TheChek News Flow

US pharmaceuticals group to pay €90.5mn for 8% share to boost Lyme disease project

Pfizer has agreed to pay €90.5mn for an 8.1 per cent stake in Valneva, in a move that will bolster the French vaccines group’s Lyme disease programme.

The US pharmaceutical group on Monday said it would buy the stake at a price of €9.49 a share — a 26 per cent premium to Valneva’s closing price on Friday of €7.50 — via a reserved capital increase.

The proceeds will go towards developing a Lyme disease joint programme, the terms of which were revised by the two drugmakers.

Valneva will fund 40 per cent of the remaining shared development costs, compared with 30 per cent previously. Pfizer will pay Valneva tiered royalties of up to 22 per cent, which will be complemented by up to $100mn in milestones payable to Valneva based on sales, the companies said in a statement.

“Pfizer’s investment in Valneva highlights the quality of the work that we’ve done together over the past two years and is a strong recognition of Valneva’s vaccine expertise,” said Valneva chief executive Thomas Lingelbach in a statement.

As probe into sale of tech firm steps up, family behind jet pioneer sounds alarm - Lady Cobham: We MUST keep British defence firms out of foreign hands

The founding family of defence giant Cobham has raised the alarm over a flurry of sensitive deals as the Government prepares to escalate its probe into the sale of Ultra Electronics.

Lady Cobham, the daughter-in-law of founder Sir Alan Cobham, has warned against 'auctioning off' high-tech firms Ultra, Inmarsat and Meggitt in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

The deals are being closely monitored on both sides of the Atlantic. Decisions on the trio of aerospace and defence takeovers are expected later this year and are being investigated by Kwasi Kwarteng's Business Department.

However, The Mail on Sunday understands Ministers are considering closer scrutiny of the planned purchase of Ultra by US private equity firm Advent. The 'phase two' investigation on whether the deal would threaten Britain's national security could deal a hammer blow to the £2.6billion takeover.

Ultra is regarded as a strategically important company because its work includes making enemy submarine-hunting sonobuoys.

Cobham was the first in a succession of deals targeting some of Britain's most cutting-edge firms. The activity has attracted the ire of the likes of former Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine and the one-time head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Lord West.

Critics want the Government to use its powers to block more deals on grounds of national security. They are particularly concerned that private equity firms take ownership only for a few years, before selling businesses on again.

Advent is buying FTSE250-listed Ultra through what remains of its Cobham business.

But Lady Cobham told The Mail on Sunday 'no one should be taken in' by the fact Cobham is fronting the takeover – as the ultimate owner is a private equity firm.

'They sold off most of Cobham within 18 months of buying it, and are bound to do the same to Ultra if the Minister waves this through,' she said. 'The threat from Russia and China is growing and we should be investing in our domestic defence capability, not auctioning it off.'

The Mail on Sunday previously revealed that Advent had agreed to set up a separate board of directors solely to oversee Ultra's contracts with the UK Government, to ease national security fears.

Undertakings thought to have been secured by Kwarteng, who swiftly intervened in the deal when it was announced last year, include maintaining Ultra as a standalone entity that cannot be merged with Cobham. It is believed Advent initially wanted to merge the two, then float the enlarged group within a couple of years.

Kwarteng is thought to be concerned by a threat from US authorities to limit defence cooperation with Britain if it blocks the Ultra takeover.

But talks are believed to have stalled over proposals to install a Government appointee on the board.

Despite pledging to be a long-term investor in the company, which pioneered air-to-air refuelling technology, Advent carved Cobham up and sold much of it off within 18 months. The Government had secured a range of guarantees, including a promise to keep the UK headquarters and to alert the Government if it planned to sell off parts of the business. But campaigners, including the Cobham family, say that failed to protect it. Foreign suitors have also swooped on fellow defence and aerospace firm Meggitt and satellite group Inmarsat.

US aerospace giant Parker-Hannifin is set to buy Meggitt for £6.3billion and another US firm, Viasat, is poised to pick up Inmarsat for £5.4billion. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng called in the Ultra and Meggitt deals last summer and is investigating both under the old Enterprise Act.

The Inmarsat deal is being scrutinised under a new law, the National Security and Investment Act, which hands Ministers sweeping powers to investigate tie-ups and investments in 17 sensitive sectors.

An Advent spokesman said: 'Advent is committed to backing the Government's national security imperatives, with over £500million invested in Cobham's research and development and strategic initiatives during our ownership, and all defence asset disposals kept within the Five Eyes community of our closest allies.'

A Viasat spokesman said it was 'committed to invest heavily in its UK business'.

Crypto lender says it has an ‘open dialogue’ with regulators after suspending withdrawals

Celsius Network, the cryptocurrency lender that rattled markets by suspending withdrawals last week, has warned that it will “take time” to normalise its operations, as companies across the sector face mounting financial pressure from a sell-off in digital assets.

The crypto lending company’s warning came after a series of shocks to digital asset markets have dragged down prices. The price of bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, fell below $20,000 over the weekend for the first time since November 2020.

Bitcoin was down 3.6 per cent against the dollar in Asia trading on Monday at $19,864, reversing an earlier rally that had pushed it back above the $20,000 mark.

The drop for the most actively traded digital currency has raised concerns over forced liquidations of large leveraged bets in crypto markets, which could spur further sales and intensify a credit crunch that has already triggered tumult at other crypto lenders.

“As has been a priority since our company’s inception, we maintain an open dialogue with regulators and officials,” Celsius wrote in a blog post on Monday. The lender added that it was pausing social media activities on Twitter and Reddit, which it had been using to maintain contact with customers.

“We plan to continue working with regulators and officials regarding this pause and our company’s determination to find a resolution,” it said, without providing further detail.

The crypto chaos began when stablecoin TerraUSD, which was used to facilitate trading through its link to the US dollar, failed to maintain its dollar peg last month, causing the peg of its larger stablecoin peer Tether to wobble.

The instability quickly spread to another stablecoin and its associated cryptocurrency, luna, which is a key player in decentralised finance, a sector of the industry that seeks to do away with centralised intermediaries such as banks.

Pressure from the broad sell-off in cryptocurrencies has continued to grow. On Friday, Hong Kong-based crypto lender Babel Finance paused withdrawals and redemptions, citing “unusual liquidity pressures”, while Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows failed to meet margin calls from lenders.

On Monday, another Hong Kong-based crypto exchange Hoo announced a halt on transactions after customer withdrawals became so great that they risked exhausting the company’s available funds.

Hoo said in a blog post that it was “trying to reconfigure medium- and long-term assets in an orderly and reasonable manner” to facilitate withdrawals, which it said would resume within 72 hours.

- Recent sudden forex moves are undesirable

- Hope to coordinate closely with govt and respond appropriately on FX

- No particular comments from PM

- Today's meeting was part of routine regrading the global economy

With a running total of more than 114 million euros, it's the second most valuable collection ever sold at French auction, according to Christie’s in Paris

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: The facades of the San Lorenzo Cathedral in Perugia, in Italy’s central Umbria region, have been restored thanks to contribution of the Brunello and Federica Cucinelli Foundation.

“I have always liked to think that by preserving our monuments we somehow preserve ourselves and lay the foundations of our future,” said Brunello Cucinelli. “Today we are inaugurating the restoration of a famous monument, which is not only a religious symbol for the people of Perugia but for Italy as a whole. I learnt from my family, and from the countryside, that every good deed is like a seed that never fails to bear good fruit. This is why I wish everyone that the example of this good work will trigger virtuous imitation on the large as well as the small scale, public and private, because, as my esteemed Greeks used to say, if you keep your doorstep clean and tidy, your city will follow. I am convinced that this is what our Perugia and our Umbrian motherland deserve.”

The project was revealed in July last year. The foundation collaborated with Plenitude, a company controlled by Eni that integrates production from renewables, the sale of gas and electricity, energy services and an extensive network of charging points for electric vehicles.

The restoration, which took advantage of the national tax bonuses for the renovation of buildings established by the 2020 Finance Act, focused on the front and side facades, as well as the external stairs and a bronze sculpture dedicated to Pope Giulio III.

In addition, the stone parts were cleaned and concrete inserts were switched with more appropriate materials to enhance the artistic and historic value of the monument, which was built in the heart of Perugia between the 14th and 15th centuries. The Carrara marble pulpit, the bell tower and the Jubilee portal were only some of the storied elements restored.

Previously, along with the Solomeo medieval hamlet, home to the brand’s headquarters and a 20-minute drive from Perugia, Cucinelli financed the restoration of the Etruscan Arch and the Morlacchi Theater in Perugia, as well as the Civic Tower in Norcia.