Company news in brief
Mozambique Total gas project proceeding
French oil giant Total will proceed with its US$23 billion gas project in northern Mozambique despite uncertainties caused by the coronavirus pandemic and militant attacks on nearby villages, a senior company official said on Friday.
Northern Mozambique has been hit by a jihadist insurgency since 2017 that has killed more than 1 000 people and complicated the country's plans to develop its offshore gas reserves.
Nearly 100 workers at Total's LNG site have been infected by the new coronavirus, forcing the partial shutdown of activities for two months as 5 000 workers went into quarantine.
“The first case of Covid-19 on our site was diagnosed on April 1 and in total 96 workers were infected, of which 92 are fully recovered, only four are still in treatment,” Ronan Bescond, Total's general director in Mozambique told reporters on a visit to the gas site.
Mozambican development depends heavily on the exploration and export of natural gas deposits concentrated in northern Cabo Delgado province near the border with Tanzania. – Nampa/AFP
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Rio Tinto launches probe
Mining giant Rio Tinto launched a high-level review of its operations in Western Australia on Friday after the company blew up a 46 000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site to expand an iron ore mine.
In announcing the move, Rio Tinto chairman Simon Thompson issued a formal apology to indigenous communities for the destruction on May 24 of ancient rock shelters in the Juukan Gorge in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
“The decision to conduct a board-led review of events at Juukan Gorge reflects our determination to learn lessons from what happened and to make any necessary improvements to our heritage processes and governance,” he said in a statement.
He said the review would begin immediately and would work with the Pinikura and Puutu Kunti Kurrama Aboriginal (PKKP) communities who are the traditional owners of the region.
Rio Tinto initially defended its blasting in the Juukan Gorge as authorised under a 2013 agreement with the state government.
– Nampa/AFP
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American Airlines seeks US$3.5 bln
American Airlines Group Inc said on Sunday it plans to secure US$3.5 billion in new financing, to improve the airline's liquidity as it grapples with travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus.
The company plans to raise US$1.5 billion by selling shares and convertible senior notes due 2025, the airline said in a statement. Additionally, the airline said it will offer US$1.5 billion in senior secured notes and that it intends to enter into a new US$500 million term loan facility due 2024.
The company expects to use the net proceeds from the stock and convertible notes offerings for general corporate purposes and to enhance its liquidity position, the airline added.
The stock and convertible notes offerings, first reported by Bloomberg News, include a 30-day option for the underwriters to purchase up to US$112.5 million of additional common shares and up to US$112.5 million of additional convertible notes respectively, the company said.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc said last week that a modest recovery in demand was helping to slow daily cash burn rates in June after the US government reported record low passenger numbers in April amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- Nampa/Reuters
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Mediawan to buy Lagardere studios
French group Mediawan announced a raft of deals, including the acquisition of Lagardere studios, as part of a broader expansion laid out by its founders, who will also establish a new holding company for the business.
Mediawan said its planned takeover valued Lagardere Studios at around 100 million euros (US$112 million), as parent company Lagardere restructures and sells off assets it considers as non-core to its business.
Mediawan was set up in late 2015 by leading French businessmen Pierre-Antoine Capton, founder of French media firm 3e Oeil Productions; Xavier Niel, founder of telecoms group Iliad; and financier Matthieu Pigasse, with a view to challenging the likes of Netflix with premium audio-visual content.
Those three said on Monday they would set up a new company called Mediawan Alliance to develop the existing Mediawan business further.
As part of this, Mediawan Alliance will launch a tender offer on all Mediawan securities at a price of 12 euros per share and 0.65 euros per warrant. The 12 euros price marks a premium of 42.3% to Mediawan's closing price on June 19.
Mediawan will also buy a majority stake in Spanish-based audio-visual firm Good Mood, and hold a minority share in German audio-visual company Leonine.
-Nampa/Reuters
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Japan's Shionogi partners with universities
Shionogi & Co Ltd said it is partnering with Japanese universities to develop a saliva test for coronavirus that can yield visual results in 25 minutes.
The method, known as SATIC, involves heating a sample of saliva and adding it to a reagent that changes colour to indicate the presence of viruses, according to a news release by the company on Monday. Patients can take their own samples, and readings can be made without detector equipment.
The accuracy of the tests is equivalent to those by polymerise chain reaction (PCR) tests, the company said. Shionogi is licensing the technology from Nihon University, Gunma University, and Tokyo Medical University.
Japan approved saliva-based tests for the coronavirus earlier this month, offering a safer, simpler way to diagnose infection than nasal swabs. – Nampa/Reuters
French oil giant Total will proceed with its US$23 billion gas project in northern Mozambique despite uncertainties caused by the coronavirus pandemic and militant attacks on nearby villages, a senior company official said on Friday.
Northern Mozambique has been hit by a jihadist insurgency since 2017 that has killed more than 1 000 people and complicated the country's plans to develop its offshore gas reserves.
Nearly 100 workers at Total's LNG site have been infected by the new coronavirus, forcing the partial shutdown of activities for two months as 5 000 workers went into quarantine.
“The first case of Covid-19 on our site was diagnosed on April 1 and in total 96 workers were infected, of which 92 are fully recovered, only four are still in treatment,” Ronan Bescond, Total's general director in Mozambique told reporters on a visit to the gas site.
Mozambican development depends heavily on the exploration and export of natural gas deposits concentrated in northern Cabo Delgado province near the border with Tanzania. – Nampa/AFP
?
Rio Tinto launches probe
Mining giant Rio Tinto launched a high-level review of its operations in Western Australia on Friday after the company blew up a 46 000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site to expand an iron ore mine.
In announcing the move, Rio Tinto chairman Simon Thompson issued a formal apology to indigenous communities for the destruction on May 24 of ancient rock shelters in the Juukan Gorge in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
“The decision to conduct a board-led review of events at Juukan Gorge reflects our determination to learn lessons from what happened and to make any necessary improvements to our heritage processes and governance,” he said in a statement.
He said the review would begin immediately and would work with the Pinikura and Puutu Kunti Kurrama Aboriginal (PKKP) communities who are the traditional owners of the region.
Rio Tinto initially defended its blasting in the Juukan Gorge as authorised under a 2013 agreement with the state government.
– Nampa/AFP
?
American Airlines seeks US$3.5 bln
American Airlines Group Inc said on Sunday it plans to secure US$3.5 billion in new financing, to improve the airline's liquidity as it grapples with travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus.
The company plans to raise US$1.5 billion by selling shares and convertible senior notes due 2025, the airline said in a statement. Additionally, the airline said it will offer US$1.5 billion in senior secured notes and that it intends to enter into a new US$500 million term loan facility due 2024.
The company expects to use the net proceeds from the stock and convertible notes offerings for general corporate purposes and to enhance its liquidity position, the airline added.
The stock and convertible notes offerings, first reported by Bloomberg News, include a 30-day option for the underwriters to purchase up to US$112.5 million of additional common shares and up to US$112.5 million of additional convertible notes respectively, the company said.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc said last week that a modest recovery in demand was helping to slow daily cash burn rates in June after the US government reported record low passenger numbers in April amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- Nampa/Reuters
?
Mediawan to buy Lagardere studios
French group Mediawan announced a raft of deals, including the acquisition of Lagardere studios, as part of a broader expansion laid out by its founders, who will also establish a new holding company for the business.
Mediawan said its planned takeover valued Lagardere Studios at around 100 million euros (US$112 million), as parent company Lagardere restructures and sells off assets it considers as non-core to its business.
Mediawan was set up in late 2015 by leading French businessmen Pierre-Antoine Capton, founder of French media firm 3e Oeil Productions; Xavier Niel, founder of telecoms group Iliad; and financier Matthieu Pigasse, with a view to challenging the likes of Netflix with premium audio-visual content.
Those three said on Monday they would set up a new company called Mediawan Alliance to develop the existing Mediawan business further.
As part of this, Mediawan Alliance will launch a tender offer on all Mediawan securities at a price of 12 euros per share and 0.65 euros per warrant. The 12 euros price marks a premium of 42.3% to Mediawan's closing price on June 19.
Mediawan will also buy a majority stake in Spanish-based audio-visual firm Good Mood, and hold a minority share in German audio-visual company Leonine.
-Nampa/Reuters
?
Japan's Shionogi partners with universities
Shionogi & Co Ltd said it is partnering with Japanese universities to develop a saliva test for coronavirus that can yield visual results in 25 minutes.
The method, known as SATIC, involves heating a sample of saliva and adding it to a reagent that changes colour to indicate the presence of viruses, according to a news release by the company on Monday. Patients can take their own samples, and readings can be made without detector equipment.
The accuracy of the tests is equivalent to those by polymerise chain reaction (PCR) tests, the company said. Shionogi is licensing the technology from Nihon University, Gunma University, and Tokyo Medical University.
Japan approved saliva-based tests for the coronavirus earlier this month, offering a safer, simpler way to diagnose infection than nasal swabs. – Nampa/Reuters
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