FT : Edtech group Byju’s faces shrinking empire with creditors at the gates

Edtech group Byju’s faces shrinking empire with creditors at the gates
Online education company was once India’s most valuable start-up but now plans asset sales to settle debts

An educational technology empire rapidly assembled by Byju’s during a pandemic funding boom is now set to be dismantled, as what was once India’s most valuable start-up looks to asset disposals to settle its pressing debts.  

Byju’s had used loans and a war chest of more than $2bn, gathered from venture capital during the pandemic, to go on an acquisition spree, aiming to capitalise on the trend towards online learning and become a global edtech powerhouse.

But overexpansion and a post-pandemic contraction in its market have left it desperate for cash to pay off creditors. The principal ones hold notes for a $1.2bn dollar-denominated term loan it took out in 2021 and has defaulted on, embroiling it in lawsuits and countersuits across the US. 

In addition, it has borrowed $250mn this year from investment firm Davidson Kempner Capital Management, although two people with knowledge of the situation said under $100mn was disbursed before Byju’s defaulted on that loan too. 

A lawyer familiar with the situation said he expected “Byju’s to drive a lot of M&A in the coming months”. Its efforts to realise cash through disposals are set to begin with Epic, a California-based digital reading platform, which it acquired in 2021 for $500mn. One person familiar with the matter said term sheets had been drawn up for a deal and another said Moelis, the investment bank, was running the sales process. Moelis declined to comment.

Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, head of consumer and internet at Singapore-based Aletheia Capital, said “a battle for the spoils” was beginning, as “various parts of the business could be sold to people who are interested in buying an asset at a discount to its fair value”.

Those spoils could include Byju’s subsidiary Great Learning, which offers online higher education courses. Through legal action, Byju’s term lenders won the right to appoint financial firm Kroll to oversee the Singapore-based edtech company. Byju’s acquired Great Learning just two years ago for $600mn, but two people familiar with the matter said it was likely Great Learning would ultimately be sold to help settle debts.

Byju’s financial problems also extend to the presentation of its accounts. It is roughly one year late in filing them for its financial year that ended in March 2022 and its chief financial officer Ajay Goel is quitting the company at the end of this week. Goel is rejoining Indian conglomerate Vedanta as CFO, after only leaving it in April to join Byju’s. He told investors in June that the audit to March 2022 would be completed by September. 

The edtech company, which delayed reporting a $560mn loss in its 2020-2021 year, has suffered the resignation of its auditor Deloitte and of three board members representing its backers. One of them, Prosus, has written down its stake to give Byju’s an implied valuation of just $5bn, down from $22bn last year. 

Byju’s did not respond to a request for comment.

Le Figaro : Liban : un juge expulse Carlos Ghosn de sa résidence à Beyrouth

Liban : un juge expulse Carlos Ghosn de sa résidence à Beyrouth

L’ancien patron de Nissan et son épouse ont un mois pour quitter leur luxueuse propriété d’une valeur estimée à 19 millions de dollars, selon une source judiciaire.

Un juge a décidé d'expulser l'ancien patron de Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, de sa résidence dans la capitale libanaise, a déclaré une source judiciaire samedi, environ quatre ans après qu'une société d'investissement l'a accusé de «violation de propriété». Carlos Ghosn, qui a trouvé refuge au Liban fin 2019 après sa fuite rocambolesque du Japon où il faisait l'objet de poursuites judiciaires, a fait appel de la décision d'expulsion vendredi, selon la même source qui a requis l'anonymat.

Carlos Ghosn et son épouse devront «évacuer la propriété (...) dans un délai d'un mois», selon une copie de la décision consultée par l'AFP et datée du 16 octobre. La luxueuse demeure située dans un secteur huppé du quartier d'Achrafieh a une valeur estimée à 19 millions de dollars et est enregistrée au nom de la société libanaise Phoinos, a précisé le responsable judiciaire. Phoinos avait engagé la procédure légale en 2019 et accusé Carlos Ghosn de «violation de propriété privée et de résidence dans la propriété sans base légale», a-t-il ajouté.

«Un complot» pour Carlos Ghosn
Selon le document du tribunal, Carlos Ghosn affirmait que la société était affiliée à Nissan, que «la propriété avait été achetée (...) pour sa résidence, et qu'il existait un accord signé avec Nissan lui accordant le droit d'y habiter». Il avait occupé la propriété «conformément à une relation contractuelle liant Ghosn et Nissan» mais la fin de cette relation et le souhait du plaignant de récupérer la propriété invalident «la base légale» de son occupation, selon ce document.

Carlos Ghosn, qui possède les nationalités libanaise, française et brésilienne, a été arrêté fin 2018 au Japon où il devait être jugé pour des malversations financières présumées quand il était à la tête du groupe Renault-Nissan. Carlos Ghosn clame son innocence et dénonce un «complot» ourdi, selon lui, par Nissan avec l'appui du gouvernement japonais, pour le faire tomber et éviter ainsi une union plus étroite avec Renault.

FT : Why Rimowa decided to go shell for leather

Why Rimowa decided to go shell for leather
The aluminium-suitcase brand is ready to show its softer side

You can spot one from a mile away: the industrial-looking case, with its tell-tale grooves, gliding smoothly through the airport. Often it’s dinged up, indicative of a life well travelled, other times covered in stickers, sometimes both. 

Rimowa’s instantly recognisable suitcases have become global status symbols, synonymous with a certain class of traveller. That the German brand has managed to cultivate a luxury product out of a decidedly unluxury material – aluminium – must be one of the industry’s more unique success stories. As it marks its 125th anniversary, Rimowa is achieving record revenues and has a hard time meeting customer demand.


From 2 November, the brand is moving towards a more typical luxury domain with the launch of the leather-wrapped Distinct suitcase. “There is a big leather territory in the luxury industry, and this has not been a traditional playground for Rimowa,” says Hugues Bonnet-Masimbert, who succeeded Alexandre Arnault as CEO in 2021. “It’s less in response to customers’ demand for a leather suitcase and more from a defined request for more surprises, emotion and elevation.”

Since it was bought by LVMH in 2016, Rimowa has “surprised” its customers with various collaborations: a team-up with streetwear brand Supreme in 2018 sold out in 16 seconds; the same year, a special edition with Off-White saw the brand’s signature trunks realised in see-through polycarbonate. In 2019, Dior Men’s artistic director Kim Jones reimagined the brand’s signature wheelie case as a crossbody bag, while Fendi added leather handles and an orange logoed luggage strap. Most recently, the brand collaborated with Tiffany & Co to create three new products – a suitcase, a crossbody bag and a jewellery box.


The addition of leather to Rimowa’s range, says Bonnet-Masimbert, “opens up the opportunities of future creative work”. But it’s not a first: the brand was founded as a saddlery firm in 1898 and quickly moved into producing leather luggage in the early 20th century. The aluminium case was introduced in the 1930s as a lighter alternative, while the signature grooves were added in 1950, as a reference to the corrugated body of the world’s first all-metal commercial aircraft.

“It’s been about 100 years since Rimowa has produced leather,” says Bonnet-Masimbert, “and the journey to the new suitcase was a pretty major, difficult endeavour.” The Distinct launch has been years in the making to allow the brand’s artisans in Cologne, where its Classic suitcases are made, to learn the skills required to produce them. “There is a lot of work in the stitching, which was a new know-how for the artisans, and there is very clear innovation in the leather wrapping technique that we have used.” 

The new suitcase also comes under Rimowa’s lifetime guarantee, which the brand introduced last year for all future purchases, meaning that if a case loses a wheel or a handle goes bust, Rimowa will repair it. “There are a number of other lifetime guarantees out there that promise that if you have any problem, you can bring back your product and it will be exchanged, no questions asked,” says Bonnet-Masimbert. “But the more responsible thing to do is to make the commitment to repair the suitcase. It puts pressure on the initial quality of the product as it has to be designed for future repair.”

WSJ : Mike Pence Drops Out of 2024 Republican Presidential Race

Mike Pence Drops Out of 2024 Republican Presidential Race
‘This is not my time,’ says the former vice president, who struggled to gain traction

Former Vice President Mike Pence withdrew from the Republican presidential race Saturday, saying “this is not my time” after he struggled to gain traction in a crowded field dominated by former President Donald Trump.

“I’m leaving this campaign but let me promise you I will never leave the fight for conservative values,” Pence said during a speech before the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas.

Pence, who is 64 years old, became the highest-profile candidate to exit from the race, though he fared poorly in polls and ran low on money needed to sustain a campaign.

The former vice president pulled in just $3.4 million during the third quarter of the year and it was unclear whether he would meet the Republican National Committee’s requirements for fundraising and polling to participate in the third GOP primary debate in Miami on Nov. 8.

Additional departures are possible in the final months before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, the first nomination balloting and an event likely to trigger more exits from the race. The former president has benefited from a large field that has divided up the non-Trump vote within the party.

Pence’s certification of the 2020 election results during the early morning hours of Jan. 7, 2021, in defiance of Trump and after a mob attacked the Capitol, was one of the biggest reasons his nomination bid faltered. Trump backers have never forgiven what they see as a betrayal, while anti-Trump Republicans still blame Pence for being a supplicant the previous four years.

As a result, neither wing of the GOP backed a man who spent decades courting conservatives and would have been viewed as a top Republican contender in a pre-Trump world. Reporters often asked Pence more about Trump and related legal matters than his policy proposals.

Pence’s decision comes just ahead of the expected release of an Iowa Poll on Monday morning. The survey, the most closely watched poll in the state, is led by the Des Moines Register newspaper and may show the former vice president struggling in a state where he has almost totally focused his campaign.

Pence announced his decision at the end of a speech before Jewish activists in which he rejected growing isolationism in the GOP. While Republicans are advocating strong support for Israel in its war against Hamas, they are split on continued funding for Ukraine.

The former vice president, who became a born-again Christian in college, went on to become a radio talk-show host before being elected to Congress and later Indiana’s governor.

He is a longtime promoter of limited government, an ally to social conservative groups, and has backed some of the most restrictive abortion proposals put forward by the Republican presidential field.

“We always knew this would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets,” Pence said.

>>> Barron’s Weekend Summary

Barron’s Weekend Summary: Bonds are not in a good place now.

Cover:
-Bonds are not in a good place now. Yet, rarely has the timing to buy them been better. The supposedly secure Treasuries are on track to lose money for three consecutive years, declining 42% over that period. Other bonds, whether mortgage-backed securities or high-quality corporates, have also taken a beating, leaving investors with losses from what are supposed to provide ballast in a portfolio. But the end of the bond bear market is upon us. Traders see only a 25% chance of another rate hike this year, possibly at the Fed’s meeting in December. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, a prominent bond bear, recently closed out his bets against Treasuries. What’s more, continued geopolitical unrest or signs of a recession could restore the core market—government-backed debt and high-grade corporate bonds—to its position as a haven, a role it had abdicated in recent years.

Interview:
-Young Americans are experiencing a surge of unhappiness, according to anecdotal evidence and social science research. Its roots aren’t clear, but the Covid pandemic may have contributed, as has social media, based on a lawsuit filed on Oct. 24 against Meta Platforms by 42 state attorneys general, who allege that Facebook and Instagram purposefully ensnared children and teens to the detriment of their long-term physical and mental health.

David Blanchflower, a British-American labor economist, has studied happiness and mental-health trends for decades, and his new academic research, conducted with Alex Bryson, a professor of quantitative social science at University College London, confirms how bleak things have become. It isn’t just that young adults feel sad or unhappy for a day or two; 12% of 23-year-old women, they found, report that every day of their lives is a bad mental health day.

Tech Trader:
-Technology stocks dropped to correction levels last week, after they posted earnings that either fell below expectations – including some of the world’s largest companies – or that failed to issue optimistic guidance factors. On Wednesday and Thursday, the NASDAQ Composite fell 4.1%, the tech-heavy index’s worst two-day stretch of the year. The index has fallen 12% since July. The most notable of these were META and Alphabet. Indeed, both companies earned well above expectations, but the results led to fresh concerns about cloud and ad spending.

The Trader:
-Chip stocks have been getting crushed recently—and ON Semiconductor Has been a notable example of this trend. ON is cheap now, and could pop if it beats earnings expectations on October 30. ON stock is down about 25% to a recent $81.16 from its record high hit this summer amid tech-sector weakness and concerns about restrictions on exporting to China. The decline was compounded by a selloff in the chip sector on Wednesday caused by Texas Instruments, which missed sales forecasts when it reported earnings after Tuesday’s close and said it saw weak demand from industrial customers.
-Bond yields are showing signs that they have peaked. If they keep dropping, it would make a host of stocks look attractive. Utilities are the ideal prospects for this dynamic. The Utilities Select Sector home to regulated utilities such as Duke Energy
and Dominion Energy is down almost 17% for the year, versus double-digit gains for the S&P 500. That puts the sector on pace for its worst annual underperformance on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Features:
-Exxon Mobil said that it should be able to keep producing oil for years to come. But that prospect has been overshadowed by otherwise disappointing news. Some of Exxon’s lesser-watched businesses have been struggling. Earnings from sales of chemicals, for instance, fell sharply because supply is outpacing demand, hurting margins. And earnings have suffered even as the company is set to spend more money on capital projects than some analysts had expected. Exxon reported adjusted third-quarter earnings of $2.27/share, below expectations for $2.37. Revenue of $90.8 billion missed expectations for $93.4 billion. The stock was down 2% on Friday, while stock in Chevron, whose earnings miss was significantly worse, fell 5%. Exxon stock fell even though management is increasing the quarterly dividend to 95 cents from 91 cents, boosting the dividend yield to 3.6% at current prices.
-The Federal Reserve’s restrictive monetary policy has apparently managed to cool down inflation (based on September results) relative to a year ago. Nevertheless, American consumers are continuing to spend and this could complicate the fed’s goal of keeping inflation down. Based on the core personal-consumption expenditures price index, which excludes the more volatile food and energy sectors, the pace of inflation slowed in September to 3.7% year over year, according to the latest Bureau of Economic Analysis data, released Friday. That’s in line with forecasts and slightly below the 3.8% revised rate recorded in August. Core PCE is closely studied by the Fed.

Europe:
-The European Central Bank stopped its course its unprecedented streak of 10 consecutive interest-rate hikes since July 2022, as the Eurozone faces growth headwinds and persistent inflationary pressures. The ECB followed the lead of the Federal Reserve, which paused its campaign of rate-hikes last month and is expected to keep monetary policy unchanged next week. The backdrop in the US is starkly different, however, with lower inflation and stronger economic growth. The US economy grew strongly in the third quarter, according to Thursday’s preliminary print of gross domestic product. The ECB’s pause, on the other hand, comes after a spate of economic data that showed a weakening Eurozone and underscored the ECB’s challenge in bringing inflation back to the 2% medium-term target without causing recession.

Emerging Markets:
-Argentina’s long-suffering bonds slid another 10% after Sunday’s first-round presidential election, which saw sitting economy minister Sergio Massa leap from third place in an August primary to first with 37% of the vote. Massa now looks like the favorite going into a Nov. 19 runoff with libertarian firebrand Javier Milei. “It’s Massa’s election to lose,” says Shannon O’Neil, senior fellow for Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Voters choosing an economy minister who is presiding over 100%- plus annual inflation and a 5% contraction in the latest quarter might seem curious, until the alternatives are considered. Argentines soured on Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist who scored a shock victory in the primary. They were spooked by his promises to “burn down” the central bank and replace the peso with the dollar, and past tweets describing Argentine-born Pope Francis as an imbecile and “representative of the evil one in the house of God” didn’t help his cause either. Milei finished second in the latest round with 30% of the vote. Patricia Bullrich, political successor to right-of-center President Mauricio Macri, whom Argentines chucked out four years ago, lagged behind with 24%.

Commodities:
-China is reminding us that lithium is not the main ingredient in a lithium-ion electric vehicle battery. That distinction goes to graphite, which is used to make the anode, or negative pole, of EV batteries, accounting for up to half their weight. More than 90% of anode-ready graphite is produced in China. Beijing called attention to this fact on Oct. 20, a few days after the U.S. ratcheted up controls on semiconductor exports to China. Graphite sales from China will require a license as of Dec. 1. Xi Jinping’s government slapped similar restrictions this summer on two rare earth metals common in electronics manufacturing, gallium and germanium. Gallium prices have jumped by half since then, data provider Argus reports. A graphite squeeze could have a stronger impact still, says Ross Gregory, a partner at Korea-based consultant New Electric Partners. “Rare earths was a flesh wound,” he says. “Graphite would cause some internal bleeding.”

Streetwise:
-Jack Hough urges you to beware of giant yields in Annaly Capital Management, a large mortgage investment company with more than 25 years in the business. Annaly boats a dividend yield of 17%. That’s nearly twice as high as the average return for the stock market. It’s more than four times what retirement planners say you can safely spend from a portfolio. It’s a jackpot with a ticker symbol. But can you trust this yield? Hough suggests you should not, comparing the attractive yield to the colors on a rainforest frog: “it’s nature’s way of telling you that this thing could be secreting enough toxin to kill 200 monkeys, so look but don’t lick.”

FT : Mediobanca CEO scores victory in power struggle with top investors

Mediobanca CEO scores victory in power struggle with top investors
Alberto Nagel secures new term as shareholders back directors proposed by outgoing board

Shareholders in Mediobanca have backed a slate of directors proposed by the Milanese lender’s outgoing board, marking a victory for management in its power struggle with top shareholders.

Investors handed longstanding chief executive Alberto Nagel and chair Renato Pagliaro new three-year terms at the helm of the Italian investment bank.

The vote, on Saturday, pitted candidates led by Nagel and Pagliaro against a minority list of five directors proposed by the bank’s largest shareholder, the billionaire Del Vecchio family’s holding company Delfin.

The board-endorsed slate of candidates was supported by shareholders representing 40.4 per cent of the share capital, handing them 12 seats on the board.

The Del Vecchios’ company had sought to secure as many as a third of the seats on the 15-strong board, as part of a push to shake up the management of the bank.

Delfin’s slate was backed by shareholders representing 32 per cent of the share capital. Delfin holds almost 20 per cent of the shares in Mediobanca, while building tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, who supported the slate, holds roughly 10 per cent.

Although Delfin had the support of Caltagirone — also a top shareholder in Italy’s largest insurer, Generali, alongside Delfin and Mediobanca — proxy agencies advised shareholders to back the Mediobanca-endorsed candidates, and the minority slate ultimately secured only two seats. 

People close to Delfin said the outcome was expected and was “fine”. Insiders say its priority is to see both Nagel and Pagliaro replaced by the end of the new three-year board term.

Although Delfin has put pressure on Mediobanca to refresh its board and take a bolder approach to expanding its wealth management and investment banking businesses, Mediobanca this week unveiled record quarterly profits.

Net profits for the three months to the end of September were €351mn, boosted by performances in its wealth management and insurance units. That was a 34 per cent rise compared with the previous year.

Analysts and insiders have suggested machinations at the top of the prestigious Italian bank may be linked to a similar battle for control of Generali, which pitted Caltagirone and Delfin against Mediobanca last year.

A fragmented Mediobanca board would have helped Caltagirone, who is expected to have a second run at overhauling the management of Generali in 2025. Mediobanca is the largest shareholder in Generali.

>>> Weekend Papers Summary

Weekend Papers Summary

FINANCIAL TIMES
-Israel expanded its offensive on Friday evening, increasing ground operations in Gaza and launching an intense air bombardment that knocked out its telecommunications systems. The escalation comes two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a national audience that his government was preparing a “ground invasion” of Gaza. But it remained unclear late on Friday whether the intensification of military operations was the prelude to a wider war.
-Israeli Families of the hostages held by Hamas are slowly coalescing into a fledgling political force of their own, an influential interest group to be reckoned with even as their army bombs Gaza, where Hamas fighters are holed up in the same tunnels and bunkers as their loved ones.
-Morgan Stanley’s designated new CEO Ted Pick and his two top lieutenants were given restricted stock units that could net them tens of millions of dollars each in connection with their new roles. Morgan Stanley said the units, announced in an SEC filing on Friday afternoon, were awarded in equal amounts to the three executives: Pick, Andy Saperstein and Dan Simkowitz. Each package was worth $20M at the time of the grant, but the final value will be determined by the performance of Morgan Stanley’s stock price over the next three years. The one-time grants will not fully vest until 2027.
-Wall Street’s blue-chip equities benchmark fell by 0.5% on Friday, pushing it just over the correction threshold compared with its 2023 peak on the final day of July.

The US stock market surged in the first seven months of the year, driven by enthusiasm about artificial intelligence and optimism that the Federal Reserve was approaching the end of its campaign to raise interest rates.
-Money managers including Pimco, Janus Henderson, Vanguard and BlackRock are buying US government bonds with longer maturities, betting the pain in the Treasury market is nearly over and an elusive slowdown in the US economy may be on the horizon. Yet the US economy is in good health for now.
-Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has recently said that it is close to achieving the ability to mass manufacture the potentially game-changing technology of solid-state batteries. Hype has been building since a series of announcements on the next-generation technology by the Japanese car manufacturer in June. Its market capitalization has surged by $26bn since then. Such batteries would allow Toyota to sell EVs that are safer, can recharge more rapidly and can drive 1,200 kilometres on a single charge — around double the company’s current average — as early as 2027.
-On Friday, former President Donald Trump claimed credit for the election of Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House of Representatives: “This time yesterday, nobody was thinking of Mike,” the former US president said. “Then we put out the word and now he is the Speaker of the House.” To some, Trump was exaggerating the role he played in elevating a little-known Louisiana lawmaker and an avowed loyalist to become presiding officer of Congress’s lower chamber, and second in the presidential line of succession after the vice-president.
-ExxonMobil remains on the hunt for deals even after buying Pioneer Natural Resources for $60B and launching a race to consolidate the sector.

NEW YORK TIMES
-Israeli Forces Step Up Bombardment and Make Another Incursion Into Gaza
Israeli military officials declined to say if the newest incursion was the start of an anticipated ground offensive.
-In New York, police arrested protesters after hundreds flooded Grand Central Terminal to demand a ceasefire in the Middle East.
-Two major Palestinian mobile networks said that their phone lines and internet services were down in Gaza.
-The US strikes on Iranian munitions stockpiles in Syria were meant to send two messages to Iran.
-Several artists have called for a boycott after Artforumfired its top editor David Velasco because of an open letter on the war in the Middle East. Velasco was removed after the magazine’s publishers said there was a flawed editorial process behind the publication of a letter that supported Palestinian liberation.
-American soldiers holding guns crouch down in low grass in front of a small road where an American tank is driving.
-Iranian proxies retaliated against American forces after strikes by US fighter jets.
-Even as food and water dwindle in Gaza, the Hamas militia remains well-stocked with supplies it amassed underground.
-Saudi officials warned the US that an Israeli invasion could be catastrophic for the Middle East.
-The Israeli writer Etgar Keret has been trying to make sense of the violence and loss around him. So far, he can’t.
-The suspect in Wednesday’s shooting in Maine is dead. The man wanted in the killing of 18 people was found dead on Friday night, the authorities said, bringing an end to a sweeping two-day manhunt.
-The shooting in Lewiston, Maine last October 25 has turned the spotlight on the state’s two senators, both of whom remain opposed to an assault weapons ban.
-Sam Bankman-Fried testified that he made ‘larger mistakes’ at FTX. Speaking in his own defense at his criminal trial, the FTX founder denied he had committed fraud but acknowledged missteps that hurt customers.
-The new House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated, he feels that religion is at the forefront of politics and policy.
The new House speaker has put his faith at the center of his political career, and aligned himself with a cohort that some describe as Christian nationalism.
-Many in Mike Johnson’s northern Louisiana district hope his surprise elevation will bring attention to their region, which they feel has been overlooked.
-Mike Johnson has said that his views on race were shaped by raising a Black child.
-Before Adidas ended its shoe deal with Kanye West over antisemitic public remarks, it tolerated years of his abusive conduct behind the scenes.
-The Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi bought around 25,000 paintings before he died earlier this year. Now no one knows what to do with them.
-The US economy is doing well. Any lingering concerns about an economic slowdown in the United States were at least momentarily quieted as new data showed that the nation’s economy grew at a 4.9% annualized rate in the third quarter.
The Trump re-election team has revived its ads against Ron DeSantis in Iowa. A super PAC supporting Donald Trump is shifting its strategy again, with less than three months before the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.
-President Biden and other senior officials have met China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi ahead of a potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and amid talk of cooperation within a frosty relationship.

NY POST
-New York real estate developers slammed the judge who stripped Donald Trump of his business empire for allegedly inflating the prices of his properties — with some predicting the decision will be overturned on appeal.
Justice Arthur Engoron issued a summary judgment last month calling for a receiver and the canceling of the Trump Organization’s business certificates after state Attorney General Letitia James filed a $250M civil fraud lawsuit against the former president.
-Alphabet’s Google paid $26.3B to other companies in 2021 to ensure its search engine was the default on web browsers and mobile phones, testified senior executive Prabhakar Raghavan during the Justice Department’s antitrust trial. The amount of payments Google made for the default status has more than tripled since 2014. Google’s revenue from search advertising came in at $146.4B in 2021, while the payments for the default setting were its biggest cost.

Sky News : Struggling ASOS explores sale of TopShop brand

SkyNews : Struggling ASOS explores sale of TopShop brand
The online retailer is examining whether to dispose of what was one of the British high street’s best-known fashion brands as part of its turnaround plan, Sky News learns.

ASOS, the London-listed online fashion retailer, is exploring a sale of the TopShop brand it bought from the wreckage of Sir Philip Green's collapsed retail empire less than three years ago.

Sky News has learnt that ASOS, which will publish its delayed full-year results next week, is at the early stages of a process that could see it offload what was once one of the best-known names on the high street.

City sources said this weekend that a sale was not certain to proceed, and it was unclear how much ASOS might raise from selling the brand.

It was unclear whether any talks are already taking place with potential buyers.

A potential disposal is said to be one of the options being examined by Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte, who took over as chief executive last year.

He unveiled a 12-month turnaround plan last October focused on sharpening it operating performance and reducing costs, but has been caught in the vice-like grip of soaring inflation and declining consumer spending power.

Mr Calamonte has reduced stock by 30%, exceeding a key target, and refinanced part of its borrowings.

In May, ASOS announced it had secured £275m of new debt facilities from Bantry Bay Capital, a specialist lender which also has exposure to UK retailers including Superdry.

This week, it said it would delay its annual results and strategy update until next Wednesday to enable PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), its auditor, to "complete its planned testing".

The company, which has seen its shares plunge by 40% over the last year, bought TopShop, TopMan, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands in February 2021 after a fiercely fought auction run by the administrators to Arcadia Group.

The deal valued the assets at £265m, although inventory and forward purchase orders took the overall price to £330m.

The disclosure that it may now be for sale again is likely to reawaken interest from some of the losing bidders in that process.

These could include ABG, the owner of Ted Baker and a stake in David Beckham's consumer brands business, and JD Sports Fashion.

Next would also be expected to examine an offer, having snapped up high street brands such as FatFace and a big stake in Reiss.

The most obvious bidder, however, would be Frasers Group, the high street conglomerate which owns retail names ranging from Sports Direct and Jack Wills to Evans Cycles and Gieves & Hawkes.

On Friday, Sky News revealed that Frasers, founded by the billionaire Mike Ashley, was among the suitors circling WiggleCRC, owner of the online cycling brands Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles, which has fallen into administration.

TopShop was the jewel in the crown of Sir Philip's empire for years, providing the platform for him to become feted as 'the king of the high street'.

In 2012, he sold a 25% stake in his TopShop and TopMan subsidiaries to Leonard Green & Partners, an American private equity firm, in a deal that valued them at £2bn.

Shares in ASOS closed on Friday at 385.6p, giving it a market value of £467m.

An ASOS spokesman said: "ASOS as a policy does not comment on rumour or speculation."

WWD : Inditex Pledges to Purchase Renewcell’s Circulose

WWD : Inditex Pledges to Purchase Renewcell’s Circulose
The Zara parent company will buy 2,000 tons of textiles made with its recycled cotton pulp, a show of support after the Swedish recycler said its sales had been slower than expected.

ARIS — Swedish textile recycler Renewcell has received a pledge of support from Zara parent company Inditex.

The Spanish fast-fashion behemoth said Friday it will acquire 2,000 tons of material blend made with Renewcell’s Circulose through Hong Kong-based fiber producer Tangshan Sanyou, which has an existing offtake agreement with Renewcell. Inditex will move the material through its supply chain and integrate products into its collections.

Inditex did not indicate a price value on how much it will purchase.

The Inditex commitment is the first show of support under interim chief executive officer Magnus Håkansson since he stepped into the role Oct. 16.

Earlier this month, Renewcell reported in a trading update that sales were “slower than expected” and subsequently replaced its longtime CEO, Patrik Lundström, with the former McKinsey consultant and retail exec Håkansson until it picks a permanent replacement.

Renewcell said that while it had been increasing its production capacity and receiving strong interest from “a large number of consumer brands who want to use Circulose to fulfill their sustainability goals,” sales were not up to pace. “Sales volumes to fiber producers are behind the levels previously expected and are not likely to follow the volumes implied for 2023 by existing offtake agreements,” the company said in a statement.

The industry has long hailed textile-to-textile “circularity” as a solution to its landfill and waste problem, and a step in achieving sustainability targets, particularly in Europe with new textile collection and waste laws rolling out over the next few years. Renewcell’s tech has positioned it as pioneer, but it has suffered from low demand even as it has upped production and set up storage facilities in China to help shorten the delivery window.

Renewcell’s sales announcement caused concern in the industry that if the well-positioned company with a strong supplier network couldn’t successfully scale and sell, then it might not bode well for the long-term potential of recycling.

Sustainable fashion advocates such as Fashion for Good put out a plea in an open letter to brands. “Step in with orders to drive the economies of scale and enable widespread adoption,” wrote managing director Katrin Ley.

Inditex’s commitment should help stabilize those sales numbers.

Renewcell has long been supported by H&M, which has incorporated the textile into its Conscious Collection lines. The Swedish fast-fashion group holds about an 11.5 percent stake in the company.

Renewcell operates the world’s first commercial-scale textile waste pulp mill — meaning it breaks down used cotton and transforms it into its’ own Circulose raw material. Textile producers buy it and turn it into new viscose or lyocell.

The Swedish plant came online in November with a capacity to produce about 60,000 tons of pulp, with the target of 360,000 tons by 2030.

It’s also the second visible textile buy for Inditex this week. Wednesday the company pledged to buy 70 million euros worth of Ambercycle’s recycled polyester Cycora over the next three years.

Renewcell’s third-quarter results will be released Nov. 7.