Business news in brief
L&G closes £4.4bn British Airways pension deal
Legal & General has closed a deal to insure £4.4bn of British Airways’ historic pensions liabilities, the insurer said yesterday. The transaction will cover about 22,000 pensioners and is the largest ever bulk annuity policy arranged with a UK pension scheme, the insurer said, with L&G chief executive Nigel Wilson adding that further transactions are planned in the next few months to remove legacy liabilities. “The second half of 2018 is likely to be a record six months for our PRT [pensions risk transfer] business,” he said in a statement. British Airways, owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group, is among a number of large British companies that have big pension deficits and are looking to reassure investors about large sums owed to former workers. Reuters
Amsterdam lures ‘Netflix of sport’ in boost for media ambitions
Amsterdam’s effort to rival London as a global media hub is gaining momentum. The city’s wide pool of English-speaking skilled workers and strong international transport links have already convinced US video streaming giant Netflix, Uber, Amazon and Viacom to establish a presence there. Now billionaire Len Blavatnik’s sport streaming service DAZN has picked Amsterdam for a new development centre, hiring
300 staff as it tries to become a Netflix of sports with a foothold in 20 countries. Dutch officials are pitching the city as a safe alternative to the UK for media and tech firms whose businesses could be disrupted by Brexit. “We looked at several global locations, but nothing came close to Amsterdam for its infrastructure and the ability to attract the best global tech talent,” said Ben Lavender, DAZN’s chief product officer in a statement. Bloomberg
GVC flags more savings from Ladbrokes deal
Gambling firm GVC Holdings said yesterday it had identified an extra £30m in cost savings from its £4bn purchase of Ladbrokes Coral as it reported solid half year results and a surge in revenue in July and August. The company, alongside other UK bookmakers, benefited from the World Cup tournament in July despite England’s semi-final loss to Croatia, as the event helped boost online sportsbook transactions and new online accounts. The company confirmed earlier guidance for an 8 percent rise in revenue when comparing the performance of the whole business to Ladbrokes and GVC performance a year ago. Reuters
Toyota ready to share hybrid-car secrets with China
Toyota is preparing to divulge details of the hybrid-car engine technology it pioneered with the Prius to China in an attempt to catch up with rivals in the world’s biggest auto market. Chinese officials asked Toyota to share its gasoline-electric technology to help local companies meet stricter emissions targets, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the talks are private. Seeing this as a chance to make inroads in China, Toyota has engaged in advanced talks to license its hybrid system to Chinese carmaker Geely, two of the people said. Bloomberg
Chinese shoppers fall out of love with Apple and Nike
Move over Apple and Nike. Chinese phone maker Huawei and food delivery giant Meituan-Dianping have replaced you as some of China’s favourite brands. The once-coveted brands of multinationals are losing ground to local companies in the world’s most populous country, according to a new report on the country’s 50 most relevant brands. Chinese brands now take up 30 of the 50 slots, with online payment operator Alipay, owned by an affiliate of Alibaba, at the top. That’s a big change from 2016 when only 18 local names made the top 50 brands in the survey by consultancy firm Prophet. Bloomberg
Eurozone banks adopt ECB rate after Euribor scandal
The eurozone’s top lenders have decided to adopt the European Central Bank’s newly created rate of overnight interbank lending as their new benchmark, in the first move to reform a crucial market beleaguered by manipulation scandals. The ECB’s euro short-term rate (Ester) will replace Eonia as the reference gauge of how much banks charge for lending to each other overnight, a key metric of the health of the banking system and the basis for pricing trillions of euros worth of financial contracts. Reuters
Daimler buys 20% stake in VW’s Heycar used-car platform
Germany’s Daimler is buying a 20 per cent stake in Heycar, a used-car portal launched last year by its rival Volkswagen, VW said yesterday. Daimler is acquiring the shares through a capital increase at Mobility Trader Holding company, which operates Heycar through a subsidiary in Germany, Volkswagen added.
The purchase price was not made public. VW’s financing arm wants the online platform to compete in the used-cars market with German market leader mobile.de and Autoscout.24, which is run by Scout24. Reuters
WPP subsidiary names new CEO
WPP subsidiary Wunderman named Mel Edwards as its new global chief executive yesterday, moving to replace Mark Read after his promotion last week to lead the world’s biggest advertising company. Edwards has served as the chief of Wunderman’s Europe, Middle East and Africa operations for the past three years, it said. Reuters