The news about the merger of Essilor and Luxottica Group travels through the world’s financial market at cyber speed today as the world’s biggest eyewear companies are combining via a $50 billion merger. The combined company would have more than 140,000 employees and sales in more than 150 countries. Currently, a whopping 2,600 Sentifi financial voices are discussing this visionary deal, so stay with us to not miss out on any financial insights.
Essilor International: Shares surge following the merger announcement
The French sunglass giant Essilor is merging with Luxottica, the owner of Rayban and Oakley, to create a new holding company with a new name called EssilorLuxottica. Eissilor shares jumped 14 percent while Luxottica shares soared 9 percent. The companies said the merger will help with cost savings while increasing revenues by €400-600 million per year. Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio will lead the combined company as chairman and CEO. “Finally, after 50 years, two products which are naturally complementary, namely frames and lenses, will be designed, manufactured and distributed under the same roof,” Del Vecchio said.
Rodrigo Duterte: Russia sees President Duterte as a friend
In a recent interview with CNN, Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev said Russia sees Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte as a friend, and his government will welcome President Duterte anytime in Russia. Mr. Khovaev added that the relations between the Philippines and Russia have always been positive, and that Russia is ready to sign bilateral agreements with the Philippines.
Reliance Industries Ltd.: Gained 72.4 million subscribers within four months
The Indian telecommunications giant Reliance revealed its telecom subsidiary Jio has gained 72.4 million subscribers within four months but not without congestion issues due to the interconnect capacity provided by some large operators being below requirement. Jio has 175 calls failing out of every 1,000 calls while the service quality regulations demand that no more than 5 calls out of every 1,000 calls can fail. The company blamed large operators for inadequate provision of points of interconnection capacities that failed to keep up with Jio “state-of-the-art network.”
Hugo Boss: Profit progresses
The German clothing company saw its shares jump 7.75 percent after it reported better-than-expected Q4 sales, putting 2016 operating profit at the upper end of its forecast. Though the company forecast full-year 2016 sales would be down 4 percent, growth in Europe and Asia helped offset the falling sales elsewhere. Sales in Europe were up 2 percent, while sales in Asia rose 5 percent, with China alone seeing a 20 percent growth.
Noble Energy: Expands in America’s hottest shale play
Noble Energy is acquiring Clayton Williams Energy for $2.7 billion in stock and cash to create the second-largest acreage position in the Southern Delaware Basin of the Permian shale information. Noble will net more than 4,200 drilling locations on about 120,000 net acres, with resources of more than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. It also plans to increase production on the acquired assets to 60,000 barrels of oil a day by 2020 from 10,000 currently.
Rolls-Royce: Settles bribery and corruption claims with £671 million
The engineering group has reached a provisional deal with the U.K. and other international regulators over accusations that it landed international deals via bribery and conducted fraudulent activities. The regulators had conducted the investigation into the company since 2012. One of the allegations was that the company paid $20 million to Indonesia’s flag-carrier Garuda to buy Roll-Royce’s Trent 700 engines for its Airbus A330 airlines. It also got caught up in a massive bribery investigation in Brazil along with state-run oil company Petrobras.
GBP: Tanks ahead of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit speech
The currency fell to a three-month low as investors were worried that the prime minister would announce a “hard Brexit,” an economy-rolling clean break from the single market. Her office said she will call for a “global Britain that’s open to the world while also building a new and positive relationship with its European friends and neighbors.” It is contrary to what U.K. Chancellor Philip Hammond said as he warned that the U.K. would cut corporation tax and red tape to lure in businesses if the EU refused a trade deal to wound Britain.
Larry Fink: Advises Europe to bolster its capital markets
BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink, one of the most influential voices in the financial markets, urged Europe to bolster its capital markets to stop its heavy reliance on banks and insurance which is disturbing its economy and fueling frustration among workers. A strong capital markets and retirement systems can also unlock Europe’s economic potential, which has been locked up since the crisis, Fink said.
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