee Palace. After that, the deal was placed in the drawers to please Beijing first, and Paris second. Therefore, Washington revived the deal a few days ago, in a quick and urgent response to rein in Chinese diplomacy, which seeks to occupy its role in international crises. For more than half a century, Beijing has relied on the principle of international neutrality. In fact, Beijing was distancing itself from any conflicts, whether external or even those on its borders. Even the issue of recovering Hong Kong Island from British sovereignty was dealt with too quietly. In the past, the Chinese role was limited to the economic aspect, and it is not surprising that in less than 10 years it has become one of the strongest economies in the world, even in Africa, which was a hotbed for the Americans and Europeans, who woke up 81 |

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after losing more than half of their investments in the brown continent in favour of the Chinese! Historically, China was not as dynamic as the political one we see today, as it has always been confined to its Asian circle, suffering from the Russian bear sitting above it, and to the east from Japan, its historical enemy. This is in addition to its border dispute with India and its war to recover its stolen islands from the British crown, and to extend its control over the China Sea. What is certain is that the Chinese decided to get involved globally and become a dominant political, economic, and military force that has a role in drawing the map of the world in the future through a multipolar world created by the Russian-Ukrainian war. But the real crisis that still haunts the Chinese is energy. As much as they possess effective technology, water sources, basic raw materials, and a labour force that is still relatively cheap, they do not actually have the main engine to operate all of that system. China almost depends on more than 70% of Gulf oil, and this percentage fluctuates up and down in parallel with the size of its share of Russian oil, which will certainly depend on the changing relations between Beijing and Moscow. This is especially when they move from the stage of conformity corresponding to the current occurrence to the stage of compatibility and also disagreement in the future when the multipolar system stabilizes. This matter greatly weakens the expected Chinese role, and always makes it vulnerable to those who have the upper hand in the warm waters’ region (the Arabian Gulf). This is the reason why it led to the reconciliation between the two largest poles and the largest oil and gas producers in the Gulf – Saudi Arabia and Iran – to ensure the continuity of gas and oil supplies to it. Indeed, what remains depends on China’s ability to resist the coming wave from America and the West, which aims to confine it again within its borders and curb it politically, while acknowledging its effective economic role globally. Therefore, we will see desperate attempts to put pressure on Beijing, starting with reviving the submarine deal with Australia, igniting border conflicts with India, granting unprecedented military aid to Taiwan, and ending with Washington’s military attempts in the China Sea… Will the Chinese dragon stand up to its competitors?

Source: DAILY NEWS Egypt - by Dr. Hatem

Sadek: Professor at Helwan University

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MENA / United States / Switzerland

What the experts anticipate for the MENA region after 3 US banks collapsed, Credit Suisse crisis Dubai, March 17, 2023 - The collapse of three US banks and the Credit Suisse crisis escalation came at a critical time as the global economy has not fully recovered from the COVID-19 ramification and is still struggling to weather the Russian-Ukrainian war’s fallouts. Investors panicked when the California-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) suddenly collapsed earlier in March, marking the first major bank failure since 2008. A few days after the SVB crisis shattered the stock markets, Signature Bank, a New York-based bank also shuttered suddenly, highlighting several concerns of challenging times. Also, California-based crypto-focused firm Silvergate Capital Corporation announced on March 8 that it is ending operations and liquidating its Silvergate Bank. Official data shows that 539 US banks have collapsed since 2008, with their combined assets surpassing $1 trillion. Yet, 2023's three bank failures, with total assets of $333.5 billion, are the second largest after 2008, which witnessed the failures of 25 banks with total assets of $373.6 billion. Forbes Middle East explores the experts on the recent US bank failures and their impacts on the Middle East region. But what happened? The tragedy started on March 8, 2023, when SVB—a lender to technology startups— announced it had sold $21 billion in securities at a loss of $1.8 billion and would seek to raise $2.25 billion in the capital. SVB was already facing a problem of deposit withdrawals as many startups, which have suffered a decline in valuations, wanted to pull money out of SVB, to finance their operations amid interest rate hikes challenges. Some venture capital funds, like Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, recommended client companies withdraw money from SVB due to worries about the bank's stability. In the wake of SVB's downfall, other banks suffered as investors and analysts looked for potential issues like those SVB encountered. 83 |

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As of December 31, 2022, SVB’s total assets touched $211.8 billion while total deposits reached $173.1 billion. Image by Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com

Signature Bank suffered because of a bet on crypto, but board member and former congressman Barney Frank said the final blow to the bank was “an SVB-generated panic.” The share price of Credit Suisse hit a new record low of $1.7 during Wednesday trading. The bank sought to stave off concerns about its liquidity by exercising an option to borrow $53.75 billion (CHF 50 billion) from the Swiss National Bank. Concerns about Credit Suisse’s financial health began to rise earlier this week after its key shareholder, the Saudi National Bank, ruled out injecting more funds into the bank due to "regulatory and statutory" reasons. Regional risks The risk faced by Middle Eastern banks arising from exposures to the collapsed American banks are "very simple,” Wadah Al Taha, Investment Advisor at Gulf Elite Consultants, told Forbes Middle East. Kuwait Finance House (KFH) announced that its exposure to SVB is estimated at $1.2 million, but this exposure does not have a material impact on its financial position. 84 |

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Likewise, the National Bank of Kuwait Group (NBK) revealed that its exposure to SVB amounts to only $4.9 million, which is a “minimal” amount and outside the budget, and therefore, there is no impact on the financial position of the group. Wadah Al Taha, Investment Advisor at Gulf Elite Consultants

Al Taha noted that the biggest risk resulting from the collapse of three US banks is the “fever of withdrawing deposits from banks" due to concerns of losing them and the fall in the confidence of the banking sector, like what happened with Signature Bank. The effects of the recent American bank failures will extend to India, due to the exposure of many startups to SVB, adding that the UK also sought to overcome the crisis with HSBC's acquisition of the SVB branch in the UK, according to Al Taha. As of December 31, 2022, SVB’s total assets touched $211.8 billion while total deposits hit $173.1 billion. Reaction from central banks Several regional central banks hurried to announce their relationships with SVB to assure the investors. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) denied any negative repercussions on the country's banking sector due to the collapse of SVB as the local banks don’t have any transactions with the US bank in any form like deposits, investments, or financial transactions. Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) assured that the local banks’ exposure to SVB is extremely insignificant, adding that the banking system is stable and resilient, supported by ample capital buffers. “The picture will become clearer during the next few days, as the credit rating agencies put other US banks under review to reduce the rating,” Al Taha noted. Moody's expects the impact on the banks outside the US would be "small," confirming that the US banking sector is currently under pressure due to the Federal Reserve taking a path aimed at further tightening monetary policy, according to a report emailed by the rating agency to Forbes in response to queries. Over the past few days, the US authorities have been trying to reassure the depositor's concerns, as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced protecting all the SVB deposits unlike its regular protection for deposits up to $250,000. 85 |

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FDIC mentioned on March 13 that depositors would have full access to their money at any time. Al Taha described FDIC’s decision as "the most important preventive decision" taken by the US to deal with the crisis. However, he stated that the US stocks’ recent plunge resulted from the "anxiety control " over investors. According to S&P Global, most of the rated banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region can manage the contagion risk from the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank, adding that the GCC's rated banks had exposure of 4.6% of assets and 2.3% of liabilities to the US at year-end 2022. Regional startups “Most startups have several bank accounts. SVB is not the only account they have. So, they could move the money from SVB to other banks,” Youssef Salem, CFO at the Nasdaq-listed company SWVL, told Forbes Middle East. There is no material impact of the SVB’s collapse on the Middle East-based startups as depositors will have access to their money as per the joint statement by Treasury, Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) earlier this week. Most affected are other banks in the US that have some similarities to SVB and hence investors are worried about, Salem noted, adding that First Republic Bank is an example as its share price plunged from $115 on March 8, 2023, to $34.3 on March 16. “I think that the US banks SVB and Silvergate and potentially other banks have a relatively high exposure to longer-dated US bonds, tech and crypto sectors compared to the wider US banking sector and hence the collapse case is specific to them rather than systematic to the whole industry,” added Salem. Opportunities Despite the challenges, experts see the light at the end of the tunnel as well. Salem believes that there is an opportunity for the Middle East for both brick-and-mortar as well as digital banks to simplify and accelerate the onboarding process for start-ups and SMEs to act as an alternative banking relationship for Middle East entities looking to move their assets back to the region. Mark Chahwan, cofounder and CEO of Sarwa, a UAE-based investment platform, told Forbes Middle East that startups that only banked with one bank will spread their assets across large banks, adding that the crisis will result in “Better risk management, treasury and due diligence, even for banks.” Source: Forbes ME 86 |

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Jordan / United Kingdom

Standard Chartered agrees to sell business in Jordan Bank said in April that it was seeking to narrow its focus to faster-growing markets in the region, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Dubai, March 26, 2023 - Standard Chartered plans to sell its Jordanian business to Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB), the two parties said on Sunday, as the emerging markets-focused lender presses ahead with plans to exit seven markets in Africa and the Middle East. The bank entered into an agreement with AJIB, subject to central bank approval, which will see Standard Chartered’s corporate, commercial, and institutional banking, consumer lending and private banking businesses migrated to AJIB. All Standard Chartered Bank employees in Jordan will be transferred to AJIB, it said an emailed statement. Standard Chartered’s Africa and Middle East CEO Sunil Kaushal said the agreement is aligned with the bank’s global strategy “to deliver efficiencies, reduce complexity, as well as redirect resources within the Africa Middle East region to areas with the greatest potential to drive scale, grow and better support clients.” AJIB said the purchase falls within the Jordanian lender’s strategy to grow its market share in the country, which continues to grow after it acquired HSBC’s banking business in Jordan in 2014 and National Bank of Kuwait’s banking business in Jordan in 2022. Standard Chartered in April 2022 said it plans to leave seven markets, consisting of Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. The bank said at the time it was seeking to exit markets where it is sub-scale and narrow its focus to faster-growing markets in the region, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Source: ARAB NEWS

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Saudi Arabia

Retail luxury sector in Saudi Arabia is fast evolving, says Harrods MD Michael Ward said that Harrods is privileged to have the loyalty of some customers who have shopped with them for their whole lifetime, and who may even be second or third generation patrons Riyadh, March 26, 2023 - When it comes to retail luxury, very few people in the world can match the understanding that Michael Ward, the managing director of Harrods, has of this exclusive market segment. As the head of the iconic British luxury department store, which attracts 15 million shoppers each year, he undoubtedly occupies one of the most influential and exciting roles in luxury retail. Since joining the business, Ward has embarked on a program of significant development, enabling Harrods to become the extremely successful retail model it is today. He was recently in Saudi Arabia and shared his wealth of knowledge at the 9th edition of Retail Leaders Circle Middle East and North Africa Summit held in Riyadh earlier this month.

At Harrods, rewards members gain exclusive access to an array of benefits and earn points as they spend 88 |

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The two-day annual event brought together all industry players in the retail sector from international brands to local franchise partners under one roof. In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Ward said the retail sector in Saudi Arabia was fast evolving. “The integration of digital experiences with physical stores in Saudi malls was a key theme at the Retail Leaders Circle MENA Summit and with a number of next-generation mall developments currently underway in the Kingdom, international retail will no doubt in the future be learning from how these have incorporated digital technologies and immersive experiences,” he said. Asked how existing malls in Saudi Arabia can keep pace with the hyper-competitive landscape, Ward replied: “The future of brick-and-mortar retail is experiential – whether that is providing dining or wellness services or the more creative and immersive experiences, all retailers need to be challenging themselves on how they delight and reward the customer in order to remain competitive. “Innovative collaborations should be considered as they can play an important role in creating first-class experiential retail.” Personalization is key Ward went on to say that luxury retailers in the Kingdom who are keen to personalize shopping experiences for individual customers can take a lesson or two from Harrods, which is renowned for the service it offers to its customers, whether that is provided by a member of its team on the shop floor or through its personal and private shopping services. “What we are now challenging ourselves on is how do we provide that digitally, whether that is harrods.com or virtual personal shopping services,” he explained. “Our objective is that however they shop, customers always experience the same exemplary and personalized service that they expect of Harrods. This ability to personalize the shopping experience beyond face-to-face interactions is a key challenge for the luxury industry today.” Reflecting on how the luxury retail sector in the Kingdom can improve the premium shopping experience, Ward said truly understanding customers is essential.

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Michael Ward, the managing director of Harrods

Michael Ward: Nurturing loyalty has always been at the heart of our customer acquisition and retention strategy “At Harrods we have invested significantly in the last two years in our Single View of Customer,” he revealed. “This allows us to understand a customer’s buying journey from thousands of available data points, allowing us to make strategic decisions and engage with our customers at the right moment, through the most relevant channels and with the most engaging and valuable content, expanding the customer journey and importantly improving the customer experience.” With regard to building further value through experience and loyalty, Ward said that Harrods is privileged to have the loyalty of some customers who have shopped with them for their whole lifetime, and who may even be second or third generation patrons. 91 |

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“Nurturing loyalty has always been at the heart of our customer acquisition and retention strategy,” he explained. “Today our Harrods Rewards scheme, which has been in place since 2008, plays a big role in winning and keeping customer loyalty.” Ward added: “Rewards members gain exclusive access to an array of benefits and earn points as they spend. And three quarters of our trade in 2022 came from Harrods Rewards customers. What this provides is a vast quantity of customer insights allowing us to ultimately provide better experiences for our customers.” Key luxury retail trends Moving forward, what are the key global trends in retail that Saudi Arabia should be ready to embrace? “Looking at luxury retail specifically, we see two trends shaping the industry,” Ward responded. “Firstly, a demand for unique experiences that delight the customer and secondly, a demand for rarity and exclusivity.” “At Harrods, we have fortunately been well positioned to capitalize on both these trends,” he continued. “Our ever more creative pop-ups and unique brand collaborations mean every visit to the store can still feel like a new experience and secondly, we are able to bring together the rarest items under one roof with soughtafter products that are exclusive to Harrods.” With regard to innovations that could help change the retail landscape in the Kingdom, Ward explained that what machine learning and artificial intelligence can do for retail is a key question being asked by the industry globally, and it will no doubt bring changes in every country. “At Harrods, we are using machine learning currently as part of our SVC to help analyze immense quantities of data and there will undoubtedly be more and more use cases in the future,” he said. Talking of shopping habits of Saudi customers at the Harrods store, Ward said most luxury fabrics are extremely popular with their customers from the Kingdom. “We see the rarity and exclusivity of products also act as an important factor in their shopping choices,” he added. Harrods, which has a longstanding relationship with Middle East customers, continues to shape a vision of modern luxury for generations to come. By all accounts, there is much to learn from this iconic department store as Saudi Arabia sets new benchmarks in luxury retail in the region. Source: ARAB NEWS

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Saudi Arabia / South Korea

Aramco and Samsung sign MoU for localising 5G technology in Saudi Arabia The collaboration will start with private network development in the country

Saudi Aramco is to partner with Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics to localise the industrial 5G technology ecosystem in the kingdom. The collaboration will start with development of private networks in the country. The two have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the proposed partnership plans. The proposed collaboration aims to contribute to the digital transformation of various industrial sectors in Saudi Arabia, such as energy, petrochemical, and manufacturing by leveraging advanced 4G and 5G technologies capable of providing secure, fast and reliable communication to meet critical business requirements of industries. The MoU follows the recent launch of Aramco Digital Company, which aims to accelerate the digital transformation in the kingdom, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Source Arabian Business 93 |

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United Arab Emirates

DP World in top 5 overseas investors since 2012 Logistics company invested $320m in the last year

DP World is an Emirati multinational logistics company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It specialises in cargo logistics, port terminal operations, maritime services and free trade zones

Dubai, March 26, 2023 - DP World has invested more than $10 billion in the global logistics sector since 2012, Emirates News Agency has reported. The figures make the UAE-based company one of the top five overseas investors during the time period, according to the most recent foreign direct investment data. Despite the demand for logistics services slowing, along with the global economy, DP World invested $320 million in the last year. Other companies in the top five include Amazon, and Denmark’s AP Moller Maersk, making DP World the only company in the group not based in the US or Europe.

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DP World CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said: “The data shared by ‘FDI Intelligence’ demonstrates where we stand globally within the logistics sector, not only in the last year but consistently over the last 10 years. Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO at DP World

“DP World’s companies touch people’s lives around the world every day. Sometimes it is tangible, and sometimes we are in the background, making sure people and businesses get the goods they require. “Our infrastructure opens untapped trade opportunities, grows economies and makes goods more affordable. “Investing in developing economies helps trade go further, facilitates economic growth, attracts foreign investment and generates thousands of jobs — raising the quality of life for everyone.” According to a study in January commissioned by DP World and led by Economist Impact, 96 percent of companies are changing their supply chains as a result of geopolitical events. One of DP World’s priorities in 2022 was to expand its partnerships in order to realize this trade potential. It strengthened its partnership with India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund to raise about $300 million, and it established a new platform with British International Investment to accelerate work in Africa. The African continent has been a key focus area, with the construction of the Port of Ndayane in Senegal marking the start of a $1 billion investment. Plans are also in the works to expand the capabilities of operations at Caucedo in the Dominican Republic, while the Callao Port expansion in Peru, when completed later this year, will reportedly create one of the single largest terminals in South America. Another popular investment destination has been the UK. DP World has invested £2 billion ($2.44 billion) in the UK over the last decade, supporting thousands of jobs, WAM reported. Source: ARAB NEWS

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Oman

Oman population passes 5m Oman has more than 5 million people living in it, a five-fold increase in 40 years Oman population 2023: Oman has more than 5 million people living in it

The population of Oman has passed 5m, according to information compiled by the National Centre for Statistics and Information. The rapidly rising population has surged by more than 60 per cent since a national census taken in 2010. Omani nationals are the highest number, constituting 57.62 per cent of the population, with expat residents making up the remaining 42.38 per cent. Oman population 2023 According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information, Oman’s total population is 5,000,772. This comprises 2,881,313 citizens and 2,119,459 residents. The National Centre for Statistics and Information figures include all alive nationals holding an official valid document registered in the National Civil System, or even expired but for less than ten years. Expat population numbers include all residents holding valid visas and their families. Khalfan Al Shuaili, Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, has previously forecast that the country expects its population to hit 8m by the year 2040. The Sultanate had just 1m people living there in 1980, meaning the population has increased five-fold in a little over 40 years. Source: Arabian Business

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Nigeria

From catfish to cassava: Seven Nigerian agribusiness entrepreneurs to watch Abuja, March 13, 2023 - Nigeria’s agribusiness and food industry is undergoing a transformation, with a new generation of businesspeople creating products that leverage the country’s vast agricultural resources. We highlight seven Nigerian entrepreneurs making a name for themselves in the agribusiness and food industry. 1. Supplying Nestlé and Unilever with cassava products Psaltry International is a Nigerian cassava processing company founded in 2005 by Yemisi Iranloye. The company produces food-grade starch, high-quality cassava flour and sorbitol which it sells to clients such as Unilever, Nestlé, Nigerian Breweries and Promasidor. The company’s challenges include raw materials and funding, with banks often failing to understand the industry’s funding cycle. Smallholder farmers delivering cassava to Psaltry

International’s factory.

2. L&L Foods adds value to groundnut industry with branded snacks

Foods produces a range of roasted groundnut products

Ladipo Lawani and his partner, Lanre Ladipo, established L&L Foods in 2015, a Lagos-based food processing and packaging company that produces a brand of groundnut snacks called Mr Ekpa. L&L Foods aims to become the market leader in the Nigerian groundnut industry by L&L adding value to the unbranded and informally packaged roasted groundnuts that currently dominate the market.

The company currently works with over 80 distribution companies responsible for getting Mr Ekpa products into tens of thousands of small mom-and-pop shops across the country. L&L Foods invests in the entire value chain by working with about 1,500 groundnut farmers in Kwara State. 97 |

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3. Nigeria’s Agricorp: Unlocking the potential of ginger exports Agricorp International is a Nigerian company that specialises in the processing and export of ginger. The company was founded by Kenneth Obiajulu, who saw an opportunity to address inefficiencies in the system that were preventing Nigeria from fully exploiting its potential in ginger production. Agricorp’s focus is on connecting farmers, financial institutions, and markets to produce high-quality ginger that can be exported globally. The company buys from over 5,000 smallholder farmers and processes and packages the ginger at its processing plant in Kaduna. Its biggest export markets are South Africa, India, Morocco and Dubai. 4. Setting up a catfish farming and processing business in Nigeria Osky Catfish Hatchery Grow-out & Processing Facility, located near Akure in southern Nigeria, grows and dries catfish for both domestic consumption and international export. Femi Eniola, who returned to Nigeria in 2018, set up the business after training in the Philippines, where he learned that they were using catfish bred in Nigeria. Osky controls the whole value chain, from hatching to growth and processing, and uses an oven to dry the catfish. The business processes around four tonnes of fresh catfish per week. 5. ReelFruit: Bringing healthy snacks to Nigeria ReelFruit is a Nigerian-based company that specialises in producing a variety of snacks made from locally sourced fruits and nuts. Founder Affiong Williams was inspired to start the business after realising the lack of healthy snack options in Nigeria. ReelFruit sources its raw materials from Nigerian farmers and processes them using modern technology to create a range of snacks, including dried fruits, nut mixes and granola. The company has since grown to become one of the leading healthy snack brands in Nigeria, with products sold in major supermarkets and online platforms across the country. 98 |

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6. Growing a smoothie business in Nigeria Olubunmi Otufowora, a pharmacist with an MBA from the University of Lagos, is the founder and CEO of Boomsky Smoothies in Nigeria. The company has experienced steady growth since its humble beginnings in the founder’s kitchen. Despite facing cold-chain challenges, Boomsky has expanded its production and sales channels, supplying preservative-free smoothies and juices to over 50 outlets in Lagos State. With increasing demand for healthy living, post-Covid-19, and convenience, Boomsky plans to continue its expansion outside of Lagos State in the future. 7. Local ingredients power Nigerian infant food brand Baby Grubz Nigerian entrepreneur Seun Sangoleye founded infant food company Baby Grubz to offer natural and nutritious baby food based on traditional recipes. Using rice, sweet potatoes, fish, beans and other local products, the business produces two tonnes of baby food a month. Sangoleye aims to reach 20 tonnes a month by 2025, and to become an African-based multinational company. Sangoleye faces challenges to expand production, including logistics, infrastructure, and funding. Baby Grubz anticipates strong growth opportunities via the African Continental Free Trade Area. Source: How we made it in Africa

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New targets for wind, solar and nuclear

Made in Europe In order to avoid a dangerous dependence on China, the EU Commission wants to set production targets for solar cells, wind turbines, batteries and heat pumps for the member states.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission, wants to promote domestic climate-neutral technologies.

Brussels, March 9, 2023 - By 2030, the EU should be able to produce 40 percent of its annual demand for emission-free technologies itself, the EU Commission writes in a draft for the "Green Deal Industrial Plan". Authority head Ursula von der Leyen had announced the legislative proposal in January in order to strengthen Europe's position in global competition. 100 |

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Particularly ambitious are the targets for batteries and wind turbines: in these areas, the EU is aiming for an 85 percent EU is aiming for a self-sufficiency rate of 85 percent. In the production of photovoltaics, on the other hand, the Commission is content with 40 percent, the European solar industry has been decimated by low-cost Chinese suppliers over the past ten years. EU to be less dependent internationally China is explicitly mentioned in the draft law. "The EU is highly dependent on concentrated imports of certain net-zero technologies and their components," the Commission argues, citing "photovoltaic technologies and their components" from China as an example. In this area, Chinese imports have so far covered part of Europe's entire demand. In the case of heat pumps and wind turbines he Commission warns that Europe's position in global competition is deteriorating. Concerns about falling behind in the battle for the green industries of the future are also fuelled by the US government's subsidy offensive, the "Inflation Reduction Act". The American law is also designed to reduce dependence on China. It provides attractive tax credits and could siphon off investments from the investment from the EU, Europeans fear. The new law is now to include a requirement that states invest a minimum amount of to invest. This is to be defined as a share of the revenue from CO₂ emissions trading. Various member states have already spoken out against such a relaxation of state aid law, because they fear a distortion of competition within Europe. At the same time, the Commission is urging that approval procedures be speeded up. In exceptional cases, regular approval procedures should even be suspended altogether. Although the document mentions a new financing instrument, but it not yet established. Such a "sovereignty fund" is to be created later, it says. Nuclear power on a par with wind and solar power Nuclear power and CO₂ capture have the same status in the draft law as solar energy, batteries, and wind power. All of these are defined as "strategic zero-emission technologies" that are to be advanced more quickly through the law. Also on the list are heat pumps, geothermal energy, green hydrogen, biomethane and electricity grids. In the past, there have often been disputes about the distinction between nuclear power and CO₂ capture. Both technologies are significantly more climate-friendly than the current burning of coal and gas. 101 |

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However, the mass capture and storage of CO₂ has not yet been tried and tested, which is why there were reservations about it for a long time, especially in Germany. In the case of nuclear power, the problem of final storage for radioactive waste has still not been solved. Details of the draft may still change before the EU Commission presents it. This is to be the case on 14 March. After that, the European Parliament and EU member states can make changes. Translated from German by M&A NEWS Source: Der Tagesspiegel

Why all eyes are on Zimbabwe’s Lithium industry Zimbabwe has been mining lithium for 60 years and the government estimates that its Chinese-owned Bikita mine, which is located 300 km south of the capital Harare, has about 11 million metric tons of lithium resources. In an effort to reclaim control of its mineral exports, Zimbabwe passed the Base Mineral Export Control Act in 2022, which banned the export of raw lithium. However, some Chinese-owned companies that are developing mines and processing plants in the country are exempt from this ban. With the world going electric, African countries will play a critical role in the electric vehicle battery supply chain. In 2009, China overtook the U.S. as Africa’s largest trading partner and accounted for 70 percent of global EV battery production capacity leaving the U.S. behind. CNBC explores Zimbabwe’s mining sector to find out why China has a stronghold on the country and why it matters to the U.S.. Watch the video:

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Do you know the difference between zero-carbon and carbon-neutral? Sustainability comes with its own terminology, and some terms are more similar than others. In this article, we explain the difference between carbon zero and carbon neutral. Carbon Zero We speak of Carbon Zero when there is no production of carbon emissions derived from a product or service, that is, no carbon was emitted from the first moment, so it is not necessary to capture or offset the carbon. For example, a domestic or commercial building that is off the grid, runs entirely on solar energy, and uses zero fossil fuels. Carbon neutral Being “carbon neutral” means removing as much CO2 from the atmosphere as we emit, that is, having a balance between carbon emission and carbon absorption from the atmosphere. To achieve carbon neutrality, the first thing we must do is reduce our carbon footprint through a change in habits and consumption. Your company can also achieve this goal. Initially, critical points in your carbon footprint must be identified and measures taken to reduce those emissions. Some actions can be: ▪

Keep energy usage to a minimum or switch to renewable energy, which do not produce carbon dioxide.

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Limit travel and promote other meeting alternatives, such as video conferencing.

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Promote electronic communications, reduce paper use and print only when absolutely necessary and try to reuse these prints.

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Recycle by properly sorting the waste.

However, in addition to reducing the carbon footprint, to become carbon neutral what you must do is offset the emissions that cannot be reduced. 103 |

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Cloud benefits: unlocking M&A Christopher Kummer over at the Institute for Mergers, Acqui-sitions and Alliances shares how cloud technology will be utilized in the M&A space. Cloud technology has come a long way from the days when data was stored on floppy disks to become a critical component of today’s IT architecture. Now, it is a technological fixture increasingly being utilised by M&A practitioners as a deal accelerant. Without doubt, time is of the essence in an M&A transaction. The earlier a deal can be executed, the sooner value can be realised. And with deals having the capacity to be complicated and fraught with peril, especially with respect to information technology, cloud services offer an expedient answer. Testifying to this is the Deloitte report ‘Cloud-powered private equity’, which states that cloud technologies present considerable opportunities in the face of an expanding, competitive market. The report goes on to say that while there is a learning curve for cloud implementation, with the right strategy and support, dealmakers may gain higher, more predictable margins on future acquisitions and divestitures. “Since a major component of the M&A process is the accumulation of vast amounts of data, usually from multiple sources and regions, the technological solutions offered by the cloud sector are extremely attractive,” says Christopher Kummer, president of the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances (IMAA). 104 |

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Christopher Kummer, president of the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances (IMAA).

“This, combined with the computational power built on top of the cloud technology, reduces the errors, risks, costs and time constraints of the M&A process. “It is important to note that this is already operational, meaning that the technology exists and is being implemented by a select number of enthusiasts and optimists,” he continues. “In order to fully benefit from the known advantages and ones to be discovered – which are equally as attractive if not more – the adoption process requires to be expedited by all sectors, M&A being one of the pioneers.” Cloud benefits There are various benefits – both direct and indirect – of using cloud technology throughout the M&A process. This technology can act as a cornerstone for any deal and allow dealmakers to both smooth out and speed up the transaction and its integration.

“With deals having the capacity to be complicated and fraught with peril, especially with respect to information technology, cloud services offer an expedient answer.” According to the KPMG report ‘How data cloud can disrupt M&A’, there are six key benefits of using data cloud technology for M&A, as outlined below. First, better diligence at lower cost in less time. This means greater volume and quality of analyses, with less time and effort required, as well as a lesser need for dedicated IT infrastructure for each bidder. Second, greater synergy sizing and planning. The result here is better cost benchmarks, more reliable revenue synergies, and more predictive pipeline and churn analyses. Third, less value leakage during integration. There are less handover issues from diligence and greater speed and quality of synergy capture, while additional upside potential is also easier to find. 105 |

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Fourth, accelerated performance improvement. Acquirers should find it faster to expand prior data sets from integration and easier to access external data. There is also a new ability to monetise proprietary data. Fifth, faster portfolio enhancement. Here, it is easier to share data among private equity (PE)-portfolio companies, or corporate business units, and with trusted channel partners. Lastly, easier to divest and separate. This involves deeper, more credible value propositions that are faster for buyers to evaluate. There is also less IT entanglement during separation. In the view of Mr Kummer, as a business expansion strategy, M&A is a great way for the markets to both compete and grow, while correcting existing mistakes and deficiencies. “The problem is not the strategy driving an M&A approach, as much as it is the implementation and excellent execution of it,” he suggests. “Among the key issues are the costs associated with the M&A process and the amount of time it takes to conduct due diligence.” “So much time and money go into this, that inadequate resources – time, money, manpower and know-how – are allocated to the aftermath process, the post-merger integration,” he continues. “Present cloud technologies offer primary benefits in the areas of accessibility of data, time savings and management, cost reductions, higher accuracy of mass computed data and ease of computational processing.” Ongoing shift While cloud technologies are indeed redefining how M&A practitioners approach the technology separations and integrations that result from transactions, it should be noted that many potential adopters remain tentative. “Success stories from enthusiasts and optimists of the cloud will help to persuade others in the M&A sector to also consider shifting to this technology,” believes Mr Kummer. “Once current concerns and bugs that exist are resolved, there will be less resistance around its implementation. “Just like any other technology, its future is always far more interesting than its early stages,” he concludes. “However, given the known benefits of the cloud, such as cost reductions and time savings, this alone should be enough for the M&A sector to seriously consider leveraging cloud services.” Source: BizNexus M&NEWS

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ESG investments - new industry standard? Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), also known as environmental, social, governance, is a framework designed to be embedded into an organization's strategy that considers the needs and ways in which to generate value for all organizational stakeholders (such as employees, customers and suppliers and financiers). ESG corporate reporting can be used by stakeholders to assess the material sustainability-related risks and opportunities relevant to an organization. Investors may also use ESG data beyond assessing material risks to the organization in their evaluation of enterprise value, specifically by designing models based on assumptions that the identification, assessment and management of sustainability-related risks and opportunities in respect to all organizational stakeholders leads to higher long-term risk-adjusted return. Organizational stakeholders include but are not limited to customers, suppliers, employees, leadership, and the environment. Since 2020, there has been accelerating pressure from the United Nations to overlay ESG data with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), based on their work, which began in the 1980s. The term ESG was popularly used first in a 2004 report titled "Who Cares Wins", which was a joint initiative of financial institutions at the invitation of UN. In less than 20 years, the ESG movement has grown from a corporate social responsibility initiative launched by the United Nations into a global phenomenon representing more than US$30 trillion in assets under management. In the year 2019 alone, capital totalling US$17.67 billion flowed into ESG-linked products, an almost 525 percent increase from 2015, according to Morningstar, Inc. Critics claim ESG linked-products have not had and are unlikely to have the intended impact of raising the cost of capital for polluting firms, and have accused the movement of greenwashing.

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Why an exit plan is critical when the time comes to sell Every business owner should have an exit plan in place. If you currently own a business, you know as every other successful entrepreneur knows that you will not be doing this forever. You want the value of the business to stay high so you can attract qualified buyers to take over ownership and expand whenever you decide it is time to sell. To ensure this happens, have an exit plan in place so you will be able to sell your business for the maximum value. Understanding an Exit Plan An exit plan is a series of continually evolving and interrelated plans to help ensure your business will continue to sustain and grow. When you are first putting together your exit plan, you must answer at least the following questions: • What are your preferred options and timing for exiting the business? For example, sale to outsider, sale or gift to family or employees, merger with a competitor, buyout by a partner, etc. • What family members are involved in the business and what are their objectives? • What are your financial objectives and retirement plans? • What is the value of your business now? • What key actions are necessary to increase business value and position it for sale? • What actions are necessary to manage the estate, trust, and tax issues you will face through retirement and beyond? • What changes in the business and what is your role needed now to preserve your quality of life and your passion for the business? 108 |

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Taking the Appropriate Measures This includes considering: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Family Health Goals Finances The Business

An exit plan should be action-oriented with implemented realistic measures. You must take a long-term approach when putting together an exit plan for your business, continually updating it, and assessing the progress of implementation against the planned timetable. Depending on the complexity of the business and the size, developing a comprehensive exit plan is a demanding task that generally takes 3 to 6 months to complete and as long as 2 to 4 years to implement. It will address a wide variety of intricate strategic, operational, financial, tax, human resource, and legal issues. Input should be gathered from key advisors, including your accountant, wealth planner, estate planner, business consultant, insurance broker, appraisers, tax and legal counsel and mergers and acquisitions advisor.

By Ran Kim, Owner and Managing Partner of VR Mergers & Acquisitions in Los Angeles, CA

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Not for greed Is your business for greed or for investing in the future of our communities? Every organisation, no matter how they may describe themselves, are ‘for-profit’ organisations, including those that presently describe themselves as not-for-profit or for-purpose. This is because every organisation requires a surplus (profit) that will enable them to grow and sustain itself. Without this outcome, they will falter and be unable to meet the needs of the community that they serve. But some organisations push the boundaries of profit to one of greed, which profoundly impacts themselves and the community. Active Knowledge Question: Is the goal of your organisation to maximise the profit it earns year after year? Today, tomorrow and the days after Making a surplus (profit), not spending more than you make over a period, whether in the short or medium term, is necessary for every organisation. 110 |

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Most carry some form of reserve or capital base, permitting a period in which deficits (losses) may be incurred but cannot be sustained indefinitely. New ventures and start-ups often attract a capital base that they use to fund initial losses in their formative years. In some instances, these losses continue for many years as they draw down on that capital, continue to invest in growth, and seek to bring themselves to a surplus. But no matter who they may be, this grace period does not last forever. The context that leadership places around profit is important to the enduring success of an organisation. Unfortunately, many organisations unintentionally tie themselves in a knot by either allowing greed to become the benchmark for their existence or, at the other extreme, describing themselves as a not-for-profit, allowing inefficiency to become the norm. Sustainable and competitive Peter Drucker, considered by many to be the founder of modern business management, is clear in his beliefs about the role and function of profit. Profit is not the reason for a business’s existence nor the sole measure of its performance. Classic economic theory, on the other hand, which underpins much of today’s business thinking, sets the foundations of profit being seen as the reward for the risk taker, supply-demand drives pricing, and profit maximisation is the goal of business leadership. Profit being what is left after deducting costs from revenue. In today’s market, where rising inflation is leading central banks to lift interest rates to drive down consumer demand in the belief that it will eventually force price reductions and, therefore, inflation, the inappropriateness of classic economic theory is most evident. Today’s inflation (price increases) was not seeded nor driven by consumer demand but rather by profit maximisation by sectors of the economy (think energy and finance). Again, evidenced by the record profits being reported by companies in these sectors. Economic theory celebrates that these companies are taking the opportunity of global uncertainty to extract additional profits from the marketplace. Back to Drucker, he would respond by saying that such an approach seeks to support the proposition that greed, the pursuit of profit maximisation, is an inherent human trait that cannot be contained or denied. Profit is a reality for every organisation, no matter how they may define themselves or their purpose. However, the role of that profit is not to fulfil insatiable greed but rather to invest in the organisation’s future sustainability by meeting future customer needs. 111 |

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But what about the shareholders? Well, their capital invested should and must attract an appropriate return, but not be used as the reason to profiteer. A final point is that in a competitive marketplace, the setting of profit as the purpose for an organisation’s existence will only cap the performance of that business and result in less profit than otherwise might be earned. Motive is pervasive in its impact on performance. The right motive magnifies and compounds competitive strength, whereas the wrong motive disperses and neutralises it. Symbiotic relationship There exists between businesses and the communities in which they work a natural symbiotic relationship. A relationship that, if understood and nurtured, will strengthen a community and significantly improve a business’s performance and capital value. Regretfully, most business leaders do not understand the true nature of this relationship. A well-run and managed business provides fulfilling employment to the community in which it exists. That community – being well remunerated and provided with vocations that meet their needs as humans – can support those businesses to grow and become more successful. Not just by buying their goods and services but by applying their combined talents and efforts to maximum effect in making that business competitive. Introduce profit-first as a motive, and then wages are seen as a cost to be reduced, self-interest, short-termism, and politics are suddenly prime, and the connection between the business and the community is broken. The business seeks to maximise its profit for its shareholders, and the community is only a potential source of workers and customers in the pursuit of profit. The community sees the business’s agenda and responds in kind. Many business leaders would see that the health, welfare, happiness and wellbeing of a local community is principally the responsibility of others, including the government, to which they pay taxes. Still, there is a much more complex relationship between businesses and communities. Of course, it is not simply the responsibility of businesses to support communities, but of communities to support their businesses. Imagine the difference between a happy, healthy and contented community and one which is angry, divided and frustrated. Which would you prefer to be connected with? Strategically, a symbiotic relationship does exist and should be a cornerstone of the long-term success of any business. However, a profit-first motive by businesses, and the acceptance of wealth as a key metric of personal success, undermines the integrity and importance of this relationship. 112 |

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Not for greed The questions to ask yourself as an organisational leader are: ▪ Do we seek to profiteer from the community by making profit our most important metric? ▪ Do we reward our team in a manner that makes profit the motive in all we do? ▪ Are our stakeholders, suppliers and partners motivated principally by profit? ▪ Are we comfortable in allowing profit to be the defining attribute of our brand? ▪ Do we shout out that we are for community wellbeing, a sustainable planet and a just world, but is that merely a marketing strategy and a means to more profit? ▪ Can l align the purpose and motive in our business with my values and principles as a person? Businesses live and thrive in communities that support them. Therefore, as a core purpose and activity, businesses must engage, nurture, and invest in their communities. Not at a superficial level but recognising that they exist through this relationship. A relationship not to be taken for granted nor seen merely as a means to more profit. Grow and strengthen this symbiotic relationship, grow the well-being of the community, and the business will be rewarded more than they ever thought possible. Is your business for greed or for investing in the future of our communities? An entirely new level of performance. Richard Shrapnel

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The 25 most valuable assets ranked by market cap What does “market cap” mean? The definition of market cap, or market capitalization, is “total value of a company's outstanding shares of stock, which include publicly traded shares plus restricted shares held by company officers and insiders.” How is market cap calculated? According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, to calculate market cap, you take the total number of a company’s outstanding shares and multiply that value by the company’s current stock price. So, if a company has 10 million shares and its current stock price is $50, the market capitalization would be $500 million. What does market cap tell you? Market cap is a measure of a company’s total size. As a company grows and becomes publicly traded, market cap provides a sense of just how valuable it is despite a vast diversification of ownership. You may hear companies being described as mega-cap, large-cap, mid-cap, small-cap, and micro-cap. The definition of market cap sizes varies, but generally, the parameters are as follows: • • • • •

Mega cap: Market value of $200 billion or higher Large cap: Market value ranging from $10 billion to $200 billion Mid cap: Market value ranging from $2 billion to $10 billion Small cap: Market value ranging from $250 million to $2 billion Micro cap: Market value of less than $250 million Why is market cap important? For starters, it provides investors a metric to gauge the current size of the company as well as the market’s perception of its potential success. This is because it reflects how much investors are willing to pay for a company’s stock. If a small but promising company has just emerged onto the stock market, investors may pay more for shares because they believe it will be lucrative in the long run. Market cap is also an indication of a company’s stability. Large-cap companies tend to be less susceptible to the market’s fluctuations than mid-cap and small-cap companies because they typically have deeper financial reserves to absorb losses and bounce back. 114 |

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So, is it good if market cap is high? Large-cap stocks do tend to be a safer bet, but smaller companies may have greater potential for quick growth and bigger returns. Overall, market cap helps investors choose stocks that suit their goals. It can also help you diversify your portfolio — if you invest in both large-cap stocks and small-cap stocks, you can manage risk and build a cushion for more risky plays. What is the most valuable asset by market cap? The answer to what asset has the highest market cap actually isn’t a company: Gold has the highest market cap in the world. The market cap of gold is a dazzling $12.732 trillion! Why is gold worth so much? The market value of gold is influenced by many factors, such as the rate of mining, jewellery demand, federal reserves, the value of currency, and market volatility. Is gold a good investment? While we can’t say whether gold is a good investment for you, historically, gold has maintained its value through market upheavals. Investing in gold is typically considered a hedge against inflation because it retains its value even when the buying power of government-issued (or fiat) currencies declines. That is why many investors scoop up gold during periods of inflation. Gold is also a fantastic asset to diversify your portfolio; the value of gold tends to increase when stock and bond values fall, and vice versa.

What are the most valuable companies by market cap? Here are the top 25 most valuable assets and biggest companies in the world by market cap: 1. Gold: $12.732 trillion ($1,930 per ounce) 2. Apple: $2.167 trillion ($136.86 per share) 3. Saudi Aramco: $1.887 trillion ($8.58 per share) 4. Microsoft: $1.785 trillion ($239.51 per share) 5. Silver: $1.351 trillion ($24.02 per ounce) 6. Alphabet (Google): $1.268 trillion ($98.48 per share) 7. Amazon: $983.34 billion ($96.39 per share) 8. Berkshire Hathaway: $676.47 billion ($306.76 per share) 9. Tencent: $481.02 billion ($50.32 per share) 10. Visa: $472.03 billion ($222.91 per share) 11. TSMC: $471.32 billion ($90.88 per share) 12. ExxonMobil: $463.64 billion ($112.58 per share) 13. UnitedHealth: $451.40 billion ($483.12 per share) 14. NVIDIA: $439.81 billion ($176.49 per share) 15. Johnson & Johnson: $438.55 billion ($167.74 per share)

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16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

LVMH: $425.98 billion ($850.14 per share) Tesla: $416.25 billion ($131.82 per share) Bitcoin: $412.22 billion ($21,387 per Bitcoin) JPMorgan Chase: $393.86 billion ($134.23 per share) Walmart: $377.06 billion ($139.82 per share) Meta Platforms (Facebook): $363.81 billion ($138.74 per share) SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust: $361.09 billion ($393.44 per share) Mastercard: $359.66 billion ($374.08 per share) Chevron: $348.71 billion ($180.34 per share) Kweichow Moutai: $348.71 billion ($277.59 per share)

Please note that these numbers were accurate as of Jan. 20, 2023. The market is constantly fluctuating, so be sure to check current numbers if you’re thinking of placing an investment. But since the market caps for these companies are so massive, they generally remain fairly stable. Source: Madison Trust

Well it’s St. Patrick’s Day and in the U.S. (but not so much in Ireland), it’s the day when we have parades and talk about “the luck of the Irish”. Well, that may or may not be a real thing and it doesn’t really matter because we all benefit from things that sort of “just happen” whether we call it luck, divine intervention, kismet, serendipity, or deus ex machina, it’ just the random walk of things that happen in the universe. It's not always logical or make sense but as my dad always says, “I’d rather be lucky than good.” For the sake of argument, let’s just call all of these things “luck.” That said, I thought I’d give a few examples of how I’ve was lucky very early in my career. • When I graduated from business school in 1988, I got my first job by answering an ad in the Wall Street Journal. On Tuesdays, the WSJ ran job listings and I cut one out (real paper, real scissors) and I sent in a resume and cover letter THROUGH THE MAIL with a stamp on it and lo and behold, some weeks later I got a call asking me to come in for an interview. Sparing you play-by-play, I was hired in the Valuation Services group at Arthur Young (now Ernst & Young) and in all the years since I have NEVER heard of anyone who actually got a job that way. 117 |

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• Although it was a “Big 8” accounting firm, My first boss had never been an accountant (nor have I) but he had a background in M&A so I was lucky in that the projects I got to work on from day 1 were real deals and I learned from the get-go about M&A, private equity and venture capital. I learned how deals are priced and structured and how “deal value” is very different from “statutory” or “tax-based” value. You could fill many books with that discussion (and they have) but I’ll leave it alone. Bottom line is that I got to do some very interesting stuff and was given tons of opportunities right off the bat. • Some years later, I got a call from a head hunter asking if I wanted to interview at an investment bank in the “emerging markets group”. I had ZERO idea what that meant but I said “sure.” I was interviewed by a British woman who became my next boss and when she asked me “So what do you know about emerging markets?”, my response was (I LITERALLY said this) “Well there’s not much to know, they’re still emerging.” She said I was being “cheeky” but apparently liked me because she hired me on the spot which began my career as an investment banker at Chemical/Chase/JPMorgan. I worked on deals first, in Latin America but eventually worldwide. Back in 1994, there weren’t a lot of constraints, so I got to structure some very complex and ground-breaking deals. If it had been just 10 years later, there is absolutely no way I would have been given that much responsibility. I’ll stop there because over the 34 years that I’ve been doing this stuff, I’ve been lucky again and again and it’s given me opportunities to learn things that I still apply today. I was once told “things get thrown in your path and it’s your job to not trip over them.” Look, I could list all the clients and deals I’ve gotten to work on, and it would be both a “who’s who” and a “rogues gallery” but I’ll leave it where it is for now. If you want to hear more, wait for the movie. Well that’s all I have to say about that. I apologize for being so self-indulgent. Now here are some words of wisdom from people who aren’t me: •

“I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

•

“Nothing is as obnoxious as other people's luck.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

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“The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” - Neil deGrasse Tyson 118 |

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