Rede TV: ref, we was robbed
By Andrew Downie in São Paulo
Perhaps only in Brazil, where football is fantasy and the normal rules of business don’t always apply, could one company double another’s offer and still not close a deal.
But that’s essentially what happened to Rede TV, a television station that bid R$1.5bn ($900m) for the right to screen Brazilian first division football matches between 2012 and 2014. Continue reading »
Deal of the day: Norilsk Nickel’s airline
By Marta Dovnar of mergermarket
To buy a domestic airline for one’s own corporate use in today’s climate may sound as if it’s bordering on the negligent or frivolous. But that is just what Russia’s Norilsk Nickel has done. Continue reading »
India’s grubby banknotes
India’s trillion dollar economy is thriving on hard cash transactions – but something nasty is lurking among the banknotes.
Drug-resistant strains of E. coli and 10 other bacteria can be found on almost all notes in the country, according to a study conducted in Mumbai by Manipal University. Continue reading »
[snap] Vale’s Agnelli: still at his desk
Speculation over the forced departure of Roger Agnelli is getting stronger by the day. The boss of Vale, the Brazilian mining giant that is the world’s biggest exporter of iron ore, has so far stayed out of the increasingly public discussion of his future.
But on Friday he issued a strangely defensive statement. Continue reading »
Fund flows: Investors not so hot on EM
Spring is not quite here yet for emerging market funds. Money flowed out of emerging market funds at a faster rate this week than last, as investors continued their move into developed market equities. Investors shifted $2.7bn out of EM equity funds in the week to Wednesday, says EPFR, the research company. Meanwhile, developed market funds saw a record $637m of inflows this week.
Still, the outflow is significantly less than in at the end of January when $7bn flowed out of global emerging market funds. Continue reading »
Hungary’s power thieves
When system controllers noticed the local electricity network was overloaded in Tiszavasvári, a town of 13,000 people in north-east Hungary, they became suspicious.
Their response was what they called a ‘commando raid’ by electrical technicians backed up by police. Their staggering discovery: 50 per cent of businesses inspected, and more than 80 per cent of households, were stealing electricity. Continue reading »
Indonesia needs roads, now
The head of Indonesia’s powerful chamber of commerce says major business opportunities are being missed because of the emerging market’s failing infrastructure.
Suryo Sulisto said the most common complaint he hears from businesses in Indonesia is the lack of roads, bridges, ports and electricity. He has called on the government to fast track multi-billion dollar projects to fight crippling transportation bottlenecks. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* Russian central bank leaves refinancing rate unchanged at 8%
* Nato agrees to split Libya operation
* China to speed up shale gas development
* India: Demand for most FMCG products remains stagnant during 2010
* Enercon in ‘feud’ with Indian unit Continue reading »
Asia markets: things are looking up
Asian shares rose for a fourth day this week on Friday amid renewed optimism about the global economic recovery and strong corporate earnings. Attention appears to be shifting away from headlines coming out of Japan and the Middle East to more domestic factors.
Asian currencies are looking firmer against the dollar and are back above levels just before Japan’s earthquake hit.
Chinese wages: exporting inflation
By Sun Yu of FT China Confidential
Chinese workers, makers of cheap goods for the world, are standing in the way of a global battle against inflation as their rapid ascent up the income ladder boosts the prices of exports to western consumers. The structural underpinnings behind the swelling wages of Chinese workers may portend a phase of exported inflation that runs for several years (see chart after the break).
According to a China Confidential survey in seven provinces, shortages of manufacturing labour are now present almost everywhere, even in rural counties that were once famous for supplying coastal factory towns with migrant workers. Continue reading »
China’s salt rush: bad for your health
The doctor did always say too much salt was unhealthy.
But for one Chinese man it wasn’t consumption of salt but rushing to buy 6.5 tonnes of the stuff amid a panic about radiation from Japan’s nuclear disaster that ended up being bad for his financial health. Continue reading »
Further reading: violent philanthropy
Friday’s best picks from the beyondbrics team: China and the Arab world, India’s latest startup challenges Google, and why the military is right to fret over Libya.
Also, Chinese billionaire discusses his idea of ‘violent philanthropy’. Continue reading »
Vietnam’s FTA with EU: is it for real?
Vietnam and the European Union agreed a year ago to open talks on a free trade agreement. There has been precious little progress since.
Both sides say publicly they have much to gain from sealing a deal. But there are tough issues to be dealt with and changing the status quo, especially in Vietnam, will meet powerful resistance. Continue reading »
AIG’s Taiwan sale: on the rocks again?
When AIG in January announced the winner of its second attempt to sell Nan Shan, its Taiwan life insurance unit, most people thought the two-year-long saga was entering its final act. After all, it would be awkward both for AIG and for Taiwan – trying to market itself as an international financial center – if the government once again scuppered the high profile, $2.15bn deal.
This week, however, Taiwan’s Financial Services Commission effectively said “not so fast” to AIG and Ruen Chen, the would-be buyer, and imposed strict new conditions on the sale. Continue reading »
London headlines
* Nato agrees to split Libya operation
* China to speed up shale gas development
* India: Demand for most FMCG products remains stagnant during 2010
* Enercon in ‘feud’ with Indian unit
* Jet makers land Chinese pacts Continue reading »
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