COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

SA's AngloGold names Calderon as CEOSouth African miner AngloGold Ashanti Ltd said it has named Alberto Calderon as its new chief executive officer (CEO), who will be starting in his new role from Sept. 1.The appointment comes a year after former CEO Kelvin Dushnisky resigned last July, citing family reasons, after two years at the helm.AngloGold had named Chief Financial Officer Christine Ramon as the interim CEO. Dushnisky's sudden resignation came at a time when miners globally were battling the impact of the pandemic, but record high bullion prices meant gold mining companies were weathering the storm better than others.The resignation hurt AngloGold's share price. The company lost almost half its market value in the last one year and was among the worst performing shares of gold mining companies globally.Calderon was CEO of Orica Ltd, a Melbourne-based explosives maker, and previously served as a senior executive at mining giant BHP Group, AngloGold said. - Nampa/ReutersNFT sales volume surges to US$2.5 bln The market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) surged to new highs in the second quarter, with US$2.5 billion in sales so far this year, up from just US$13.7 million in the first half of 2020, marketplace data showed.An NFT is a crypto asset, representing an intangible digital item such as an image, video, or in-game item. Owners of NFTs are recorded on blockchain, allowing an NFT to be traded as a stand-in for the digital asset it represents.Sales volumes have remained high after NFTs exploded in popularity early this year. Monthly sales volumes on OpenSea, a major NFT marketplace, reached a record high in June.Some NFT enthusiasts see them as collectibles with intrinsic value because of their cultural significance, while others treat them as an investment, speculating on rising prices.Buyers have mostly totalled 10 000 to 20 000 per week since March, outnumbering sellers, according to NonFungible.com, which aggregates NFT transactions on the ethereum blockchain. - Nampa/ReutersNNPC seeks lower pay-outs for communitiesThe head of Nigeria's state oil company on Monday urged legislators to lower the share of wealth earmarked for producing communities as leaders promised quick passage of a long-awaited oil overhaul package.Both chambers of Nigeria's parliament cleared the overhaul last week but made amendments to the bill that need to be agreed by parliament before the president can sign it into law.Experts say the bill, some 20 years in the making, is crucial for Nigeria to attract a shrinking global pool of investments as major companies look to cut spending on fossil fuel extraction.Among the amendments, the House of Representatives increased the share of regional oil wealth that host communities can claim to 5% from 2.5%, while the Senate approved 3%.Communities in oil-producing areas had pushed for a 10% share. Some have warned against paying too little to communities while the militant group Niger Delta Avengers even warned of possible attacks on oil and gas installations. - Nampa/ReutersUS$9 bln battle for Britain's MorrisonsAn US$8.7 billion battle for Britain's Morrisons heated up when a third private equity group entered the fray on Monday and the supermarket group's share price outstripped the value of an offer it recommended on Saturday.Following are some details about the bidders for the 122-year-old grocery group, which is Britain's fourth largest supermarket chain with 500 stores and is based in Bradford, northern England.Morrisons agreed a 6.3-billion-pound (US$8.7 billion) takeover led by the SoftBank owned Fortress Investment Group and backed by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Koch Real Estate Investments on Saturday.The consortium, which Morrisons had secretly been talking to since May 4, has pledged to maintain the Bradford headquarters and its existing management team led by CEO David Potts and pursue its existing strategy. It said material store sale and leaseback transactions were not planned.That could prove more attractive to the British government after the opposition Labour party voiced concern over the impact on jobs and food manufacturing, with the coronavirus pandemic bringing home the need to keep it local. - Nampa/ReutersGM expands China design studio General Motors Co said on Monday it expanded its design studio in China, which will focus only on developing electric and connected cars and no longer design petrol vehicles.The move comes as the largest US automaker prepares to cut out petrol and diesel vehicles from its fleet by 2035 and underscores its efforts to gain a bigger foothold in China, the world's largest electric car market.It also plays into GM's ambitions of adding a recurring revenue stream from software and services long after the initial product is sold, a la Apple Inc, by selling EV battery charging and swapping services for example.GM has said it wants to exceed annual sales of 1 million electric vehicles (EV) in the United States and China by 2025. Last month, the company said it would boost spending on electric and autonomous vehicles, shelling out US$35 billion through 2025, up 75% from March 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic choked the industry.With new facilities and the studio's growing team of employees, "we have the right organizations and people to bring the most desirable products to China's consumers," Julian Blissett, executive vice president and president of GM China said in a statement. -Nampa/Reuters

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