February 17, 2022 | Editor: Martin Wennerström
NVIDIA's planned acquisition of Arm collapses
NVIDIA and Softbank have called off the planned merger between NVIDIA and Softbank’s semiconductor segment Arm Ltd., which had been expected to take place later this year, citing “significant regulatory challenges” from several national and regional agencies. SoftBank will instead prepare to take Arm public on a U.S. exchange sometime in fiscal year 2022/2023. The merger had an initial valuation in September 2020 of USD 40 billion, which later rose along with NVIDIA’s share price to reach as much as USD 80 billion. In December 2021, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued to block the transaction on antitrust grounds. In October 2021, the European Commission launched an investigation into whether the transaction would restrict competitors’ access to Arm's technology. In August 2021, UK regulators launched a probe into the planned deal over antitrust and national security concerns.
NVIDIA (1) | NVIDIA (2) | Fortune| CNBC (1) | CNBC (2)| FTC | EC | Reuters |
SEC issues new subpoena to Tesla
The U.S. SEC has subpoenaed Tesla seeking information on the firm’s compliance with a September 2018 settlement between the company and the agency. The subpoena was issued shortly after Tesla CEO Elon Musk caused the firm’s share price to plunge by polling his Twitter followers on whether he should sell 10% of his stake. In 2018, Tesla reached an agreement with the agency to settle a dispute over a tweet in which Musk teased the possibility of taking the company private. As part of that settlement, Musk’s tweets need to be pre-approved by company lawyers.
Teva to pay up to USD 3.6 billion to settle opioid lawsuits
The CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical has suggested that the firm will likely pay up to USD 3.6 billion in cash and medicine to settle lawsuits alleging it has fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic through misleading marketing. Teva currently faces around 3,500 lawsuits over minimizing the addictiveness of painkillers. Teva has already reached a settlement with Texas authorities over opioid claims, agreeing to pay USD 150 million in cash over a 15-year period and to provide USD 75 million worth of generic medicines used for treating opioid addiction. In December 2021, a New York jury ruled that Teva contributed to that state’s opioid crisis.
Just Eat Takeaway to delist from Nasdaq
Netherlands-based food delivery company Just Eat Takeaway.com announced that it is voluntarily delisting its American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) from the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The decision comes on the back of the low trading volumes and the low proportion of the company’s share capital held via ADRs on the U.S.-based exchange. Just Eat Takeaway expects its final trading day on Nasdaq to occur by the end of the first quarter of the year. The company’s ordinary shares will continue to be listed on Euronext Amsterdam and on the London Stock Exchange.
JE| Reuters | MarketWatch |
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