FT : DraftKings discussed bid for William Hill owner 888

DraftKings discussed bid for William Hill owner 888
Boston-based betting group held early stage talks with top 888 shareholders last summer

US betting group DraftKings discussed a bid for William Hill owner 888 over the summer with some of the struggling UK betting operator’s top shareholders, according to two people briefed on the talks.

The early-stage discussions, which took place in June and July, are a sign of the increasing dominance of US operators in the betting industry, and how their financial firepower may yet drive a further wave of consolidation in the sector.

DraftKings’ chief executive Jason Robins held talks with a group of 888 shareholders — FS Gaming — about making an all-stock offer for William Hill owner 888, the people said. Advisers were present on both sides.

FS Gaming, which includes industry veterans such as former GVC chief executive Kenny Alexander, was at the time a top-five 888 shareholder. Robins met with FS Gaming’s Lee Feldman, a former GVC chair, to discuss the takeover plans, including the possibility of appointing Alexander as 888 chief executive, the people said.

Despite the plans falling through, DraftKings’ interest in expanding internationally through a possible acquisition of 888 underlines the expansion ambitions of US betting operators at the top of the $9bn a year industry after a Supreme Court verdict opened up the sector five years ago.

888 has been widely viewed by analysts as a takeover target because of its languishing share price resulting from management upheaval, compliance problems and a recent profit warning.

DraftKings did not approach 888 directly. The talks took place while 888’s chair Lord Jonathan Mendelsohn, who had been hunting for a new chief executive since January, was separately holding discussions with FS Gaming about the top management role.

DraftKings walked away after Mendelsohn revealed in mid-July that the UK gambling regulator had placed 888’s licence under review over concerns about a longstanding tax bribery probe into GVC’s business dealings in Turkey during Alexander’s time as chief executive. Mendelsohn has since appointed former Fortuna chief executive Per Widerström as 888 chief executive.

Any bid would have valued the London-listed company at a significant premium to its market capitalisation, which reached £550mn while discussions were taking place, the people said. But the biggest hurdle to any deal would have been 888’s £1.7bn debt pile, left over from the acquisition of William Hill’s non-US business from Caesars Entertainment last year, they added.

Entain, the rebranded version of GVC following its takeover of Ladbrokes, has set aside £585mn to settle a deferred prosecution agreement relating to the tax bribery investigation into its former Turkish business.

In an interview following third-quarter results last week, DraftKings’ Robins declined to comment on any discussions about a takeover. He added: “888 is one we’re aware of, we’ve certainly watched it over the years, I know there’s been quite a twisty, turny story.” “I don’t even think 888 is up for sale at this point,” Robins said.

Responding to a Financial Times query about the talks, DraftKings said that the company was “focused on the massive US opportunity in front of us”.

“We speak to a variety of companies regarding various matters in the normal course of business, and it is our general policy not to comment on the specifics of any of those discussions,” it added.

In 2021, DraftKings made an £18.4bn cash-and-stock offer for Entain but walked away after eliciting little interest from Entain’s board. Las Vegas-based casino operator MGM Resorts International, which runs a US joint venture under the name BetMGM, also had a bid rejected for the Ladbrokes owner. MGM has since launched BetMGM in the UK this year using technology from Sweden-based betting app LeoVegas, which it acquired for $607mn last year.

DraftKings’ US betting app overtook that of rival FanDuel in August as the biggest by monthly revenues.

A top-10 888 shareholder told the FT they would have taken an all-stock offer from DraftKings “very seriously”.

“I would have had to at least hear them out,” the shareholder said. “888 can help backfill DraftKings with technology and knowhow, and in the long-run DraftKings wants to take over the world.”

FS Gaming and 888 declined to comment.

>>> US After Hours Summary: Busy earnings session; big names are DIS +2.8%, ARM

After Hours Summary: Busy earnings session; big names are DIS +2.8%, ARM -7.8%, CART +0.9%; PUBM +19.3%, CDNA +18.5%, APP +17.7%, AFRM +9.5%, DUOL +8.2%, ZIP +7.8%, TWLO +7.3% higher on earnings; CDLX -34%, MODG -17.7%, KRUS -16%, APPS -14.7% lower on earnings

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: PUBM +19.3%, CDNA +18.5%, APP +17.7% (also CFO to step down, names new CFO), BE +16.8%, RAMP +15%, PYCR +14.2%, SPCE +13.2%, NTRA +10.1%, AFRM +9.5%, TTGT +9.4%, DUOL +8.2%, ZIP +7.8%, VSAT +7.6%, TWLO +7.3%, ADMA +7.2%, COOK +7%, HUBS +6.7%, INFN +6.4% (also to delay 10-Q filing), JXN +6.4%, SILK +6.1%, CYRX +5.4%, CPRX +5.1%, LGND +5%, RGNX +4.9%, MARA +4.9%, SUPN +4.6%, MFC +3.9%, BGS +3.1% (also sells its Green Giant US shelf-stable vegetable product line to SENEA), DIS +2.8%, HBM +2.4%, KGS +2.1%, TTWO +1.8%, MGM +1.6% (also authorizes new $2 bln share repurchase program), RKLB +1.6% (also sets next electron launch window; also signs launch services agreement with DoD), ORA +1.3%, ENS +1.1% (also wins 50 unit order), CART +0.9%, GNK +0.7%, KGC +0.3%, HP +0.1%, JAZZ +0.1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: SPCE +13.2% (to cut 18% of its workforce), CNM +5.4% (to join S&P MidCap 400), PNT +1.2% (LLY extends tender offer to acquire PNT), TAK +0.8% (receives FDA approval for FRUZAQLA), PR +0.5% (stock offering by selling shareholders), MNST +0.3% (authorizes new $500 mln share repurchase program), LLY +0.2% (LLY extends tender offer to acquire PNT), DDOG +0.1% (expands strategic partnership with Google Cloud and integrates with Vertex AI)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: CDLX -34%, MODG -17.7%, KRUS -16%, APPS -14.7%, BIRD -14.2%, LAZR -10.1%, RVNC -9.7%, ASLE -8.3%, ARM -7.8%, CUTR -7.5%, PRA -6.1%, AMC -5.9%, DIOD -5.9%, ENV -5.8%, G -5.7% (also CEO to retire, names new CEO), UHAL -5.6%, OFIX -5.1%, ME -4%, DNA -3.3%, FLT -3%, LPSN -2%, ZD -2%, XENE -1.9%, EHTH -1.9%, CDE -1.7%, FNV -1.2%, BYND -1.1%, LYFT -1.1%, ASH -0.8%, JAMF -0.8%, STKL -0.8%, STR -0.7% (also increases dividend), IONQ -0.6%, CTVA -0.3%, GNW -0.3%, KNTK -0.3%, BTG -0.2%, FICO -0.1%, WOW -0.1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: ATRA -58.7% (presents data from Phase 2 EMBOLD trial of ATA188; did not meet primary endpoint), SMR -24.6% (SMR to terminate the Carbon Free Power Project), BILL -13.5% (nearing $1.95 bln deal for Melio, according to Bloomberg), CCCS -7.2% (50 mln share offering by Advent, includes concurrent stock repurchase), MYGN -4.4% (files mixed shelf securities offering; also $100 mln stock offering), LAW -2.1% (new licensing agreement with Fastcase), THR -2% (names new non-executive Chairman), NCLH -1.3% (stock offering), OR -1.2% (names new CEO, also reports earnings), KSS -1.1% (board chair to retire, names new board chair), FATE -0.4% (files $300 mln mixed shelf securities offering), MS -0.4% (wealth mgmt unit under scrutiny by Fed according to WSJ), SNAP -0.3% (laying off nearly 20 product managers, according to The Information), SENEA -0.1% (acquires Green Giant US shelf-stable vegetable product line from BGS), STN -0.1% (named as a supplier for two lots on South West Water framework)

FT : Turkey clashes with EU over stance on Hamas

Turkey clashes with EU over stance on Hamas
President Erdoğan has described group behind October 7 attack on Israel as a ‘liberation’ movement

The EU said it was in “complete disagreement” with Turkey’s stance on Hamas after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan referred to the Palestinian militant group behind the October 7 attack on Israel as a “liberation” movement.

The rebuke from the European Commission came in a report published on Wednesday that outlined “serious deficiencies” in the functioning of Turkey’s democratic institutions as well as the “deterioration of human and fundamental rights” in the country.

The tough language is the latest sign of how relations between Turkey and Europe remain fraught, even after Erdoğan appointed what many analysts saw as a more western-friendly cabinet following his election victory in May. The commission’s assessment of Turkey is a regular part of long-stalled EU accession talks with Ankara.

Erdoğan’s increasingly strong condemnation of Israel’s operations in Gaza, and consistent criticism of the support the Jewish state has received from western allies, has been a source of concern in European capitals as well as Washington, according to several diplomatic sources.

Erdoğan last month told members of his political party in parliament that “Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, but a liberation group, a mujahideen group that struggles to protect its lands and citizens”. The EU and the US consider Hamas a terrorist organisation.

The Turkish president reiterated those comments at a recent rally in Istanbul, where he slammed Israel as a “war criminal” for its bombardment of Gaza. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the Hamas-run enclave since the war broke out, according to Gazan officials.

“[Turkey’s] rhetoric in support to terrorist group Hamas following its attacks against Israel on 7 October 2023 is in complete disagreement with the EU approach,” the commission said. The Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,400 people, according to Israeli officials.

Turkey’s foreign ministry responded to the commission’s report by saying it was “necessary to remind the EU, which stands in the wrong place of history in the face of a civilian massacre . . . that policies based on universal values, international law and humanitarian principles should be valid not only for Ukraine . . . but all over the world, including the Middle East.”

The commission’s assessment of Turkey also warned of “backsliding” in Turkey’s democratic institutions and on fundamental human rights. This included concern about Turkey’s “refusal to implement certain European Court of Human Rights rulings”.

The legislative wing of the Council of Europe, which oversees the ECHR, last month issued a censure after a top Turkish court upheld a lifetime sentence against the philanthropist Osman Kavala on charges of attempting to overthrow the government. The ECHR has previously called on Turkey to release Kavala, saying it found no “facts, information or evidence” to justify his detention. 

Turkey hit back strongly, saying the Council of Europe was guilty of a “historical mistake” and accusing the organisation of “instrumentalising judicial processes for politics”.

The commission report also said that while the Turkish general election won by Erdoğan in May had “offered voters a choice between genuine political alternatives and voter participation remained high . . . biased media coverage and the lack of a level playing field gave an unjustified advantage to the incumbent”.

It also said: “Political pluralism [in Turkey] continued to be undermined by the targeting of opposition parties and individual members of parliament.”

Turkey’s foreign ministry said “we completely reject the baseless allegations and unfair criticisms in the report,” especially as it relates to local politics and human rights.

The row over the commission’s report on Wednesday came at a key moment in Turkey-Europe relations, with the EU and the US pushing Turkey to approve Sweden’s accession to the Nato military alliance. Erdoğan has sent the measure to parliament, which is controlled by a coalition led by his political party, but it has yet to leave the foreign policy committee, which must approve it before it is voted on by the country’s legislators.

Turkey, which is attempting to lure fresh western capital for its economic overhaul, is also lobbying heavily for EU visa liberalisation for its citizens. 

Le Monde : De Stéphane Guillon à Guillaume Meurice, ces humoristes de France Int

De Stéphane Guillon à Guillaume Meurice, ces humoristes de France Inter qui créent la controverse
Comme Guillaume Meurice, plusieurs chroniqueurs de France Inter ont été désavoués ou sanctionnés par leur direction pour avoir franchi la ligne jaune dans leurs sketchs.

En traitant le premier ministre israélien, Benjamin Nétanyahou, de « sorte de nazi, mais sans prépuce » dans le cadre de l’émission « Le Grand Dimanche soir », Guillaume Meurice a suscité le « malaise » parmi les auditeurs de France Inter, a reconnu la directrice de la station, Adèle Van Reeth. Un « humour (…) discutable », a estimé cette dernière, car traitant de nazi « un juif à la tête d’un Etat juif dont les habitants viennent de subir une attaque terroriste ». L’humoriste, qui a reçu un avertissement officiel qu’il entend contester en justice, se réclame de la liberté de ton de Charlie Hebdo. « L’esprit Charlie, ce n’est pas une poubelle qu’on sort du placard quand ça vous arrange, pour y jeter ses propres cochonneries », a répliqué Riss, le directeur de l’hebdomadaire.

Avant Guillaume Meurice, sa comparse Charline Vanhoenacker avait elle aussi suscité les critiques pour une reductio ad hitlerum d’une personnalité juive – Eric Zemmour. L’humoriste de France Inter, qui animait alors l’émission quotidienne « Par Jupiter ! », s’était filmée sur X (ancien Twitter) en train de dessiner une moustache hitlérienne au polémiste d’extrême droite, pas encore candidat à l’élection présidentielle, sur une de ses affiches. Un coup de crayon qui lui vaudra une convocation de sa direction. Quelques mois plus tard, la Belge perdra sa tranche au profit d’une émission hebdomadaire, « Le Grand Dimanche soir ». Si certains y ont vu une décision politique, la direction a mis en avant la nécessité de se réinventer après neuf années d’antenne quotidienne.

Les directeurs de France Inter doivent parfois ouvrir la boîte à excuses lorsque leurs troupes dérapent. Ainsi de Laurence Bloch, contrainte d’exprimer ses « regrets les plus sincères » après une chanson de l’humoriste Frédéric Fromet, dans l’émission « Par Jupiter ! », qualifiée d’homophobe. « Jésus, Jésus, Jésus est pédé, membre de la LGBT, du haut de la croix pourquoi l’avoir cloué, pourquoi l’avoir pas enc.lé », avait entonné ce dernier sur l’air de Jésus reviens. Son espoir, a-t-il assuré après coup, était « de dénoncer l’homophobie » d’un juge ayant ordonné à Netflix de stopper au Brésil la diffusion de la comédie La Première Tentation du Christ, qui dépeignait un Jésus gay. Intention louable mais « ratée », a lui-même reconnu Frédéric Fromet.

Parfois, une chronique hors des clous peut coûter son poste à un humoriste. Celle de Didier Porte entre dans cette catégorie. Alors que Dominique de Villepin, ex-rival à droite de Nicolas Sarkozy, est l’invité de la matinale de France Inter, le chroniqueur invite l’ancien premier ministre à se « lâcher » avant d’entrer dans le studio : « J’enc.le Sarkozy ! J’enc.le Sarkozy ! J’enc.le Sarkozy ! » De l’humour « pas drôle », déplorera, quelques semaines plus tard, le présentateur de la matinale, Nicolas Demorand. La direction de la station brandira cet épisode pour justifier le renvoi de Didier Porte, dans un climat de tension lié autant à son travail qu’à celui de son comparse Stéphane Guillon, débarqué en même temps que lui.

L’affaire du Carlton n’est pas encore passée par là. Les accusations de viol de Nafissatou Diallo non plus. Ce matin de février 2009, Dominique Strauss-Kahn est l’invité de la matinale de France Inter. L’humoriste Stéphane Guillon plaisante sur le rapport aux femmes de l’aspirant candidat à la présidentielle. Le directeur du Fonds monétaire international se dit choqué, comme la direction de France Inter, qui s’excuse. Le début de la fin pour Guillon, dont les provocations contre le patron de la station, Jean-Luc Hees, scelleront le sort. « Je ne peux pas accepter que l’on me crache dessus en direct. L’humour ne doit pas être confisqué par de petits tyrans », justifiera ce dernier au moment de renvoyer l’humoriste.

FT : UK hits oil trader Paramount and others with sanctions over Russia ties

UK hits oil trader Paramount and others with sanctions over Russia ties
Emirates-based businesses among 29 entities subject to measures aiming to stem funding for Ukraine war

The UK government has imposed sanctions on Dubai-based oil trader Paramount Energy & Commodities DMCC as part of a swath of actions against companies and individuals accused of supporting Russia’s gold, oil and finance industries.

The sanctions, which target 29 people and entities including several based in the United Arab Emirates, “will hit those who provided succour to [Vladimir] Putin by helping him to lessen the impact of our [existing] sanctions on Russian gold and oil”, said UK foreign secretary James Cleverly.

The Financial Times reported in March that Swiss-based Paramount Energy & Commodities SA, founded by veteran Dutch trader Niels Troost, had transferred its Russian oil trading activity to a subsidiary in the UAE called Paramount DMCC.

Troost, who has not been targeted by UK sanctions, has long maintained that western restrictions on the trade in Russian oil — introduced in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year — do not apply to Paramount DMCC because it is a separate legal entity from its Swiss parent company and is incorporated outside the G7.

Emirati companies can legally buy and sell Russian oil at any price, as long as they also use non-European shipping and financial service providers.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said that Paramount DMCC “is known to employ deceptive shipping practices as well as opaque ownership structures, and has been used by Russia to soften the blow of oil-related sanctions imposed by the UK in co-ordination with G7 partners”.

The UK also sanctioned Dubai-based Swiss national François Edouard Mauron, who was formerly a director of Paramount DMCC but told the FT earlier this year that he had stepped down. Paramount SA, Paramount DMCC, Troost and Mauron did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The move to target a Dubai-based oil trader marks an escalation of the UK’s sanctions regime at a time when the G7’s price cap on Russian oil has become less effective.

The measure, introduced last December for sales of crude, was supposed to cap the price at which Russia’s oil could be sold to $60 a barrel, in a bid to crimp the Kremlin’s revenues while keeping enough oil in the market to avert a counterproductive price spike.

But Russia’s establishment of a “dark fleet” of dozens of tankers operating outside western markets, along with other methods of subterfuge deployed to circumvent the cap, has helped the average price of Russian oil to rise well above $60 a barrel in recent months.

Jason Hungerford, a sanctions lawyer at Mayer Brown, said that the new UK sanctions followed US measures targeting a Russian natural gas project last week, suggesting G7 members are now prepared to target energy more aggressively.

“The various sanctioning countries are trying to demonstrate that they’re serious about the measures they’ve imposed on [the] Russian oil and gas trade and are stepping up enforcement,” said Hungerford, a partner at the law firm.

“Going after traders and last week’s action against Russia’s Arctic 2 LNG project by the US is a major sign that the next front is pushing on the Russian energy sector harder than in the past.”

The British measures block access to financial services, freeze any UK assets, prevent targeted entities from chartering vessels to British ports, and ban targeted individuals from travelling to the UK.

The UK also placed sanctions on a UAE-based network that it claims is responsible for channelling more than $300mn in gold revenues to Russia, which is the world’s second-largest producer of bullion.

Named as part of the network was Paloma Precious DMCC, the owner of the Emirates Gold refinery that was suspended in July from delivering gold into Dubai and London amid money-laundering concerns.

In September, London-listed Rockfire Resources announced an agreement to buy Emirates Gold from Paloma Precious DMCC as long as the refinery was allowed to deliver bullion into Dubai once again.

Paloma Precious was the largest shareholder of Rockfire Resources until it sold its entire stake in the same month.

Paloma Precious and Rockfire did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

FT : Big hedge funds pay ‘silly’ money, says founder of Europe’s largest manager

Big hedge funds pay ‘silly’ money, says founder of Europe’s largest manager
Paul Marshall of Marshall Wace complains new platforms offer hires ‘the same as Cristiano Ronaldo’

The rise of multi-manager hedge funds has led to a “merry-go-round” of portfolio managers being offered “silly” amounts of money, according to the co-founder of Europe’s largest hedge fund.

Sir Paul Marshall, co-founder of Marshall Wace, told an investment conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday the dominance of multi-manager platforms had reshaped the industry because they were “paying incredible amounts of money to target people”.

“Everybody wants that Cristiano Ronaldo on their team, but there aren’t very many Cristiano Ronaldos,” said Marshall, who co-founded the London-based group in 1997 with Ian Wace. “What’s happening is everybody’s getting paid the same as Cristiano Ronaldo.”

Marshall, who is in the process of trying to buy the UK’s Telegraph Group through his digital media group UnHerd, did not name any individual firms. But his comments reflect how the dominance of multi-manager platforms such as Citadel, Millennium Management and Point72 Asset Management has driven a ferocious bidding war for talent.

With $64bn in assets, Marshall Wace is Europe’s largest hedge fund, on a par with Citadel and Millennium in terms of size.

Multi-manager platforms, which typically allocate capital across tens or hundreds of teams of specialist traders, tend to employ a different fee model to traditional hedge funds. 

Rather than the hedge fund industry standard “two and 20” — a 2 per cent management fee and a 20 per cent performance fee — a defining characteristic of the multi-manager platforms is that instead of a management fee they use a “pass-through” expenses model.

Under this model, the manager passes on all costs — including office rents, technology and data, salaries, bonuses and even client entertainment — to their end investors. The idea is that managers invest heavily in areas such as talent and technology, with the cost more than offset by resulting performance. They then tend to charge a 20-30 per cent performance fee on top.

The pass-through model fuels practices such as sign-on bonuses running into millions or tens of millions of dollars, paid sabbaticals and payouts to individual portfolio managers that can be 20 to 30 per cent of profits, all of which are designed to lure and retain the top performers.

Some multi-manager contracts and payouts have even come close to matching Ronaldo’s $200mn-a-year contract with Saudi Arabian football team Al Nassr.

The competition for talent has forced traditional hedge fund players such as Marshall’s firm to adapt. Its flagship Eureka hedge fund this year added a “compensation surcharge” worth as much as 0.75 per cent of the fund’s value, to be used to reward high performers, a decision Marshall said at the time was taken because “multi-manager platforms are driving a bidding war for talent”.

The platform hedge funds’ model had enabled some traders to take “very silly sign-on” bonuses, even if they got fired after two or three years and moved somewhere else, he told the Hong Kong conference. This practice is known in the industry as “surfing the guarantee”.

Marshall said some platform hedge funds operated a “kind of battery-hen farming merry-go-round”, and their high-pay model was “not the right way to build great businesses or even to build a great industry for our clients”.

Chris Gradel, who co-founded the Hong Kong-based investment group PAG, said during the same panel discussion that some staff in his firm’s hedge fund unit had been offered eight-figure sign-on bonuses to move to rivals, a practice he described as “absolute insanity”. Laughing, he added: “We say: you’d better take it.”

The trend was “a temporary phase, it’s a very bad phase”, Gradel added. “It’s good for certain people I suppose . . . but it’s not good for the client, it’s not good for the industry.”

Albert Goh, one of four chief investment officers at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the territory’s de facto central bank and sovereign wealth fund, said during the same session that he was grateful for the comments because “we don’t like paying fees”. The HKMA is a major investor globally, with almost HK$4tn ($511bn) in its Exchange Fund.

WSJ : Former NYSE President in Talks to Reboot FTX Exchange

Former NYSE President in Talks to Reboot FTX Exchange
Tom Farley’s new firm joins two other suitors in auction for bankrupt crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried

A company run by former New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley is among three suitors vying to buy the remnants of FTX, as the auction for the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried reaches its final stages.

Bullish, the crypto exchange run by Farley, fintech startup Figure Technologies and crypto venture-capital firm Proof Group are competing to buy FTX, according to people familiar with the matter. The winner could restart the exchange after its planned exit from bankruptcy next year.

A banker advising FTX on the process said at a hearing last month that the company received interest from over 70 parties and narrowed it to three, without naming them. A winner could be picked in December.

CoinDesk earlier reported on Proof’s bid; the other two haven’t been previously reported. There are no guarantees a deal will come together, and another suitor could yet emerge.

As recently as last fall, FTX ranked as one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges, handling billions of dollars in trading volumes for individual investors outside the U.S. and professional traders. Venture capitalists valued FTX at $32 billion in January 2022, making Bankman-Fried a billionaire several times over.

It collapsed abruptly in November 2022 following a run on FTX customer funds. Prosecutors charged Bankman-Fried with fraud, accusing him of using a back door to plunder billions of dollars of customer funds and spend it on luxury real estate, personal investments and political donations. A New York federal jury last week convicted him on all seven counts he faced. He is expected to be sentenced in March and faces up to 110 years in prison.

Should a new owner take control of FTX, customers could receive shares in the restarted exchange or new tradable tokens to partially make up for what they are owed, some of the people said. Roughly $9 billion of customer deposits on FTX remain unaccounted for.

FTX’s real-estate portfolio in the Bahamas and other assets aren’t part of the sales process for the exchange.

Some crypto watchers warn that a relaunch of FTX could struggle to get traction with professional traders, who might have long memories about the exchange’s legacy of fraud and embezzlement. Some bidders have discussed dropping the FTX brand from the rebooted exchange.

Bullish is backed by a roster of prominent investors including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and hedge-fund manager Louis Bacon. Farley, its CEO, was president of the NYSE from 2014 to 2018. In December 2022, it called off a $9 billion deal to go public via a merger with a blank-check company.

Figure, a startup co-founded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, was part of a group that unsuccessfully tried to buy the bankrupt crypto lender Celsius earlier this year. Figure uses blockchain technology for lending and capital markets.

Proof Group was part of the consortium that won the auction for Celsius. The group agreed to purchase $50 million of equity in the newly reorganized company.

FT : Vestas says plans for UK wind turbine factory depend on demand

Vestas says plans for UK wind turbine factory depend on demand
Danish group has looked at British locations but warns more government support is needed

The world’s biggest wind turbine maker says plans for a potential new factory in the UK depend on clear long-term demand, warning that the government needs to do more to support wind farm development. 

Henrik Andersen, chief executive of Vestas, said it had looked at a couple of locations, including in Scotland, for a factory that could employ about 1,000 people, but decided there was “no need to build a new factory for the next 10-20 years in the UK if the demand cycle is not clear”. 

It comes as the UK government is preparing to publish the draft terms for its next annual auction of renewable energy subsidies after wind developers shunned the most recent round in September, complaining that the support on offer was too low to offset rising costs. 

Andersen told the Financial Times he hoped the UK government would adjust the terms to reflect rising costs or bring forward the next round, saying: “If [that] allows our customers to bid for offshore [wind farm] construction . . . that’s a natural first step of starting the factory.” 

He added: “After the not so successful [auction round] we said we are considering and pausing our plans.”

If the situation changes, he said: “We have a couple of locations, at least one of them in Scotland, and that [would mean] in excess of 1,000 direct employees . . . But if there’s no [demand] in the UK, it’s difficult to argue for that.”

Copenhagen-based Vestas, which has factories around the world and made revenue of €14.5bn in 2022, already supplies wind farms off the UK coast and in Europe from its existing UK factory in the Isle of Wight.  

Andersen made the comments as Vestas reported third-quarter profits of €70mn and said it was on track to be profitable in 2023, compared with a €1.6bn loss in 2022, a more positive sign for the wind industry, which has suffered a series of setbacks. 

Wind turbine makers have struggled with high costs and supply chain challenges for the past few years, while this year developers in the US and the UK have halted or walked away from some projects that have become uneconomical. 

Ørsted, the world’s largest wind developer, abandoned two projects off the New Jersey coast in the US last week, while Sweden’s Vattenfall halted work on its Norfolk Boreas project in the North Sea in July. 

Meanwhile, Siemens Energy revealed last month it was in talks with the German government over funding support as its wind turbine division, Siemens Gamesa, struggles with technical problems with its products.

In a more positive sign, Andersen said supply chain pressures had eased during the third quarter, with supplies arriving on time to its factories worldwide, which was a “huge relief”. 

Vestas said it was now on course to make an annual profit margin of up to 2 per cent. It took orders for 4.5GW of wind turbines during the quarter, 138 per cent higher than the same quarter in 2022.

The company is focused on “strengthening our commercial and operational discipline”, Andersen added.

FT : German arms exports to Israel surge as Berlin backs campaign against Hamas

German arms exports to Israel surge as Berlin backs campaign against Hamas
Defences sales worth €300mn this year is 10-fold rise on 2022, with most licences approved after October 7 attack

German arms exports to Israel have surged in the past month, as Berlin steps up support for the Middle East country’s war against Hamas. 

Germany has exported more than €300mn of sensitive military equipment and arms to Israel so far this year, a 10-fold increase since 2022, said a German government official. They added that 185 of the 218 licences granted this year were approved after October 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack from Gaza, killing 1,400 people according to Israeli officials. 

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has emerged as Europe’s most hawkish advocate of Israel’s right to respond with overwhelming armed force against the Palestinian terror group, even as global concern has grown over high casualties and a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

The federal government has created a working group of the foreign office, ministry of economic affairs and office for export control tasked with expediting Israeli arms requests, government officials in Berlin told the Financial Times.

The licences cover a range of military materiel, not all of which is offensive, such as components for air defence systems. However, lethal munitions, worth about €20mn, have also been sent. 

The figures do not cover equipment for which licenses are not required, such as basic personal kit, protective personal armour or medical equipment. Germany has also prioritised such shipments to Israel.

The economic affairs ministry, led by Germany’s Green vice-chancellor Robert Habeck, oversees the exports. The ministry declined to comment. 

“Israel has the right, enshrined in international law, to defend itself and its citizens against this barbaric attack,” Scholz told German lawmakers the week after Hamas’s attack in Israel. “There is only one place for Germany at this time, and that is by Israel’s side,” he added.

Scholz said he had told Israel to ask him for “whatever support is needed”.

Israel’s assault on Gaza aims to root out Hamas, which has ruled the coastal enclave since winning elections in 2007.

Israel’s military has struck more than 14,000 targets in the Palestinian territory, said the Israeli military. Its campaign has killed more than 10,560 Palestinians, with 2,550 people reported missing, said Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry on Wednesday.

Israel said high civilian casualties have occurred because Hamas uses the local population as human shields, locating its command centres and military assets within or next to sites such as hospitals, apartment blocks, mosques and schools. The Palestinian group denied this.

Group of Seven foreign ministers, meeting in Japan, called on Wednesday for “humanitarian pauses” in the bombardment to get vital aid into Gaza and to let foreign nationals — and potentially hostages — out.

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said at the Tokyo meeting that attacks from Gaza continued “to oblige us to stand up for the protection of Israel, especially because the rocket fire from the terrorist organisation Hamas continues”.