Broadcom-Vmware Deal Draws European Regulatory Attention, Rivian Pauses Mercedes-Partnered EV Van Plans For Europe, Credit Suisse Issued Loan On Suspicious Bills: Top Stories Monday, Dec. 12

Reuters

Broadcom's Vmware Draws More Regulatory Attention, This Time From EU

• U.S. chipmaker Broadcom Inc's (NASDAQ: AVGO) $61 billion Vmware, Inc (NYSE: VMW) deal could hit a roadblock with EU antitrust regulators poised to open a full-scale investigation into the deal.

• Broadcom pined for early EU approval of the deal by highlighting competition from Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google in the cloud computing market.

• Broadcom had a so-called state-of-play meeting with European Commission officials earlier this week.

• The EU competition enforcer will likely finish its initial deal scrutiny on December 20.

Mercedes-Benz Vans Plans To Build EV Plant In Poland

• Mercedes-Benz Group ADR (OTC: MBGYY) said its vans division is planning more than a €1 billion investment to build its first electric vans plant in Jawor, Poland.

• In this regard, Mercedes-Benz has signed a declaration of intent with the Polish government.

• The Jawor factory already produces combustion engines and batteries for Mercedes-Benz Cars.

Geely's EV Brand Zeekr Pursues $1B In US IPO

• Chinese automotive company Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd's (OTC: GELYY) (OTC: GELYF) premium electric car division, Zeekr, has filed for a U.S. initial public offering.

• The electric car brand expects to raise over $1 billion through its market debut.

• Zeekr filed for the IPO with U.S. regulators last week and aims to go public in the second quarter of 2023.

Air India Close To Order Upto 500 Jets From Airbus, Boeing

• Tata group-backed Air India is reportedly close to placing around 500 jetliners from Airbus SE (OTC: EADSY) (OTC: EADSF) and Boeing Co (NYSE: BA) to be delivered over the next decade.

• The order includes around 400 narrow-body jets and 100 or more wide-bodies as finishing touches are placed on the mammoth deal in the coming days.

• This deal could top $100 billion.

Financial Times

Credit Suisse Issued $140M On Suspicious Bills, Raising Questions On Risk Management Efforts

• Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) provided an emergency $140 million loan to Greensill Capital in October 2020, less than five months before it collapsed.

• Invoices issued by Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty Commodities and sold to Greensill formed part of the collateral for the loan.

• The commodities company is part of Gupta's GFG Alliance, which is being probed by the UK's Serious Fraud Office and French police over suspected fraud and money laundering.

Bloomberg

American Airlines And JetBlue Airways Tap Their Alliance Amid Antitrust Regulatory Opposition

• American Airlines Group, Inc (NASDAQ: AAL) and JetBlue Airways Corp (NASDAQ: JBLU) looked to add a wide variety of new nonstop destinations under their Northeast Alliance (NEA).

• The destinations are set to take off from New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) in 2023.

• U.S. antitrust regulators sought to dissolve the NEA.

• The U.S. challenged the arrangement as a virtual merger that could cost consumers over $700 million annually through higher fares.

TechCrunch

Uber Opposes Regulator Move For Boosting Fares Amid Driver Crisis, Surging Costs

• Uber Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: UBER) prosecuted the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) for approving a fare hike for ride-hail apps and taxi drivers amid driver shortage, rising operational costs, and higher inflation.

• TLC voted to increase the per-minute rates of ride-hail drivers by 7.42% and per-mile rates by 23.93% to attract more drivers to cater to the post-pandemic increasing demand.

Benzinga

Tesla Rival Rivian Pauses Plans To Make EV Vans In Europe With Mercedes-Benz

• Rivian Automotive Holding Inc (NASDAQ: RIVN) is not going ahead with a partnership it had earlier announced with Mercedes-Benz Group AG (OTC: MBGAF).

• Rivian said that it is pausing plans to produce commercial electric vehicle vans in Europe and, in the process, will not pursue a memorandum of understanding it signed with Mercedes-Benz in early September.

• The decision to scrap the partnership comes as Rivian deemed that focusing on consumer business and its existing commercial business represents the most attractive near-term opportunities to maximize shareholder value.

Binance's CZ Denies Market Hack After 'Abnormal' Price Movement Suspicions

• Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao — better known as "CZ" — has responded to suspicions about the "abnormal price movements" of certain trading pairs on the exchange.

• On Sunday, Binance noticed unusual price changes for certain trading pairs that included Sun Token (SUN/USD), Ardor (ARDR/USD), Osmosis (OSMO/USD), FUN Token (FUN/USD), and Golem (GLM/USD) tokens, and launched an investigation.

• Zhao declared that the alterations "look like market behavior" and were not caused by hacked accounts or stolen API keys.

Microsoft To Get 4% Stake, 10-Year Partnership In $2.8B Deal With London Stock Exchange: What You Should Know

• Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced an investment in London Stock Exchange Group plc (OTC: LNSTY) and a strategic partnership with the exchange.

• Microsoft said it has agreed to buy about a 4% equity stake in LSE through certain investment funds affiliated with a consortium comprising BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK) and Thomson Reuters. The share purchase, subject to customary antitrust and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in Q1 of 2023.

After 16 Years, Roche's Pharma Division Head Decides To Step Down

• Roche Holdings AG's (OTC: RHHBY) head of its pharmaceuticals division, Bill Anderson, has decided to leave after 16 years with the company.

• Bill Anderson would quit at the end of the year "to pursue opportunities outside of Roche," with a successor due to be named by March 2023, Roche said in a statement.

Logistics Firm Maersk Appoints Vincent Clerc As CEO

• Shipping company A.P. Moller Maersk (OTC: AMKBY) has appointed Vincent Clerc as the new Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2023.

• He will succeed Soren Skou, who has led the firm's transformation from a diversified conglomerate to an integrated logistics company.

• Clerc, at present, is the head of Maersk's Ocean & Logistics business.

Two Down With Sanofi Bowing Out From Horizon Buyout Talks, Amgen Agrees To Buy For $116.5/Share

• Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) has agreed to buy Horizon Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: HZNP), implying an enterprise value of approximately $28.3 billion, marking the largest healthcare merger of the year.

• Last week, Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) unit, Janssen, pulled out of the talks. Sunday, Sanofi SA (NASDAQ: SNY) said it couldn't agree on a price with Horizon.

Microsoft Snaps This Developer Of High-Speed Cables For Data Transmission

• Microsoft Corp scooped Lumenisity Limited, a leader in next-generation hollow core fiber (HCF) solutions.

• The financial terms of the transaction remain undisclosed.

• Microsoft can tap Lumenisity's HCF product for fast, reliable, and secure networking for global, enterprise, and large-scale organizations.

See more from Benzinga

• Credit Suisse Issued $140M On Suspicious Bills, Raising Questions On Risk Management Efforts

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