COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Marathon sells Speedway Marathon Petroleum Corp sold its Speedway gas station network to 7-Eleven Inc, a subsidiary of Japan's Seven & I Holdings Co, for US$21 billion in an all-cash deal, the companies said on Sunday.After-tax proceeds from the sale, which has been approved by the boards of both companies, are estimated at US$16.5 billion, Marathon said, adding it will use the proceeds to pay existing debt.The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, includes a 15-year fuel supply agreement for about 7.7 billion gallons per year associated with the Speedway business, said Marathon, the largest US refiner by volume.The agreement takes 7-Eleven's store count to about 14 000 locations in the United States and Canada. It will buy about 3 900 Speedway stores located in 35 states, it said in a separate statement.The deal will produce compound annual growth over 15% Eleven's operating income through the first three years after closing, the company said. It added that the purchase price reflected US$3 billion in tax benefits. – Nampa/ReutersSamsung crafts India comeback Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is forging a comeback in India's smartphone market with a new range of budget devices and a ramped-up online presence, aiming to recoup ground ceded to Chinese rivals such as Xiaomi Corp.Samsung, the only major non-Chinese player in the country, has already begun to gain ground, and a surge in anti-China sentiment in India following a border clash in June is expected to provide a fresh boost.Samsung jumped to the No. 2 spot with 26% market share in the second quarter behind Xiaomi's 29%, according to tech researcher Counterpoint, as the South Korean company's diverse and inhouse supply chain helped it avoid product delays.It was in third position with a 16% share in the previous quarter. Once the unrivalled leader in the world's second-biggest smartphone market, Samsung has over the past three years lost Indian customers to Chinese brands.But India still accounts for some US$7.5 billion in annual retail smartphone revenues for Samsung, according to Counterpoint, making it the company's biggest market outside the United States. – Nampa/ReutersTelkom upgradesSouth Africa's telecom operator Telkom has branched into the competitive space of financial services by launching a life insurance business that it said will initially sell funeral insurance.Telkom and other mobile operators in South Africa are looking to tap more than 11 million South Africans who do not have bank accounts to offer lending and other financial services, a move that is set to threaten traditional and digital banks.They are also seeking to expand their mobile payment apps into online market places to leverage their network and customer base."In recent years Telkom has made a strategic shift to digital distribution, which puts it in an ideal position to distribute insurance products using its considerable digital structure and intellectual property," Sibusiso Ngwenya, managing executive for Telkom Financial Services said.Partly state-owned Telkom has been diversifying its income streams beyond the fixed-line business, which now contributes just over 20% to group revenue, up from 56% in 2013. – Nampa/ReutersSiemens to acquire Varian German health group Siemens Healthineers said on Sunday it would acquire Varian Medical Systems Inc in a deal that values the US maker of devices and software for cancer treatments at US$16.4 billion.Under the agreed transaction, Siemens Healthineers will acquire all shares in Varian for US$177.50 each in cash, representing a 24% premium to the US company's closing price on Friday.Industrial conglomerate Siemens, which spun off Healthineers in 2018 but retains a controlling stake, will provide bridge financing for the deal, which seeks to create a global leader in cancer care solutions by 2025.Varian President and chief executive officer Dow Wilson said: "With Siemens Healthineers, we will transform care for a greater number of patients worldwide, as well as broaden opportunities for our employees as part of a larger and more global organization."The deal, first reported by Bloomberg, is subject to approval by Varian shareholders and regulators. It is expected to close in the first half of 2021 and be accretive to Siemens Healthineers' adjusted basic earnings per share within 12 months of that. – Nampa/ReutersHSBC profit fallsHSBC Holdings PLC posted a 65% tumble in first-half pre-tax profit, more than expected, as the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on businesses forced the Asia-focused bank to boost its loan-loss provisions.Europe's biggest bank by assets reported a pre-tax profit for the first six months this year of US$4.32 billion, down from US$12.41 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to its financial statement filed with the stock exchange.HSBC's results reinforced the trend of lenders across the world increasing their buffers to absorb souring loans at a time when companies from aviation to retail and hospitality sectors are reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.The bank's credit impairment provisions in the first-half soared to US$6.9 billion, compared to $1 billion the same period a year earlier, the filing showed. It had set aside US$3 billion to cover loan losses in the first quarter.HSBC's revenues fell 9% in the six-month period, as global interest rate cuts and declining market values on assets in investment banking and insurance outweighed higher income from its trading business. – Nampa/Reuters

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