Bizness Lounge

Monday, 3 November 2014

IHS Secures $2.6bn Capital To Further Tower Acquisitions

VENTURES AFRICA – IHS Nigeria, Africa’s biggest independent phone-tower operator, revealed recently that it has raised $2.6 billion in equity and debt to finance more acquisition of towers, following successful purchases of MTN and Etisalat towers.
The funding, the biggest equity fund raised by an African company since 2007, was raised from new and existing shareholders. The capital was split $2 billion in equity while the remaining $600 million was sourced from loans.
“The contribution of our investors significantly strengthens our position and the ability to move into the next phase of growth and development with confidence. We are clear in our ambition to play a leading role in the creation of the widest, most efficient and reliable mobile networks in Africa. The social and economic benefits to the local economies where we operate are significant,” IHS CEO, Issam Darwish said.
IHS is the largest towers group in Africa with about 20,000 sites

Angola Emerges From Civil War to Assert Regional Power

By Colin McClelland and Manuel Soque

A decade ago Angola was emerging from a brutal civil war that laid waste to much of the country.
Now, fueled by Africa second-biggest oil industry, it’s becoming a regional power, with a seat on the United Nations Security Council and President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s government helping to broker disarmament talks in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Former colonial ruler Portugal, Spain and China are among countries that added $2.2 billion in investment by Sept. 30 this year to boost agricultural output and help rebuild after the 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. The UN says the nation of 24 million people that’s almost twize the size of Texas will reach middle-income status by 2020 due to oil revenue from companies such as

Vicious Circle of Bad Loans Ensnaring Italian Companies

By Katie Linsell and Luca Casiraghi

Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg

Italian borrowers are becoming trapped in a vicious circle. As bank loans turn sour at the rate of about 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) a month, corporate lending is dwindling to the least in more than a decade.
Lenders are sitting on a total 174 billion euros of non-performing loans, an increase of 62 percent from three years ago, according to the latest data from Bank of Italy. New corporate lending dropped in August to 21 billion euros, the lowest since at least 2003, the data show.
With public debt of more than 2 trillion euros, Italy is battling the longest economic slump since World War II that has thrown millions of people out of work. The scarcity of lending is spurring the European Central Bank’s asset purchase program with President Mario Draghi seeking to

Banker Rurik Jutting Charged With Two Hong Kong Murders

By Cathy Chan

Rurik George Caton Jutting, a former Bank of America Corp. (BAC) employee, was charged with the murder of two women in a Hong Kong apartment.
Jutting, 29, is accused of killing Sumarti Ningsih on Oct. 27 and an unidentified woman on Nov. 1, according to charges read out in the Eastern Magistrates’ court in Hong Kong today.
Escorted by three police officers, the U.K. national appeared in court wearing dark-rimmed glasses and a black shirt. He said he understood the charges he was facing, and will be remanded in custody. The case was adjourned until Nov. 10.
Jutting faces life in prison if convicted, the same sentence being served by Nancy Kissel for

Tomato Demand Spurs Record California Crop Amid Drought

By Michael B. Marois

Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California farmers who grow a third of the world’s processing tomatoes, the kind used for pasta sauce and soups, nurtured a record crop this year even as the state’s drought damped production of other vegetables.
An estimated 14 million tons of processing tomatoes were harvested in California this year, the most ever and up 16 percent from last year, according to the California Tomato Growers Association, a trade group for the $1 billion-a-year industry. Canneries such as Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) paid $83 a ton, also the most ever.
“The price was at a point where guys felt they could take the water risk and put their limited water supplies on tomatoes instead of other crops,” said farmer Aaron Barcellos, whose family grows tomatoes and other crops on 7,000 acres about 110 miles (179 kilometers) south of

Jerusalem-Born American Thrusts Court Into Mideast Debate

By Greg Stohr

A clash centering on Americans born in Jerusalem puts the U.S. Supreme Court in the middle of one of the most delicate issues in international diplomacy.
The justices today will hear arguments in a case that the Obama administration says could “provoke uproar throughout the Arab and Muslim world.” At issue is a federal law that would let as many as 50,000 Jerusalem-born U.S. citizens have passports designating their place of birth as Israel.
The administration says the 2002 law encroaches on the president’s constitutional powers and undermines a longstanding State Department policy of taking no position on Jerusalem’s status. Palestinians claim the city’s eastern part as a future capital.
“Doubt that the United States remains committed to negotiations on Jerusalem’s status would only deepen” with a ruling upholding the law, U.S. Solicitor General Donald

Oil Sands Crude Seen Reaching Gulf Without Keystone XL

By Rebecca Penty and Jeremy van Loon

Oil-sands crude will supply Gulf Coast refineries regardless of how President Barack Obama rules on the Keystone XL pipeline, Alberta Premier Jim Prentice said.
Developers of Alberta’s oil sands can use trains to reach the world’s largest refining market or the Energy East conduit to Canada’s Atlantic coast that TransCanada Corp. (TRP) is also proposing, Prentice said in an Oct. 31 interview at Bloomberg’s Calgary office.
Awaiting a U.S. decision on Keystone XL since 2008, Calgary-based TransCanada applied with Canadian regulators last week to build Energy East, a 4,600-kilometer (2,859-mile) link from Alberta to tidewater in New Brunswick. The C$12 billion ($10.6 billion) pipeline would be North America’s largest crude conduit, carrying 1.1 million barrels of oil a day without crossing into the U.S.
“The debate about Keystone is not a debate about

Energy Future’s Speedy Bankruptcy Hinges on Oncor Ruling

By Linda Sandler

Energy Future Holdings Corp.’s plan to speed through a $42 billion bankruptcy reorganization hinges on whether a judge today will let it auction a prize asset on its own terms now, or bow to lenders who want a later sale.
The Dallas-based power company was beset last month by opposition to its proposed rules for the tax-free sale of electricity distributor Oncor before it had a creditor-backed refinancing plan lined up.
Chief Financial Officer Paul Keglevic defended his sale plans at a four-day hearing last month in Wilmington, Delaware. Lenders said have said potential buyers would lower their bids out of uncertainty whether they could close the sale on the terms struck now.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi ditched an Oct. 23 deadline for Oncor bids to give creditors more time to interrogate directors about the auction. Today he’s

By Leslie Patton

Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) isn’t the only coffee-shop chain serving up new drinks for the holidays.
Starting today, Dunkin’ Donuts is selling snickerdoodle and sugar-cookie lattes, both new for this year, said John Costello, president of global marketing and innovation for Canton, Massachusetts-based Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (DNKN)
“Our guests love tradition along with new,” Costello said in an interview. “I would describe our holiday strategy as familiar with a twist.”
Starbucks’ U.S. customers have to wait until Nov. 12 for its new holiday beverage: the chestnut praline latte. That drink took about three years to create and is the chain’s first new holiday beverage in five years in the U.S. and Canada. The company also is bringing back peppermint mochas and caramel brulee coffees this year. Stores in the Pacific Northwest will serve eggnog lattes as well, said Linda Mills, a spokeswoman.
The holidays are an important time for domestic coffee sellers, who seek to lure shoppers in for quick refueling stops and maybe get them to pick up a gift card

Diageo Gets Full Control of Don Julio in Swap for Bushmills

By Celeste Perri and Corinne Gretler

Photographer: Tim Bishop/Diageo via Bloomberg

Diageo Plc (DGE) agreed to sell Bushmills Irish whiskey for full ownership of Tequila Don Julio and $408 million to secure control of one of a fast-growing and upscale brand.
Bushmills will be sold to Jose Cuervo Overseas in exchange for the half of Tequila Don Julio that Diageo doesn’t already own, London-based Diageo said in a statement today.
“It’s a sensible deal,” Eddy Hargreaves, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity, said by phone. “They do get control of one of the few major tequila brands globally, which is something they’ve been trying to achieve for a number of years.”
The deal is a continuation of Diageo increasing its focus on more expensive liquor to boost profitability. The world’s largest distiller ended talks two years ago about the