UNITED KINGDOM
Jobless rate falls to 3.8%
Unemployment eased in the three months to the end of April, but wage rises continue to lag inflation, official data showed yesterday. The unemployment rate decreased to 3.8 percent from 3.9 percent in the three months to the end of March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement. “While there has been another drop in the number of people neither working nor looking for work ... those outside the jobs market due to long-term sickness continues to rise, to a new record,” ONS Economic Statistics Director Darren Morgan said. Morgan said the number of people in work had past its pre-COVID-19-pandemic level for the first time, setting a new high. “The biggest driver in recent jobs growth ... is health and social care, followed by hospitality,” he said.
BEVERAGES
Pernod to buy Ace stake
Pernod Ricard agreed to buy a majority stake in Canada’s Ace Beverage Group as the maker of Absolut Vodka and Jameson Irish Whiskey looks to boost its position in the growing category of pre-mixed cocktails. Pernod’s Canadian affiliate Corby Spirit and Wine is to acquire a 90 percent stake in the closely held Ace at an enterprise value of C$165 million (US$124 million), Pernod said in a statement yesterday. Ace’s flagship brand Cottage Springs is the leading ready-to-drink brand in Ontario, Pernod said, with products that include Cottage Springs Vodka Soda and Tequila Soda. The segment, which includes hard seltzers, is expected to grow 8 percent between last year and 2026, reaching a value of US$11.6 billion across major markets, drinks market analysis firm IWSR has said.
SECURITY
Thales to buy Tesserent
Thales SA has signed an agreement to acquire Australian cybersecurity firm Tesserent Ltd, the French defense contractor announced yesterday. “This acquisition would enable Thales to accelerate its cybersecurity development road map and expand its footprint in Australia and New Zealand,” Thales said in a statement. With 500 employees and turnover last year of A$185 million (US$125 million), Tesserent is one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest cybersecurity companies, it said. “Together we will address the growing cyber needs in our country, including those of the Australian government and defense sectors,” Tesserent CEO Kurt Hansen said in the statement. The proposed acquisition is subject to approval by shareholders, the Australian federal court and the usual regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to be finalized during the second half of this year, Thales said.
TECHNOLOGY
India ‘threatened’ Twitter
India threatened to shut Twitter down unless it complied with orders to restrict accounts, cofounder Jack Dorsey said in an interview with YouTube news show Breaking Points. Dorsey, who quit as Twitter CEO in 2021, on Monday said that India threatened the company with a shutdown and raids on employees if it did not comply with government requests to take down posts and restrict accounts that were critical of the government over protests by farmers in 2020 and 2021. The Indian government has repeatedly denied engaging in online censorship, and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar yesterday said that Dorsey’s assertions were an “outright lie.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the