WORLDWIDE : HEADLINES
Cyber security firm McAfee raises $620 million in U.S. IPO
Cyber security firm McAfee Corp MCFE.O sold shares in its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday at $20 a piece, within its target range, to raise $620 million.
The IPO valued McAfee, which is backed by U.S. private equity firms TPG and Thoma Bravo, at $8.6 billion based on total outstanding shares. The company also had $4.8 billion in debt as of the end of June.
McAfee had aimed to sell 37 million shares at a target price range of $19-$22 per share. McAfee declined to comment.
McAfee has said its revenue in 2019 was $2.6 billion with a net loss of $236 million. In the first half of 2020, the company said revenue reached $1.4 billion, while net income was $31 million.
McAfee said it plans use to use a portion of the IPO proceeds to pay down part of its outstanding debt.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Wall Street banks see rare payday bonanza in India despite pandemic
HONG KONG – Major Wall Street banks in India raked in their second-highest fee income since the global financial crisis in the first nine months of this year, benefitting from a flurry of private-sector deals despite the coronavirus pandemic.
India has seen a number of multi-billion dollar transactions in 2020 from oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries’ fundraising efforts RELI.NS to GlaxoSmithKline’s GSK.L sale of its stake in Unilever’s ULVR.L Indian business HLL.NS, the country’s largest block trade.
Five U.S. banks including Morgan Stanley MS.N and Goldman Sachs GS.N earned $170 million in investment banking fees in January-September, the highest for that period since 2018, according to Refinitiv data, putting them on course for one of their most profitable years.
In 2018, those five banks earned $176.5 million in Indian fees in the first nine months of the year, which was the highest for the period since 2007.
It comes as India’s economy shrank by nearly a quarter in April-June as the country became one of the worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Shareholders of Australia’s Crown Resorts vote down executive pay amid inquiry
SYDNEY/BENGALURU – Shareholders of Crown Resorts Ltd CWN.AX voted against executive pay at the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday, a step toward removing the board, as the Australian casino giant apologised for corporate governance failings.
The vote came amid an ongoing regulatory inquiry into alleged misconduct at Crown which has raised doubts over its fitness to run casinos in the state of New South Wales, just as its A$2.2 billion ($1.6 billion) gaming development nears completion on Sydney’s waterfront.
Crown’s directors and one-third owner James Packer have admitted under questioning at the inquiry that they had issued misleading public statements about the company’s involvement with Chinese junket operators potentially linked to organised crime.
They have also revealed how they failed to act on warnings which might have stopped 16 staff being jailed in China in 2016 for breaching that country’s anti-gambling laws, a scandal that derailed Crown’s Asian operations.
Full coverage: REUTERS
WORLDWIDE : FINANCE / MARKETS
Asian investors prepare for choppy trade as U.S. stimulus talks drag on
NEW YORK – Asian investors prepared for rough trading on Thursday after a bumpy session on Wall Street amid fears that agreement on a key U.S. stimulus bill will not be reached until after the presidential election on November 3.
In early Asian trade, Australian stocks .AXJO fell at the open.
“We’re looking at a fairly rough day for regional investors, we had a volatile session in the U.S.,” said Michael McCarthy, chief markets strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. “Futures markets are reflecting a worse day here. We’ll see losses across the region.”
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.06%.
On Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index .N225 closed up 0.31% at 23,639.46. The futures contract is down 0.31% from that close.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures .HSI.HSIc1 were up 0.32%.
Wall Street’s three major averages closed lower on Wednesday after a choppy trading session, as investors eyed difficult negotiations in Washington for a fresh coronavirus stimulus package.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Oil slips on weaker demand outlook after U.S. gasoline stocks build
MELBOURNE – Oil prices dropped in early trade on Thursday, adding to heavy losses overnight, after a build in U.S. gasoline inventories pointed to a deteriorating outlook for fuel demand as coronavirus cases soar in North America and Europe.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 27 cents, or 0.7%, to $39.76 a barrel at 0127 GMT, after skidding 4% on Wednesday.
Brent crude futures retreated 21 cents, or 0.5%, to $41.52 a barrel after sliding 3.3% on Wednesday.
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 1.9 million barrels in the week to Oct. 16, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, compared with expectations for a 1.8 million-barrel drop.
Overall product supplied, a proxy for demand, averaged 18.3 million barrels per day in the four weeks to Oct. 16, the EIA said – down 13% from the same period a year earlier.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Dollar steadies as trading buffeted by U.S. stimulus
TOKYO – The U.S. dollar steadied against most major currencies on Thursday as U.S. stimulus talks remained the focus for markets with trading buffeted over recent days by the extent of progress made on the potential size of the aid package.
The dollar index was nearly flat against a basket of currencies at 92.801, having marked its lowest level since Sept. 2 overnight.
On Wednesday, the dollar weakened after U.S. President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi boosted hopes an agreement on stimulus was close, sparking demand for riskier assets.
”For a while, the pattern has been that when stimulus talks stalled, equities fell and the dollars were being bought due to risk-averse sentiment. But with optimistic headlines like these, the market is inclined to shift to risk-on mood and sell the dollars,” said Daisuke Karakama, chief market economist at Mizuho Bank.
But prospects remain dim for the Republican-controlled Senate to approve any aid before the Nov. 3 election.
Full coverage: REUTERS
