What You Need To Know This Week — March 16th, 2019
A weekly recap to keep you informed on the most important events this week impacting markets, business, tech and the global economy.
BARRICK SIGNS JOINT VENTURE WITH NEWMONT, SCRAPS HOSTILE BID
As we previously speculated, Barrick Gold signed a friendly joint venture agreement with Newmont Mining, dropping its hostile bid in the process. It appears that Barrick’s hostile bid was just a ploy to get Newmont to the negotiating table with respect to a joint venture — and it worked. The synergies, or cost savings, shared between the parties have an expected present value of US$2.6 billion.
BROOKFIELD BUYING MAJORITY STAKE OF OAKTREE CAPITAL FOR US$4.7 BILLION
In an effort to expand into new asset classes, Brookfield Asset Management is buying a majority take of distressed debt specialist Oaktree Capital Group. Oaktree Chairman Howard Marks and Co-Chairman Bruce Karsh will continue to maintain operational control of Oaktree. Did Marks, a master of the market cycle, mark the top of the cycle by selling his firm?
BOEING 737 AIRCRAFT CRASHES, TRAGICALLY KILLING ALL 157 PASSENGERS
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed without any survivors, the second time this model of aircraft has fatally crashed in the past 5 months. Canada and the U.S. both grounded the 737 Max passenger jet in response, following many other countries worldwide. The disruption, along with concerns of design flaws, a tarnished reputation and legal liability, led to Boeing’s stock losing -10.3% on the week, representing $25 billion of market value.
HEXO ACQUIRES NEWSTRIKE IN $260 MILLION CANNABIS DEAL
Quebec cannabis company HEXO is acquiring Newstrike brands in an all-stock $260 million deal. The transaction will make HEXO one of the top five cannabis companies in Canada, a group that includes Canopy Growth, Aurora, Aphria and Tilray.
U.K. MPs VOTE TO REJECT NO-DEAL BREXIT
MPs voted 312 to 308 to reject the scenario in which the U.K. would leave the EU with no trade agreements. The Brexit deadline of March 29th will likely be extended. What has been accomplished since the June 2016 referendum on the U.K.’s membership with the EU? Nothing.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES, PODCASTS, BOOKS AND TWEETS
Listen to ABC’s 7-part podcast series on the downfall of Theranos, the $9 billion Silicon Valley fraud run by the infamous Elizabeth Holmes.
Chipmaker Nvidia is acquiring Israeli chip designer Mellanox in a $6.8 billion deal in a bid to boost its datacenter business. Nvidia beat out rival Intel in the auction for Mellanox.
Eugene Wei’s “Status as a Service (StaaS)” describes how “people are status-seeking monkeys”.
Hedge funds used a boutique research firm to profit from Nintendo’s stock decline. The research correctly estimated that Nintendo was selling fewer Switch consoles than the market expected.
In a blow to crypto enthusiasts, the Cboe said it no longer plans to offer bitcoin futures contracts. The crypto industry was hoping that bitcoin futures would have led to the successful launch of a bitcoin ETF, which regulators have continuously rejected thus far. The Cboe blamed waning interest for the cancellation.
-The Accelerate Team
