5th December 2021
Welcome to this Sunday’s rundown on what happened during the week.
If this was forwarded to you, consider subscribing.
[M&A] Walgreens Boots Alliance is lining up advisers to explore options including the sale of Boots, five years after it took full ownership of the UK retail pharmacy chain. Goldman Sachs will be asked to examine the hiving off of the Boots chain, which was founded in Nottingham by a Methodist family in 1849, potentially via a sale or separate listing. Boots was a UK-listed company until 2007, when it was taken private by Italian pharmacy magnate Stefano Pessina and private equity group KKR, in what was then the UK’s largest leveraged buyout.
Over60: FT
[Tech] Donald Trump’s social media start-up has raised $1bn from unidentified investors as it presses ahead with plans to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. Trump Media and Technology Group said on Saturday that it had raised $1bn in private investment in public equity (Pipe) financing, but did not name any investors. The move comes as Trump remains banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Over60: FT
[Markets] Didi Chuxing said it would commence the process of removing its stock from the New York Stock Exchange for a listing in Hong Kong, as China’s dominant ride-hailing service operator makes an unprecedented exit from the world’s largest capital market five months after Chinese regulators opened a probe into the company.
Over60: South China Morning Post
[Commodities] Chinese mining groups are scouting opportunities in Afghanistan to access the country’s lithium and copper deposits, as Beijing steps into the void left by the US and its allies just months after the Taliban seized power. A group of mining industry representatives has visited Afghanistan in recent weeks, according to a senior official in Kabul and a representative from a Chinese industry association.
“China has managed to maintain a direct line of communication with the Taliban since August 2021 and being among the first few countries to send aid definitely boosted its relations with the Taliban which are eager for finances to stabilise the Afghan economy,”
- Claudia Chia, National University of Singapore
Over60: FT
If you enjoyed this brief rundown or if you have any other feedback, please reply lets us know.
If this was forwarded to you, consider subscribing.
Until next week,
Team Under60