COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Woolworths to drop SA CEO position

Retailer Woolworths Holdings said on Monday it will continue to operate without a chief executive for its South Africa operations when incumbent CEO steps down, as it streamlines its operations.

Zyda Rylands, who is also an executive director of the group, has decided to retire on Sept. 30 for personal reasons, but at the request of the board has agreed to remain with the group through to 2024, Woolworths said.

“For the remainder of her tenure, she will focus her energies and her passion on leading the Woolworths South Africa (WSA) food’s business, which she has been instrumental in growing and positioning as an industry-leading food retailer,” it added.

Not retaining the South Africa chief executive position follows the group’s review of its leadership structure for the home business, Woolworths, which also sells clothes in South Africa and Australia said. -Nampa/Reuters

Ethiopia to build local rival to Facebook

Ethiopia has begun developing its own social media platform to rival Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, though it does not plan to block the global services, the state communications security agency said on Monday.

Ethiopia has been engulfed since last year in an armed conflict pitting the federal government against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the Tigray region in the country’s north.Supporters of both sides have waged a parallel war of words on social media.

The government wants its local platform to “replace” Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and Zoom, the director general of the Information Network Security Agency (INSA), Shumete Gizaw, said.

Shumete accused Facebook of deleting posts and user accounts which he said were “disseminating the true reality about Ethiopia”.

International human rights groups have criticized the Ethiopian government for unexplained shutdowns to social media services including Facebook and WhatsApp in the past year. The government has not commented on those shutdowns. - Nampa/Reuters

Pfizer to buy Trillium

Pfizer Inc said on Monday it would buy Canadian drug developer Trillium Therapeutics Inc in a US$2.26 billion deal to strengthen its arsenal of blood cancer therapies.

Pfizer, which acquired a US$25 million stake in Trillium last year, will buy the remaining outstanding shares for US$18.50 apiece, representing a 203.8% premium on the stock's last closing price.

Pfizer expects to benefit from Canada-based Trillium's blood-cancer therapies that target a "don't eat me" signal used by cancer cells to evade the immune system.

Forty-Seven Inc, which is also developing drugs that target the same antibodies, was bought by Gilead Sciences Inc for US$4.9 billion last year.

More than 1 million people worldwide were diagnosed with blood cancer in 2020, representing almost 6% of all cancer diagnoses. The same year, more than 700 000 people worldwide died from a form of blood cancer.

Trillium's US-listed shares were trading at US$17.73 before the bell on Monday, having fallen 59% in 2021 as of their last close. -Nampa/Reuters

Orbit to go public through SPAC merger

Billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit is going public through a merger with a blank-check vehicle in a deal that values it at US$3.2 billion and includes an investment from Boeing Co, it said on Monday.

The small satellite launch service provider's deal with NextGen Acquisition Corp. I also include a private investment in public equity (PIPE) of US$100 million. Boeing and AE Industrial Partners participated in the PIPE round, besides other investors.

Firefly, US-New Zealand start-up Rocket Lab, and Branson's Virgin Orbit are seen as front-runners in a new breed of firms building miniaturized launch systems to cash in on the exponential growth of compact satellites, expected in the coming years.

Blank-check companies, also known as special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), use capital they raise through an initial public offering to merge with a private firm and take it public.

Virgin Orbit, which was spun-off from Branson's space tourism company Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc in 2017, reached space for the first time in January when it delivered ten NASA satellites to orbit, after a failed attempt last year. -Nampa/Reuters

Changan aims to sell 3 million cars

China's Changan aims to sell 3 million vehicles a year in 2025, and 4.5 million annually in 2030, its chairman Zhu Huarong said on Tuesday.

Zhu said 35% of its sales in 2025 will be new energy vehicles (NEVs), including battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Sixty percent of its sales in 2030 will be NEVs.

Sales outside China will account for 30% of its business in 2030, Zhu added. Changan, which operates a joint venture with Ford Motor, sold 2 million vehicles last year.

Chongqing-based Changan, which is developing electric vehicles (EV) with Huawei Technologies and battery maker CATL, plans to invest 150 billion yuan (US$23.14 billion) in the smart electric vehicle industry in the next five years.

China, the world's biggest auto market, is accelerating development of electric vehicles to improve vehicle technologies and combat pollution. Authorities expect 20% of overall sales in 2025 will be NEVs. -Nampa/Reuters