JP Morgan hints it could join party as Bitcoin continues to flirt with $50k February 16, 2021 Crypto at a Glance Did Bitcoin hit $50k overnight? Sadly, it seems that such talk is premature and limited to just one or two exchanges. Although a few sources called it, they were very much in the minority and it looks like the wait continues. Will it happen this week? If the good news continues to [...]
Vivendi plots €30bn stock market listing for Universal Music Group February 13, 2021 Vivendi is planning to list Universal Music Group and distribute 60 per cent of its capital to investors by the end of the year as it looks to cash in on the rising value of music assets. The French media group today said it has set a minimum target of €30bn (£26bn) for the listing, [...]
Sweden’s Embracer splurges up to $2.5bn on three gaming companies February 3, 2021 Swedish video game group Embracer has agreed to buy three gaming companies, including US-based Gearbox, the maker of first-person shooter game Borderlands, for up to $2.5bn in cash and stock. The company, known for games such as Darksiders and World War Z, will pay Gearbox $363m initially with a commitment to pay another $1bn in the next [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Premier League still No1 in China; Leeds boss keeping busy; Matchroom’s media move; Wimbledon optimism; London 2012 gold for sale January 28, 2021 The Premier League’s ongoing dispute with a Chinese broadcaster doesn’t appear to have affected its popularity in the Far East. England’s top division has been named the most popular football league in China by a new report ranking digital performance. It had 80 per cent more engagement on leading social media platform Weibo than La [...]
Netflix beats estimates as lockdown reels in 8.5m new subscribers January 19, 2021 Netflix hurtled past Wall Street estimates for the holiday season, the company announced today, as it reeled in record numbers of new customers stuck at home during lockdowns around the globe. The US firm added more than 8.5m paid subscribers in the four months to 31 December, beating analysts’ expectations of 6.1m. Shares rose 11.4 [...]
Lotus owner Geely to develop smart car technology with Tencent January 19, 2021 Lotus and Volvo owner Geely announced this morning it has signed an agreement with Tencent to develop smart vehicle technology. The company said it aims to transform car cockpits to enable more mobility service applications, alongside testing autonomous driving. The Geely and Tencent partnership is the latest in a series of tech and auto companies [...]
Bitcoin sees major retrace January 11, 2021 Crypto at a Glance After the parabolic excitement of last week, it was back down to Earth with a bang last night for bitcoin fans – albeit somewhat predictably. The leading cryptocurrency by market cap dropped more than $7,000 in a matter of hours – a fall that was echoed across the space, as many alt [...]
French football’s financial crisis: Why Ligue 1’s €3bn deal with Mediapro collapsed and what it means for the Premier League January 8, 2021 Lille OSC are flying high in Ligue 1, into the latter stages of the Europa League — and €125m in debt. This season, financial turmoil off the pitch is tainting the French football club’s on-field success. Last month, Lille’s major creditors JP Morgan and Elliott Management forced the club’s embattled owner Gerard Lopez to sell [...]
The Week in Sportbiz: Fresh fears over Tokyo Olympics; Pound calls for athletes to jump vaccine queue; China’s $900m esports palace January 7, 2021 Tokyo 2020 Olympics organisers have attempted to calm fears that the Games will not go ahead after a state of emergency was declared in the city. Japan’s prime minister Yoshihide Suga announced the measures today in response to a steep rise in Covid-19 cases. The Olympics was rescheduled in response to the pandemic last summer [...]
NYSE reverts to original plan to delist Chinese telecoms firm January 6, 2021 The New York Stock Exchange has announced it will move forward with plans to delist three Chinese telecoms giants just days after u-turning. The exchange will remove US-traded shares of China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom “to comply with US law,” it said on Wednesday. The NYSE originally announced its delisting plans last week [...]