FT : Tesla/lithium: metal guru

Tesla/lithium: metal guru
The world’s most valuable carmaker has little use for conventional wisdom

Automotive pioneer Henry Ford wasted tens of millions of dollars developing Brazilian rubber plantations. He feared a shortage for US car tyres. Similarly, Elon Musk wants to secure his own supply of lithium, an ingredient in batteries for Tesla electric cars. He has plans for a refinery in Nevada.

Vertical integration — in which a single business handles every stage of production — seems pretty outmoded. But Tesla, the world’s most valuable carmaker, has little use for conventional wisdom. Is Mr Musk right?

He is certainly proving naysayers wrong financially. Tesla made third-quarter operating profits of $809m, triple last year’s figure. Free cash flow was positive for the quarter and over nine months. Tesla’s practice of selling its emission credits to the highest bidder has plumped gross margins by a quarterly average of 400 basis points since last September.

But not all Tesla’s strategies work, as a quiet retreat from heavy electric trucks showed. Vertical integration makes sense in immature industries. That might have applied in the heyday of Ford’s integrated Michigan Rouge plant. It does not apply today.

There is a more basic reason for Mr Musk to steer clear of lithium. Reserve estimates understate the huge quantities of this metal. Prices have more than halved since early 2018. America’s Albemarle, the world’s top producer, delayed projects last year in response. While its share price has rebounded this year to a level not seen since November 2018, lithium’s value has yet to rise.

Conspiracy theorists think Mr Musk merely wants to prod producers to expand output by threatening to enter the market himself.

He might, however, have an environmental reason for seeking his own supply. Lithium extracted from brine water through evaporation, as done in Chile by SQM, burns energy when it is shipped. Roasting out lithium from ores using fossil fuels, the practice in China, also creates pollution.

If Musk is focusing on the end-to-end environmental cost of electric cars, he would be ahead of the curve again — however silly vertical integration looks at first glance.

BreakingViews : Circular logic, Kering can turn resale weakness into a strength

Tired of that $2,000 Ophidia bag? A new collaboration between Kering’s top brand Gucci and U.S. second-hand bling player The RealReal can help you sell it – and save the planet too. For every transaction the companies pledge to plant a tree in California and the Amazon, and reuse means items won’t end up in a landfill.

Great. But Gucci’s dip into vintage sales is probably about self-interest as well as environmental, social and governance concerns. Besides Covid-19, luxury players like $87 billion Kering face a looming threat from shoppers’ growing appetite for pre-worn bling. At 26 billion euros, the second-hand luxury market’s revenue is worth just 9% of the global sales for personal goods. But it has been growing faster, Bain data show. The pandemic and shoppers’ more urgent green awareness will only accelerate the trend.

For Kering’s boss François-Henri Pinault, embracing second-hand admittedly carries the risk of brand cannibalisation and counterfeiting. Chanel has accused The RealReal of selling fake goods. With the number of first-time luxury buyers still rising, second-hand bling may also seem a challenge that can for now be ignored. Chinese shoppers, the sector’s main constituency, have yet to warm to used goods.

But if Kering doesn’t do it, someone else will. And today’s vintage clothing lovers, usually young and wary of waste, may transition to newer items, especially if they’re produced sustainably. Winning insight on those potential clients is valuable.

Gucci’s pilot project with The RealReal, announced on Oct. 5, is little more than a start. The U.S. consignment company will retain ownership of the names and addresses of buyers and sellers. But Gucci will get some general stats on their profiles and appetite for vintage products.

Depending on how that goes, Pinault could go further. Kering could set up a vintage e-commerce business for its brand collection, which also includes Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. Or it could just buy The RealReal. At $1.2 billion, the U.S.-listed group – which trades some 32% below its mid-2019 initial public offering price – would be a small bite to swallow and its fragmented ownership could be willing to sell. Cartier owner Richemont took a similar step when it bought second-hand site Watchfinder in 2018. Kering could simply follow suit.

WSJ : Beirut Explosion: What Happened in Lebanon and Everything Else We Know

Beirut Explosion: What Happened in Lebanon and Everything Else We Know
Warehouse fire ignited a cache of explosive ammonium nitrate, authorities say, leading to more than two dozen arrests but no ministers among them

Nearly 200 people were killed and more than 6,000 injured in a massive explosion at the port in Beirut on Aug. 4, ravaging the heart of residential areas and the city’s vibrant downtown business district. Dozens of people are unaccounted for. Here is what we know so far.

What happened in Beirut?
A giant explosion at a warehouse in the port sent a shock wave through east and downtown Beirut at about 6 p.m. local time on Aug. 4. Videos of the blast posted on social media showed smoke billowing from the warehouse on the waterfront before a massive explosion produced a dome-shaped cloud that engulfed large parts of central Beirut. The force of the blast did tremendous damage to the surrounding neighborhoods and nearby buildings. The homes of tens of thousands of people were damaged by the blast.

Beirut Blast
Beirut was rocked by an explosion felt as far as 150 miles away in Cyprus on Tuesday.


What caused the explosion in Beirut?
Authorities say the blast occurred when a fire at a warehouse—Hangar 12—on the city’s waterfront ignited a cache of ammonium nitrate, an explosive material that had been stored at the site for more than six years.

What is ammonium nitrate?
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound most commonly used in fertilizers. It is also used to make explosives and was used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

Fire, Blast and Shockwave
How ammonium nitrate stored in Beirut's port caused chaos through the city
Who is responsible?
The Lebanese government is facing questions about why the explosive chemicals were stored at the port.

Lebanese authorities say the explosives originally entered Beirut’s port on a ship bound for Mozambique in 2013. Shiparrested.com, a shipping industry newsletter, said in 2015 that the vessel, which was carrying 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, was forced to dock in 2013 in Beirut due to technical problems. Its owners later abandoned it there. Local authorities transferred the explosives to a warehouse in the port and were meant to dispose of them safely, according to the newsletter, but they never did.

The Lebanese army on Sept. 3 said it found more than four tons of ammonium nitrate near Beirut’s port. An engineering team discovered the chemical during a search of a warehouse that was requested by the customs agency at the port, an army official said. It wasn’t immediately clear if the chemical was from the same stockpile that blew up, but it served as a reminder of the security lapses that led to the Aug. 4 blast.

Lebanese leaders have backed a probe that has focused on junior officials working at the port, but residents say they want national leaders held accountable for years of poor governance and corruption.

More than two dozen people have been arrested in connection with the explosion as on Oct. 22, according to state media. No ministers have been charged.

Escalating protests forced Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his cabinet to resign a week after the blast. Lebanon’s ambassador to Germany, Mustapha Adib, was named the next prime minister on Aug. 31 but he also quit in September after failing to form a government.

On Oct. 22, Lebanon’s political elite named former Prime Minister Saad Hariri as the country’s next premier a year after he quit the position under pressure from popular protests. The move risks angering many Lebanese who sought a complete overhaul of the political system they blame for the deadly Beirut explosion.

What is the Lebanon’s economic situation now?
Lebanon’s already fragile economy has deteriorated amid lockdowns imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus. The value of the country’s currency has plummeted in recent months, and its overtaxed power system has plunged the capital of Beirut into darkness for hours at a time. The economy is expected to contract by 12% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Foreign governments are rushing short-term aid to Lebanon. French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a United Nations-backed international aid conference that secured nearly $300 million in aid pledges aimed at providing the Lebanese people with medical help, food and means to rebuild schools and hospitals.

However, chronic corruption as well as Hezbollah’s dominance over Lebanon’s political system could impede large-scale aid or a bailout. The Iran-backed Shiite group has been designated by the U.S. as a terror group and the international community appears tired of bailing out Lebanon’s economy without meaningful reform.

Mr. Macron, on his second visit to Beirut since the explosion, on Sept. 1 pressed Lebanon’s leaders to form a government within two weeks and deliver long-delayed reforms, promising international aid in return that would help the country stave off an economic collapse. By the end of September, Mr. Macron accused Lebanon’s leaders of betrayal after they failed to form a government, saying they only serve their own interests.

How has the coronavirus pandemic affected the country?
Lebanon’s health-care system has been strained by a rising number of coronavirus infections. Its caseload has increased to almost 65,000 as of Oct. 21. Beds earmarked for Covid-19 treatment are nearing capacity. Many of Beirut’s hospitals were quickly overwhelmed after the blast, owing to the country’s poor infrastructure and the strained resources that were devoted to combating the coronavirus.

How have Lebanese people responded to the explosion amid economic and political crises?
Critics of the Lebanese government are asking how and why the fire and resulting explosion took place. Tens of thousands of protesters converged days after the blast on central Beirut, some clashing with security forces and taking over government buildings, as they demanded revenge. More than 700 people were injured in the protests, according to first responders. The protests have since subsided.

The mass demonstration followed large protests that erupted in Lebanon in 2019 to denounce government corruption and mismanagement. Protesters took to the streets again in April as the coronavirus and financial crisis heaped economic pressure on ordinary Lebanese people. They attacked bank buildings as they vented frustration at soaring prices of food and other goods and what many Lebanese see as a sclerotic political system unwilling to fix the country’s problems.

The World Food Program is providing emergency support for the thousands of Beirut residents who have lost their homes. It also warned that the damage to the port—through which much of the country’s imports flow—could send food prices higher. Prices for some staples had already more than doubled this year in Lebanon.

WSJ : Google Lawsuit Could Alter Business Calculations in Enterprise Tech Market

Google Lawsuit Could Alter Business Calculations in Enterprise Tech Market
“Every company will have to think about how competitors can access their platform,” says Ray Wang of Constellation Research

The antitrust lawsuit filed against Google this week is focused mostly on the Alphabet Inc. unit’s consumer business, but it also will have implications for the enterprise tech market where Google aspires to a greater role.

The suit could make it harder for Google to grow its share of the market for business software and services, where it has been hiring more staff, including senior executives. And other enterprise tech companies will have to be aware of the boundaries that emerge from Google’s contest with the government and be prepared to tread lightly.

Michael Bradshaw, chief information officer at NBCUniversal Media LLC, said the entertainment giant has limited exposure to Google’s enterprise tools today, but “risk evaluations” about the unit could come into play if his company used more.

“If using more of their enterprise toolsets, I’d be keenly focused on how sustainable a future they could have with any potential antitrust actions,” he said in an email.

The case against Google could take years. Analysts say there are many possible scenarios for how it unfolds.

Ray Wang, an analyst with Constellation Research Inc., said the lawsuit signals the need for companies to make sure they give rivals fair access to their tech platforms. This mostly applies to large tech companies, but could stretch to other industries and up-and-coming firms—especially as they increasingly chase data, scout tech talent and develop their own tech.

“Every company will have to think about how competitors can access their platform, how they can maintain a competitive environment, and what actions [they] need to take to look like they are an open ecosystem,” he said.

If Google loses, the broad implications of a potential breakup of the company on the enterprise tech market will depend on how the company might be divided up, said Tim Crawford, a CIO strategic adviser at consulting firm AVOA. He said one plausible outcome would see the creation of one entity that handles search operations and a separate one running the ad business. While not ideal for Google, he said, it would create competition for the ads business without cutting into the strength of the data.

Splitting business units could have implications for Google’s recruiting efforts, said Mike Tung, CEO at Diffbot, which runs an AI-powered search engine for businesses and doesn’t directly compete with Google’s search business.

“I think the real structural effect of that split would be Google’s ability to hire and attract,” he said. “An antitrust breakup would just exacerbate this effect.”

Google is trying to catch up in the cloud computing market with leaders Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Corp.’s Azure. It hired Thomas Kurian, a former top executive at Oracle Corp. , to run Google Cloud, and has been restructuring the division in an effort to boost growth.

Because the lawsuit focuses on Google’s consumer-facing business, the effect on Google’s enterprise IT business—known as Google Cloud Platform—will probably be muted, said Mike Gualtieri, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc. He added that Google’s rivals are unlikely to benefit from the lawsuit if it is part of a broader regulatory effort to crimp the power of big tech companies.

Google Cloud offers cloud services, software applications and AI services and competes with AWS and Azure.

Forrester estimates that the Google Cloud unit will have 2020 revenues of $12 billion in 2020, compared with $43 billion for AWS and $23 billion for Azure.

But the issue of tech monopolies isn’t cut-and-dried and may miss some aspects of the enterprise tech market that make it more competitive than it may appear, according to Mr. Wang of Constellation.

He added that Google’s dominance in search doesn’t always lead to dominance in other markets, such as commerce.

“Someone who searches on Google might end up buying on Amazon,” he said.

AVOA’s Mr. Crawford said he has doubts about how much good would come from breaking up the tech giants, partly because the data they have amassed drive benefits for the enterprise tech market as a whole.

“That isn’t good as companies enter an era where insights from data and cloud resources are key,” he said.

FT : Billionaire Chris Hohn forces first annual investor vote on climate policy

Billionaire Chris Hohn forces first annual investor vote on climate policy
Spanish airport group Aena agrees to put its efforts to tackle global warming to annual meeting

Spanish airports operator Aena is set to become the first company in the world to give shareholders an annual vote on its effort to tackle climate change, buckling to pressure from billionaire UK hedge fund manager Chris Hohn. 

Mr Hohn’s TCI Fund Management, one of Aena’s largest independent shareholders, has been at loggerheads with the airport operator for a year over its response to global warming.

On Thursday, Aena agreed to his demands, underlining the fierce pressure companies are under to respond to investor concerns about climate change.

Maurici Lucena Betriu, chairman and chief executive of Aena, said that following discussions with Mr Hohn, the airport group had developed an ambitious climate transition plan and was happy to give shareholders a yearly say on it.

“I am very convinced about the solidity of the plan and the ambition. I am also convinced it is a manageable plan,” he said “There will be no trade-off between climate protection and overall profitability.”

He added: “We are well aware of the growing importance of this issue [climate change] everywhere, but particularly in the air transport sector.”

Institutional investors are increasingly vocal about climate change, driven partly by fears that those businesses which are slow to react could be hard hit by the transition to a lower carbon economy.

Mr Hohn, who sits on Aena’s board and helps manage $28bn at TCI, said Aena’s company’s climate plan was excellent and welcomed the annual vote shareholders will have on it.

“This accountability mechanism is essential for ensuring that companies take the climate issue seriously and are both transparent and accountable to shareholders for their climate plans,” he told the Financial Times.

The vote is akin to the advisory so-called say on pay votes held at shareholder meetings in the UK and US.

Under its new plan, Aena, which oversees Madrid-Barajas and Palma de Mallorca airports, will generate all of its energy from renewable sources by 2026. Aena, which has been hit hard by the pandemic and slumped to a net loss of €171m for the first half of 2020, has also outlined other efforts to reduce its carbon emissions.

“Chris is not the easiest board member I have ever met, but I am very happy to work with him, because I think the combination is good news for the company and shareholders,” said Mr Lucena Betriu.

In recent years, investors have filed resolutions calling for companies to set out plans to transition to a lower carbon economy. But Mr Hohn said the next step was to ensure investors were given the opportunity to vote annually on how all businesses were responding to climate change.

Earlier this year, Mark Carney, the former Bank of England governor, said that a vote on climate plans would “embed the critical link between responsibility and accountability.”.

“As an increasing number of firms disclose their assessment of climate risks, investors should have the opportunity to opine on the quality of these disclosures and so called transition plans,” Mr Carney said.

Mr Hohn’s resolution will now go to a vote at the group’s annual meeting later this month, where it is expected to pass thanks to the Spanish state’s majority ownership and management’s backing.

Even before the board changed its stance, Institutional Shareholder Services, the world’s largest proxy adviser, had called on investors to back Mr Hohn’s proposal, arguing it would “improve Aena's transparency on its environmental actions” and that it was “not overly burdensome for the company”.

>>> SPACs 10/22/20

Today:

 

ALAC S/H Redemption Deadline

BMRG/Eos Energy BMRG S/H Record Date (expected, per NYSE)

DPHC/Lordstown Motors DPHC Special Meeting in Lieu of 202 0 Annual Meeting 10:00am ET

KBLM/CannBioRx KBLM S/H Redemption Deadline 5:00pm ET

LGC/Onyx Enterprises Joint Presentation at Webinar Hosted by SPACInsider and ICR 2:00pm ET

RICE/U First Day of Trading

SRAC/Momentus Inc. HSR Filing Deadline

 

ACAM/CarLotz, Inc, Announce Business Combination

Investor Conference Call Information

CarLotz and Acamar Partners will host a joint investor conference call to discuss the proposed transaction on Thursday, October 22 at 9:00 am ET.

Interested parties may listen to the conference call via telephone by dialing 1-877-451-6152, or for international callers, 1-201-389-0879. A telephone replay will be available until 11:59 pm ET on October 29, 2020 and can be accessed by dialing 1-844-512-2921, or for international callers, 1-412-317-6671 and entering replay Pin number: 13712290.

Merger Agreement Filed

 

LOAC/DDDD LN

Signs merger pact with  4D Pharma PLC (AIM: DDDD LN)

The deal is worth up to $37.6 million to 4D pharma. As a result of the merger, 4D pharma plans to launch a new NASDAQ-listed American Depositary Share (ADS) programme under the ticker symbol ‘LBPS’ and will immediately be admitted to trading on NASDAQ upon completion. 4D pharma will become dual-listed and ordinary shares will continue to be traded on AIM under the ticker symbol ‘DDDD’.

DDDD LN with terms/background to transaction

 

TEKKU

Prices IPO

The units will be listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) and will begin trading tomorrow, Thursday, October 22, 2020, under the ticker symbol "TEKKU".

Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. Only whole warrants are exercisable. Once the securities comprising the units commence separate trading, the Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants are expected to be respectively listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “TEKK” and “TEKKW”. The offering is expected to close on October 26, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions.

 

SPAQ/Fisker

Fisker CEO interview with Jim Cramer 10/21/20 transcript

 

CTAC/U

Prices IPO

 The units will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and trade under the ticker symbol “CTAC.U” beginning on October 22, 2020. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the Class A ordinary shares and warrants are expected to be listed on the NYSE under the symbols “CTAC” and “CTAC WS,” respectively. The initial public offering is expected to close on October 26, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions.

 

YSACU

Prices IPO

The units will be listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC (“NASDAQ”) and will trade under the ticker symbol “YSACU” beginning on October 22, 2020. Each unit issued in the offering consists of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock and one-half of one warrant, each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. The offering is expected to close on October 26, 2020, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. After the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the shares of Class A common stock and warrants are expected to be listed on NASDAQ under the symbols “YSAC” and “YSACW,” respectively. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade.

 

BLSA

Prices IPO

announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 12,500,000 Class A ordinary shares at a price of $10.00 per share. The Class A ordinary shares will be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market and trade under the ticker symbol “BLSA” beginning on October 22, 2020.

 

ALAC

On October 19, 2020, Mr. John W. Allen resigned from his positions as an independent director and the chairman of the compensation committee of Alberton Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) and Mr. Harry Edelson resigned from his positions as an independent director and the chairman of audit committee of the Company. Their resignation did not result from a disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices.

On October 20, 2020, the Board appointed Mr. William Walter Young as an independent director and the chairman of the compensation committee and Mr. Qing S. Huang as an independent director and the chairman of the audit committee of the Board of the Company to fill the vacancies created by Mr. Allen and Mr. Edelson, effective immediately.

As a result, the Board currently have two executive directors and three independent directors.

The Company is currently completing the due diligence and negotiation of a definitive agreement to merge with a domestic integrated solar and renewable energy company, which has operations in both the United States and China, and it expects to enter into a definitive agreement by October 30, 2020.

 

HYAC

Files updated investor presentation

 

RICE/U

Prices IPO

The units will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") and trade under the ticker symbol "RICE U" beginning on October 22, 2020. Each unit consists of one share of the Company's Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of the Company's Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the shares of Class A common stock and warrants are expected to be listed on the NYSE under the symbols "RICE" and "RICE WS," respectively.

 

BHSEU

S-1/A#3 Filed (redline attached)

Add  “Certain qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors not affiliated with our sponsor or any member of our management have indicated to us that they each intend to purchase units in this offering at a level of up to 9.9% of the units subject to this offering. In consideration of this, our sponsor has agreed that these investors will purchase membership interests in our sponsor, for nominal consideration, entitling them to an interest in an aggregate of up to 270,000 founder shares held by our sponsor. In addition, another institutional investor and existing member of our sponsor has provided an indication of interest in purchasing units in this offering and will be participating in the purchase of the private placement warrants through our sponsor. See the section titled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for further information.” (p.3), Anchor founder shares disclosures (p.15)

 

CRSA

Crescent Acquisition Corp (the “Company”) currently intends to hold its first Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) on December 17, 2020, at a time and location to be determined and specified in the Company’s definitive proxy statement related to the Annual Meeting.

 

AONE/U

ION Acquisition Corp 1 Ltd. Announces Separate Trading of its Ordinary Shares and Warrants, Commencing October 27, 2020

TZAC/Reviva

On October 21, 2020, Tenzing Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: TZAC, TZACW, TZACU) , a special purpose acquisition company organized under the laws of the British Virgin Islands (together with its successors, the “Company” or “Tenzing”), entered into backstop agreements (each, a “Backstop Agreement”) with Reviva Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Reviva”), and certain investors (the “Backstop Investors”) in connection with the Company’s previously announced proposed business combination (the “Reviva Business Combination”) with Reviva.

 

CFAC/GCM Grosvenor

GCM Grosvenor Raises its 2020 Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income Guidance; Announces Special Meeting of CFAC Stockholders and Board of Directors

 

 

From Yesterday:

 

HCCO/Soc Telemec

SOC Telemed and HCCO Announce Special Meeting Date and Identify New Director Nominees in Anticipation of Close of Business Combination

 

NOVS/AppHarvest

AppHarvest Opens One of the World’s Largest High-Tech Greenhouses in Appalachia to Redefine American Agriculture

 

MFAC/BankMobile

Investor Presentation Filed

 

TMTSU

Reports Closing of IPO, Sale of Private Placement Warrants

On October 19, 2020, Spartacus Acquisition Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), consummated its initial public offering (the “IPO”) of 20,000,000 units (the “Units”).

Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, pursuant to the Warrant Subscription Agreements, the Company completed the private sale of an aggregate of 8,750,000 Warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”). 8,104,244 of the Private Placement Warrants were sold to the Sponsor and 645,756 of the Private Placement Warrants were sold to B. Riley Principal Investments, LLC at a purchase price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $8,750,000.

 

SEAH/U

Reports Over-Allotment in Connection with IPO

In connection with the closing and sale of the Over-Allotment Units and 1,000,000 additional Private Placement Warrants (together, the “Over-Allotment Closing”), a total of $50,000,000 comprised of $49,000,000 of the proceeds from the closing and sale of the Over-Allotment Units (which amount includes $1,750,000 of the Underwriters’ deferred discount) and $1,000,000 of the proceeds of the sale of the additional 1,000,000 Private Placement Warrants, was placed in a U.S.-based trust account, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. As a result of the Underwriters’ partial exercise of the over-allotment option, the Sponsor forfeited 250,000 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value per share.

 

AGBA

AGBA Announces Change in Certifying Accountant

On October 15, 2020, AGBA Acquisition Limited (the “Company”) dismissed Marcum LLP (“Marcum”) as its independent registered public accounting firm. Effective October 20, 2020, Friedman LLP (“Friedman”) has been engaged as the Company’s new independent registered public accounting firm. The audit committee of the Company’s board of directors (the “Audit Committee”), on October 15, 2020, approved the dismissal of Marcum and the engagement of Friedman as the independent registered public accounting firm.

 

HZON/U

424B4 Filed

 

HLXA

424B4 Filed

 

CFACU

S-1/A#1 Filed

Exhibits only

 

SRSAU

424B4 Filed

 

ATACU

S-1/A#2 Filed (redline attached)

Reduces size of IPO from $300M to $250M (p.14)

 

ARBG/U

S-1/A#1 Filed

change ticker from ARBGU, ARBGW to ARBG/U and ARBG/W

 

 

DISCLAIMER This information represents neither an offer to buy or sell any security nor, because it does not take into account the differing needs of individual clients, investment advice. Those seeking investment advice specific to their financial profiles and goals should contact their Oscar Gruss & Son Incorporated sales representative. Oscar Gruss & Son Incorporated believes this information to be reliable, but no representation is made as to accuracy or completeness. This information does not analyze every material fact concerning a company, industry, or security. Oscar Gruss & Son Incorporated assumes that this information will be read in conjunction with other publicly available data. Matters discussed here are subject to change without notice. There can be no assurance that reliance on the information contained here will produce profitable results. A security denominated in a foreign currency is subject to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which may have an adverse effect on the value of the security upon the conversion into local currency of dividends, interest, or sales proceeds. The value of securities and depositary receipts of foreign issuers that are denominated in United States dollars are also influenced by fluctuations in currency exchange rates. © 2020 Oscar Gruss & Son Incorporated. All rights reserved.

FT : EU explores tougher curbs on City hedge fund managers

EU explores tougher curbs on City hedge fund managers
European Commission consults on restricting overseas management of firms

Brussels is exploring whether to restrict the possibility for hedge funds to be managed from overseas financial centres such as the City of London, reviving an idea that UK asset managers see as an existential threat. 

The European Commission included questions on a possible tightening of the rules governing hedge funds in a consultation paper published on Thursday, picking up on suggestions earlier this year from the bloc’s top market regulator that “delegation” of fund management should be more clearly limited in response to Brexit.

A practice at the heart of global investment management, delegation allows managers to base and sell funds in the EU, while outsourcing investment decisions to financial centres such as the UK, which will become a so-called third country at the end of the Brexit transition period.

Existing EU rules say that delegation should be for clear business reasons and not undermine the effectiveness of supervision by national regulators, but do not set prescriptive limits.

The consultation document asks if the bloc should go further, for example by setting “quantitative” limits on delegation or establishing a list of “core or critical functions” that should be performed in the EU. 

“What is concerning is that the EU is using Brexit as an excuse for changing international norms,” said one UK fund management executive. The person added that the push to tighten the delegation rules was a politically motivated manoeuvre aimed at forcing investment groups to shift portfolio manager jobs — the sector’s most “high-profile, profitable functions” — to continental Europe.

The commission document also asks whether action is needed to clamp down on “letterbox entities” — shell companies that take orders from foreign delegates — and whether different rules are needed depending on delegates’ location in order to safeguard investor protection.

While Brussels insists it is not prejudging the conclusions of the review, the idea of restricting delegation fits with broader themes of onshoring and centralising oversight that have come to the fore in EU financial services policy since the 2016 Brexit vote.

As the EU has grappled with the implications of the City leaving the bloc’s regulatory purview, Brussels has toughened its assessments of whether non-EU financial services firms should be granted key market access rights. The EU has also legislated to allow it to force critical market infrastructure to move into the bloc to serve European customers.

The UK is the second-largest portfolio management centre in the world, managing £8.5tn in assets, according to trade body the Investment Association. Of this sum, about £2.1tn is managed on a delegated basis on behalf of EU-based investors.

The commission consultation paper only covers hedge funds and other “alternative investment” vehicles such as private equity funds because it is the start of a planned review of a 2011 law, known as the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), that regulates the sector. 

But the EU’s markets regulator already called in August for “further legal clarifications on the maximum extent of delegation” for both this industry and for retail investment funds, which are governed by a different regulatory framework known as Ucits. 

Those proposals spooked international asset managers, who fear an overhaul would lead to fragmentation and severe disruption to their operating models.

Should the commission decide to press ahead, it will relaunch a policy battle that has already played out once since the Brexit vote. In 2017, Brussels pushed to toughen enforcement of existing constraints on delegation.

Despite the enthusiasm of some EU governments, including France, the 2017 plan was eventually beaten back by other member states, with the criticisms led by Luxembourg, whose large fund industry is closely interlinked with London.

The commission’s consultation paper also questions the use of national placement regimes that allow fund managers based in non-EU territories, such as Jersey, Guernsey and the Cayman Islands, to serve clients in individual EU countries, asking whether they “create an uneven playing field” between EU and non-EU fund managers.

There are concerns in Brussels that fund managers may be deliberately choosing that approach because of a lighter regulatory and supervisory burden compared with setting up shop in Europe and complying with the AIFMD.

WSJ : A Hermès Trend Other Luxury Brands Hope to Copy

A Hermès Trend Other Luxury Brands Hope to Copy
Sales at the French handbag company increased 7% in the third quarter, and Chinese shoppers aren’t the only ones driving demand


Wealthy people used to buy designer goods on their travels. Now they might be buying them because they can’t go anywhere.

On Thursday, French handbag maker Hermès became the first major luxury-goods company to report a return to growth in the third quarter. Sales at constant currencies increased 7% compared with the same period of last year. Analysts covering the stock had anticipated a slight decline.

The Chinese are driving most of the recovery, but not all. The level of demand from local European and U.S. consumers in the summer was a surprise at both Hermès and its Parisian peer LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which reported its third-quarter numbers last week. In its Americas region, Hermès sales were just 5.2% below their level a year ago, even though the brand’s Hawaii boutiques have been closed since August. European buyers are also offsetting some of the drop in demand from tourists in Hermès’ home market.

The severity of the Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions in the West mean cash that would otherwise be spent on holidays or in restaurants is finding its way into the tills of designer brands. Consultants at Bain have forecast a sales decline of 20% to 35% across the global luxury-goods industry in 2020. If shoppers have fewer opportunities to spend on experiences, the high end of that range may be too pessimistic.

“The idea that we would have to wait a few years for luxury brands to get back to 2019 levels was wrong,” says Bernstein analyst Luca Solca.

For now, investors are betting that the biggest luxury brands will hoover up all the spoils. Hermès stock is up 23% this year. LVMH, whose most important assets are Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton, has gained a more modest 4% as its duty-free retail and cosmetics businesses are highly exposed to airports.

The bet on top brands has form: They have grown much faster than the luxury-goods industry as a whole in recent years. Still, signs that shoppers are buying again in mature markets might be positive news for the laggards too. Shares in Burberry and Compagnie Financière Richemont, which owns Cartier as well as lots of smaller Swiss watch brands, are down around one-third and one-fifth respectively this year. They may have more potential to surprise investors than blue chips such as Hermès, whose stock rose 3% Thursday.

Selling to Chinese consumers is still crucial if luxury brands want to dig themselves out of their hole. But the recovery should be faster if shoppers close to home are splashing out too. Hermès and LVMH’s flagship leather-goods division might not be the only ones to benefit.