COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Huawei faces ban in Britain

Prime minister Boris Johnson is set to ban Huawei from Britain's 5G network in a momentous decision that will delight Washington, dismay Beijing and signal the end of a two-decade long partnership with the country's biggest mobile operator.

The United States has pushed Johnson to reverse his January decision to grant Huawei a limited role in 5G, saying the Chinese company is a security risk.

The debate has played out against a backdrop of a crackdown in Hong Kong and questions about China's handling of coronavirus, damaging relations between London and Beijing.

Britain's National Security Council (NSC), chaired by Johnson, will meet on Tuesday morning to discuss Huawei. Media Secretary Oliver Dowden will then announce a decision to the House of Commons later in the day.

Huawei and its customers, who include BT, Vodafone and Three, are waiting to see how extensive the new ban will be and how quickly it will be implemented, with hundreds of millions of pounds riding on the outcome. – Nampa/Reuters

SoftBank Group explores options

SoftBank Group Corp is exploring options including a full or partial sale or public offering of British chip designer Arm Holdings, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The review, on which Goldman Sachs Group is advising, is at an early stage, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

SoftBank acquired Arm for US$32 billion in 2016, its largest-ever purchase, in part to expand into the internet of things, which connects everyday devices from traffic signals to refrigerators to the internet.

Last month, the Japanese conglomerate unveiled a series of transactions to divest more than US$21 billion worth of stock in US wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc, as it seeks funding for a US$41 billion share buyback and debt reduction plan.

SoftBank did not respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours. - Nampa/Reuters

Robinhood raises another US$320 mln

Robinhood Markets Inc, the fintech start up credited with helping popularize trading among millennials, said it has raised another US$320 million in latest funding from new and existing investors at a valuation of US$8.6 billion.

The new round includes investors such as TSG Consumer Partners and IVP, and brings the seven-year-old online brokerage's total fundraise to US$600 million in a span of two months.

The funding round is widely being seen as a precursor to an initial public offering (IPO), according to analysts tracking the company, which has benefited from a surge in day trading, driven by consumers stuck at home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some traders and analysts have attributed rallies of between 300% and 500% in stocks of bankrupt or soon-to-be-bankrupt companies such as Hertz, Chesapeake, Whiting and JC Penney to retail investors using Robinhood, which has more than 10 million users.

The company, however, has been criticized for not doing enough to moderate excesses that even led to a suicide. – Nampa/Reuters

Southwest Airlines may cut jobs

Southwest Airlines chief executive Gary Kelly told employees it needs a dramatic jump in passenger demand or it will be forced to take new steps to reduce staffing. Employees face a Wednesday deadline whether to participate in a voluntary incentive program to leave the airline.

Kelly added that the "recent rise in Covid-19 cases and increasing regional restrictions on businesses and states requiring arena positive developments for our business, and we are concerned about the impact on already weak travel demand."

Airlines are grappling with overstaffing as they decide whether to further limit passengers on flights.

JetBlue Airways Corp said it will extend blocking middle seats on larger airplanes and aisle seats on smaller aircraft for flights through Sept. 8 in response to Covid-19. Other airlines, like American Airlines are again booking flights to capacity.

United Airlines said it was preparing to send notices of potential furloughs to 36 000 US-based frontline employees, or about 45% of staff, as travel demand hit by the coronavirus pandemic struggles to recover. – Nampa/Reuters

Fisker to go public through SPAC deal

Electric car maker Fisker will go public through a merger with a blank-check company backed by private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc at a valuation of US$2.9 billion, the companies said on Monday.

Reuters reported last week that the special-purpose acquisition company, Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp, was leading a bidding war among blank-check companies for Fisker. A blank-check company is a shell company that raises money through an IPO to buy an operating company, typically within two years. Spartan's shares were up 18.5% in midday trading.

SPACs have been behind some of the most high-profile public listings of the last 12 months, including electric-vehicle start-up Nikola Corp, which went public last month, as investors place bets on which start up will be the next Tesla Inc.

Nikola shares are up more than 60% since their debut, and Tesla shares have more than quadrupled this year. Chinese electric SUV maker Li Auto last week filed for a US IPO.

The Fisker deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, will provide Fisker with US$1 billion in gross proceeds, including US$500 million of funds from existing and new investors such as Alliance Bernstein and BlackRock Inc. The proceeds will be used to bring the company's Fisker Ocean SUV to market in late 2022. – Nampa/Reuters