Flash Briefing: Huawei hits back at US, Canada; Bristow’s $18bn deal “egocentric”; Eskom pulls in private sector

By Alec Hogg


In today’s global business headlines:

  • The $225bn telecoms and media giant AT&T dominated global business headlines last night after announcing a major overhaul of its operations. This is the first significant rationalisation since AT&T paid $80bn in June last year for Time Warner – a deal which finally got the green light last week when the group defeated the US Justice Department’s efforts to unwind the transaction. A new unit called Warner Entertainment, will combine the world’s most successful movie studio and biggest producer of television content with the previously self-standing HBO and Turner units. Analysts expect substantial cost cutting and job losses to occur, mainly at Turner, the owner of cable news channel CNN.
  • China’s telecoms equipment supplier Huawei retaliated yesterday after months of being on the back foot over allegations that it is collaborating with the Chinese government to spy on western countries. Huawei is suing the US government after the Trump Administration banned government agencies on national security grounds, from buying equipment from the company. This ensured that the biggest US telecoms companies AT&T and Verizon would not be allowed to buy from Huawei. In another court action, Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou is suing the Canadian government, its border agency and the national police force after she was detained when swapping planes at Vancouver airport. Ms Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, was arrested at the request of the United States which wants to try her on fraud charges alleging she misled banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran.
  • Barrick, the global gold mining group headed by South African Mark Bristow, yesterday took the wraps off the rationale for its hostile takeover bid for rival Newmont, claiming a deal would deliver over $7bn in synergies. Two thirds of this benefit, Barrick claims, would come by integrating the two groups’ mines in Nevada, which yesterday came top of 83 mining jurisdictions in the 2018 Fraser Institute’s annual survey of mining’s most attractive destinations. Newmont’s management re-iterated its rejection to Bristow’s proposed $18bn takeover, dismissing it as “egocentric”.
  • In South African news, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has appointed Dr Tsakani Mthombeni of Goldfields Limited as the chairman of a new Eskom Technical Review Team. Mthombeni, who is the head of energy and carbon at the mining house, has chaired the Energy Intensive User’s group since mid 2017. The team of 11, which includes engineering and power systems professionals and academics drawn from the private and public sector, will be co-ordinated by retired engineering and mining executive Ian Morrison. They have been given four weeks to deliver an intensive review of operations, maintenance and the technical environment at Eskom’s power stations.
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