www.mannjittweekly.co.uk
ÓÈ «‹æ MANN JITT Weekly
Vol: 14,
Issue 688
11th October to 17th October 2018
Defiant Musk mocks SEC on Twitter SHARES of Tesla Inc fell as much as 5 per cent on Friday, after Chief Executive Elon Musk stirred nerves about the settlement of his securities fraud lawsuit by mocking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Twitter. The tweet calling the SEC the “Shortseller Enrichment Commission” came just hours after a federal judge ordered Musk and the SEC to write a letter justifying a settlement which allows him to remain in charge at Tesla. “Just want to [sic] that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work,” Musk, a frequent critic of investors betting against the electric car company said in the tweet. “And the name change is so on point!” The electric carmaker’s shares plunged last week after the SEC accused Musk, 47, of fraud over “false and misleading” tweets on Aug. 7 that promised to take Tesla private
By Martine Geller In London
U
NILEVER executives scrapped plans to move the company headquarters to the Netherlands on Friday in the face of a shareholder revolt, keeping one of Britain’s most valuable businesses in London ahead of Brexit. The climbdown came just three weeks before planned votes on the proposal and is a victory for shareholders who opposed a change which would have removed the maker of Marmite, Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream from the benchmark FTSE 100 index.
“We are pleased they have abandoned the plan to ‘go Dutch’,” said GAM portfolio manager Ali Miremadi, who intended to vote against the move. “Now the company can put its focus into the core job – driving long-term shareholder value.” Unilever’s board, led by Chairman Marijn Dekkers and fellow Dutchman Paul Polman, the chief executive, agreed to scrap the plan during a call early on Friday after it became clear that it could fall short of the approval needed, a source familiar with the matter said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
and said funding had been secured. The lawsuit threatened to pull Tesla and Musk into a long drawn-out fight that could have undermined the company’s operations and ability to raise capital. In the settlement that was announced over the weekend, Tesla and Musk instead agreed to pay $20 million each to the regulator while the billionaire - also a large Tesla
shareholder - would step down as chairman but continue as CEO. The settlement also provided for the appointment of a new chairman and directors to balance Musk’s influence at the company as well as moves to oversee his output on social media. Peter Haveles, a partner in the Trial and Dispute Resolution Practice Group said Musk’s tweets showed his lack of self discipline. “It will put intense pressure on the board because the SEC will be watching the company like a hawk in this regard and it will create additional tensions with the company and Mr Musk and the marketplace,” Haveles said. Several Twitter users also criticized Musk, who has over 20 million followers on the social media platform, for his tweets targeting regulators and short sellers. “I have lost 30 years of my life savings all in $Isla thanks to your tweets please stop,” TrendTrader007 wrote. Reuters
Unilever scraps plan to shift out of London
Angry Brits finally get their way
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Toyota recalls 2.4 million hybrid cars JAPANESE car giant Toyota said Friday it is recalling more than 2.4 million hybrid cars over a fault that could cause crashes, just a month after another recall affecting hybrids. The firm in September said it was recalling more than one million hybrid cars globally after uncovering a technical problem that could cause fires. The latest announcement affects several models of the Prius and its Auris hybrid vehicles produced between October 2008 and November 2014, with more than a million of the affected cars in Japan. Another 830,000 are in North America, 290,000 in Europe, 3,000 in China, and the rest in other parts of the world. In a statement, Toyota said the cars had already been involved in previous recalls in 2014 and 2015, but the remedy conducted then did not anticipate the new condition identified in this recall. The problem identified arises when the cars fail to enter failsafe driving mode as intended. If this occurs, the vehicle could lose power and stall. While power steering and braking would remain operational, a vehicle stall while driving at higher speeds could increase the risk of a crash, Toyota said. Japan's transportation ministry said Toyota had reported three malfunctions locally related to the issue, but no accidents. The car giant last month issued a recall for 1.03 million cars globally over an issue related to wiring that could cause fires in vehicles. AFP
U-turn comes as UK govt is grappling to save jobs Unilever had decided to collapse its AngloDutch structure following a review sparked by last year’s failed $143 billion takeover approach by Kraft-Heinz. The stated aim was to make it more efficient and agile in a consumer market rocked by ecommerce, social media and upstart rivals. But at least 10 shareholders, which collectively own around 12 per cent of Unilever PLC, had publicly opposed the move. They were worried about the effective forced selling of their shares with no premium, uncertainty around the future tax treatment of Dutch dividends and a perception that the move was partly aimed at securing greater takeover protection under Dutch law. Unilever, owner of iconic brands like Dove soap, on Friday dropped its postUnilever’s U-turn comes at a sensitive time for the British government, which is battling Brexit plan to move its main headquarters from London to Rotterdam. to protect jobs and investment as Prime Minister Theresa May said Rupert Krefting, head of fights for her proposed divorce corporate governance and stewplan from the European Union. ardship, at M&G Investments, “The UK is one of the best which opposed the proposal. places in the world to grow a Unilever took the unusual step business, and our modern of putting a full-page advert in Industrial Strategy commits us the British press to try to sell the to being an open and competiidea to skeptical investors, and tive economy and a great place executives gave a round of interto locate global headquarters,” — MARIJN DEKKERS, UNILEVER CHAIRMAN views last week to make Business Secretary Greg their point. Clark said. But on Friday Unilever recogEven with a single corporate themselves, according to two the shares. Those two condinized that the proposal had not entity domiciled in the Nethertrading platforms. tions meant that small sharereceived support from a signifilands, Unilever was keeping two holders, often overlooked, could cant group of shareholders. The Investor Forum, which of its three business units in have swung the vote. works to escalate investor con“The board will now consider Britain, allowing it to maintain cerns to companies, said it As such, a number of indeits next steps and will continue its UK staff of 7,300. worked with over 20 institutions pendent investors holding their to engage with our shareholdThe plan’s highest hurdle was on this issue. shares in nominee accounts ers,” Dekkers said, adding that it needed backing of a had contacted their adminisUnilever will proceed with the “This demonstrates the value of majority of UK shareholders, trators in recent days to make plan to cancel its Dutch preferasset managers actively engaging holding at least 75 percent of adjustments needed to vote ence shares. with their investee companies,”
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The board will now consider its next steps and will continue to engage with our shareholders.
IKEA unveils `3,000 crore plan for India SWEDISH furniture and home accessories company IKEA plans to invest nearly Rs 3,000 crore in the next three years to open three packing warehouses in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi. The company would open the centres as an omni-channelling brand with large IKEA stores, city centre stores and online presence, deputycountry manager (Management) of IKEA India Patrik Antony told PTI here Friday. IKEA is set to open its second store in Mumbai later this year, and would hold a ground-breaking ceremony on October 11 in Bengaluru, he said. The next store would be in Delhi, he pointed out. By 2025, there would be over 25 stores across cities such as Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata with both online and offline approaches, he said. On purchasing strategy of IKEA India, Patrik said there were over 50 suppliers in the country. PTI
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