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Sources say BlackRock-led group is in negotiations to raise $10.3 billion for Aramco.
Two sources who have direct knowledge of this matter said that a group of investors, led by BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, is in discussions with lenders in order to secure financing of up to $10 billion for Aramco’s Jafurah deal. Two sources claim that banks, including JPMorgan, and Japanese lender Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation are in discussions to participate in this transaction. They declined to name the individuals because it was not public information. Aramco BlackRock JPM and SMBC all declined to comment. Aramco will lease the development and usage rights of gas processing facilities located around the Jafurah Gas Development to a newly-formed subsidiary, Jafurah Midstream Gas Company. Aramco retains a 51 percent stake in JMGC. The remaining 49 percent is held by an investor group.
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Avelo Airlines orders 50 E195E2 jets from Embraer
Embraer announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with Avelo Airlines, a budget airline in the United States, for 50 firm orders of the Brazilian planemaker’s E195E2 jets and 50 purchase rights. This is the first U.S. contract for this plane. The announcement coincides with an important gathering of leaders in the aerospace industry. It also comes at a time when Brazil's planemaker, which is the third largest in the world, has been lobbying for the Trump administration to eliminate 10% tariffs while highlighting U.S. Airlines' reliance on regional jets. Embraer described last week the planned announcement of its U.S. business as a milestone. The order's list price is $4.4 billion excluding the purchase rights. Embraer sells 45% of its commercial planes to U.S. customers and 70% of their executive jets. All of these aircraft rely heavily on U.S.-made parts. Andrew Levy, CEO of Avelo Airlines, said that the E2 would complement the airline's Boeing 737-800 fleet which has significantly more seating and would help it grow its business. Levy stated, "This is the aircraft we need." It gives us a reliable pipeline of aircraft.
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Cuba's electricity grid collapses nationwide
Authorities said that the national grid of communist Cuba collapsed on Wednesday morning for the fourth consecutive time in less than one year, causing a blackout across the country. The Energy Ministry and National Electric Union stated that "there has been a complete disconnection of Electric System SEN which could be related to an unexpected outage at the (thermal plant) CTE Guiteras." Grid operator indicated that the collapse of the grid in the Caribbean island occurred at 9.14 am (1314 GMT). The ministry announced that it is investigating the causes and that restoration has already started. Before Wednesday's grid failure, many on the island were already experiencing daily blackouts of 16 hours or longer. The grid failure comes after a series of nationwide blackouts that occurred late last year, which plunged Cuba's fragile and antiquated electricity generation system into near total disarray. The country is also facing natural disasters, fuel shortages and economic crisis. Cuba's oil-fired plants, which were already outdated and struggled to keep the lights lit, entered a crisis last year when oil imports from Venezuela and Russia, as well as Mexico, decreased. (Reporting and writing by Marc Frank, Aida Pelaez Fernandez; editing by Lisa Shumaker & Nick Zieminski).
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Gas explosion in Lithuania prompts residents to evacuate near Vilnius Rail Station
Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, issued an order to evacuate residents living within a radius of one kilometre (0.62 miles) from a railway station on Wednesday after a train transporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), exploded and ignited during reloading. The Lithuanian Fire and Rescue Service reported that 40 firefighters were on the scene at the time of the fire, but were unable to get close to it because of excessive heat. A company spokesperson confirmed that the LPG was sourced from a Lithuanian refining plant owned by Polish refiner Orlen. However, a third-party company was responsible for transporting it, and the LPG station at the railway station was not Orlen's property. The spokesperson confirmed that there was no suspicion of the fire being deliberately set, and that an investigation was in progress. Orlen's spokesperson in Poland said that there were no suspicions at this time of deliberate acts. The company is working with the terminal owner, as well as the relevant authorities, to investigate the cause. A spokesperson from Orlen Lithuania said that the incident happened as LPG was being loaded into the terminal. Lithuanian Railways said that a Russian passenger train stopped at 9:54 am, about 10 kilometers before the station. It was then redirected on another route. (Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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How hot or not is the stock market? Recent high-profile US IPOs: How they have performed
The U.S. IPO Market is set to have its best week in 2021, as ebullient equities fuelled by robust debuts of notable newcomers are driving the market. renewed enthusiasm After tariff-driven volatility in the early part of the year, the long-awaited recovery was held up by new issues. The Winklevoss Twins' crypto-exchange Gemini and Swedish fintech Klarna are both set to list shares this week in New York, while StubHub will be going public next week. Many would-be issuers are encouraged to test investor interest by the eye-popping performance of high-profile names. In the days after their debuts, the IPO price of stablecoin and design software giant Circle soared by 333% and 864% respectively. This shows how investors are eager to back companies that they believe will be future winners. This is how the S&P 500 benchmark has performed against an ETF that tracks major newly-public stocks over the last year. Here's a look at some of the largest IPOs from recent years: BULLISH: CoinDesk, the parent company of the crypto news website CoinDesk, raised $1.11 billion by sizing up its IPO. Stocks of the company opened at more than twice their IPO price on NYSE but have since dropped 40%. FIREFLY AEROSCAPE: Northrop Grumman's space technology firm raised $868.3 millions by launching an IPO that was larger than expected and priced higher than the range. The Nasdaq opened its stock at a price that was nearly 56% higher than the IPO. The stock closed Tuesday at a price that is 36% lower than the opening price of its first day. FIGMA: Figma, a design software company, raised $1.22billion in its IPO. It ended its first day at the NYSE in July with a 250% gain. The price of its shares is now 61% higher than when it was first listed and 37% lower than what it opened at. CHIME: The Financial Technology Company priced its IPO at a price above the range marketed, raising $864 Million in June. The stock price is nearly 10% lower than the IPO price. CIRCLE INTERNET Stablecoins raised $1.05bn in a larger IPO in early June. The company debuted with a valuation near $18 billion, on a fully diluted base. The stock price closed about 168% higher than the IPO. As of the last close, the stock is trading at about 281% over its IPO price. ETORO: eToro, the Robinhood rival, secured a valuation $5.64 billion following a 34% surge in its Nasdaq debut. In an IPO that was upsized, the stock and cryptocurrency trading platform raised 620 million dollars. Since then, its stock price has fallen by nearly 35%. COREWEAVE: In March, the AI cloud company's Nasdaq launch was muted. However, despite its opening price being nearly 3% lower than its current offer price, the stock has now more than doubled. Nvidia's company raised $1.5 billion during its initial public offering, valuing it at $23 billion when fully diluted. VENTURE GLOBAL LNG: In January, the liquefied gas exporter reached a valuation of $1.75 billion. This is less than half what it had originally hoped for. In a subdued NYSE launch, the company's shares were opened at a price nearly 4% lower than their IPO. The value of the stock has almost halved. SAILPOINT: In their Nasdaq debut the shares of identity security company Thoma Bravo, which is backed by Thoma Bravo, traded flat. This valued it at $12.80 billion. Since then, the stock has lost almost 10%. Austin, Texas based company raised $1.38 Billion in an increased IPO. ARM HOLDINGS In September 2023 the chip designer raised $4.87billion in its offering, which valued it at $54.5billion. It sought to be valued at up to $52 billion. Shares of the company rose by 10% at open. Since then, the stock has more that doubled. INSTACART: In its IPO, the San Francisco-based Maplebear company was priced at the upper end of the range. In September 2023, it raised $660m at a valuation of nearly $9.9billion. It raised its price range proposed and targeted an evaluation of up to 10 billion dollars. Stocks of the grocery delivery app soared 40% at opening and have since risen about 8%. VIKING HOLDINGS In April of last year, the cruise operator raised $1.54billion in its IPO. This valued it at $10.35billion. The cruise operator had sought to value the company at up to $10.8 billion. Viking's shares were opened at 9% over their initial offer price, and they have since more than doubled. STANDARDAERO: In October of last year, the aircraft maintenance service provider raised $1.44 billion by pricing its offering over range. The initial target was a valuation up to $7.69billion. Shares of the Carlyle-backed firm began trading at 29% over the offer price. Since then, they have lost about 14%. LINEAGE: Cold storage real estate trust raised $4.45billion in its listing on July 20, 2024 at a valuation exceeding $18billion. It had set a target of a valuation up to $19.16 billion. Stocks of the company rose 5% at open on Nasdaq. It has however fallen by 49% from its opening price. REDDIT: Social media giant Facebook raised $748 million at its IPO last March, valuing it at $6.4 Billion -- the upper end of the target range that it advertised. Stocks opened at 38% over the offer price and have risen more than fivefold since. BIRKENSTOCK: The German sandal manufacturer, which is 250 years old, raised $1.48 Billion and was valued at $ 9.3 Billion in its IPO of October 2023. This was slightly less than its $10 billion target. The shares of this company debuted at a price 11% lower than their IPO but have risen by 15.5% since. ** Please note: Stock performance is calculated based on the opening trade unless otherwise stated. ** Sources: filings, LSEG and'reports
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German Minister: Russian drone incursion in Poland is considered deliberate
Boris Pistorius, German Minister of Defence, said that the incursion by Russian drones in Poland was a targeted, unacceptable provocation against NATO. He also stated that he believes it to be a deliberate action. Pistorius said to reporters that there was no evidence at all to suggest these drones flew accidentally over Polish territory along this route. He said: "This is why we can assume this was a deliberate act." When asked how it differed from a NATO attack that would trigger Article 5 he replied that the attack was infringing on Polish airspace but that nothing was destroyed nor anyone killed. Pistorius said NATO was united, and that it had a level-headed but clear response. "We will not be provoked, but we are focused on unity and strength," he added.
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Amazon's Zoox Robotaxi offers free service to the public in Las Vegas
Amazon.com's Zoox began Wednesday offering free robotaxi rides on the Las Vegas Strip and in the surrounding area, while it waited for state approval before charging fares to compete with Alphabet’s Waymo or Tesla. Waymo offers a robotaxi that transports paying passengers to many U.S. city, while Tesla has robotaxis in Austin, Texas. Zoox is a vehicle designed to look and feel like a toaster on wheels. The vehicle has no manual controls, such as a pedal or steering wheel. Its passengers are seated facing each other. Aicha Evans, Zoox's Chief Executive, said: "This is an experience so different that we want people to get used to the robotaxi and to give us feedback." "That's great for the community. That's great for the riders. And that's fantastic for Zoox." The commercialization of robotaxis is more difficult than expected. Tight regulations, public protests and federal investigations, as well as high investment, have forced many robotaxi ventures shut down. Amazon purchased Zoox in 2020 for $1.3 billion and is among the few remaining competitors in the race to develop autonomous vehicles that could yield large returns if they are successful. Zoox has begun the process of obtaining regulatory approvals for its paid service, which it plans to launch in the coming months. The vehicles will run mainly on their own, with human remote assistance only available when they request help. Test Ride Zoox has operated a test loop out of a Las Vegas Casino for the past month. "We have been receiving thousands of riders each week from just this one location. This has exceeded our expectations," said Chief Technology Officer Jesse Levinson. About 50 vehicles are part of the company's fleet. The majority of them are located in Las Vegas. The executives announced that Zoox would "very soon expand" the service to San Francisco. It has been testing the service there for several months, and now is adding riders to the waiting list. They said that expansion to Miami, Austin in Texas, Atlanta, and Los Angeles would follow this year and the following year. Tesla launched a ride-hailing company in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a safety-driver who uses Tesla's self-driving tech. Waymo operates with its fleet of 2,000 vehicles in the Bay Area as well as parts of Los Angeles and Phoenix. Uber, the traditional ride-hailing service, is fast becoming a rival. It has signed multiple agreements to add autonomous cars to its network. (Reporting from Abhirup Roy and Akash Sriram, both in San Francisco; editing by Peter Henderson and Matthew Lewis.)
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Turkey purchases 15 billion cubic meters of LNG to diversify its gas supply
Alparslan Bayraktar, the Energy Minister, said that Turkey had signed LNG supply agreements with international energy companies. The deals will secure around 15 billion cubic meters (bcms) of gas over the period 2026-2028. Gastech 2025, a conference held in Milan by the Turkish state energy company BOTAS and eight suppliers, saw contracts signed over two days. The initial agreements with BP ENI Shell covered 8.7 bcm. Five additional deals were signed on Wednesday to expand the portfolio, including deliveries from companies based out of Britain, Germany, Japan, and Norway. Hartree, a UK-based supplier, will provide 600 million cubic metres over a period of two years. Bayraktar announced that U.S. LNG producers Cheniere and SEFE will each supply 1.2 billion cubic meters within one year. He also stated that Japan's JERA would deliver 600 million cubic meters under a contract lasting one year, while Equinor, of Norway, will provide 1.5 billion cubic metres over a period of three years. Last year, Turkey imported approximately 50 bcm natural gas. Of this amount, 14.3 bcm was LNG. The contracts signed represent a large portion of the domestic consumption, and they are expected to improve supply security before winter. Bayraktar stated that the agreements are a reflection of Turkey's strategic goal to create a flexible and multi-sourced energy structure. He added that the deals would enhance predictability for the country's mid-term gas portfolio. Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun, Can Sezer and Tomasz Janovski Editing by Louise Heavens
Quotes-Western leaders denounce Russia for drones infiltrating Polish airspace
Poland shot down drones Wednesday that had entered its airspace, marking the first time an NATO member has fired shots in Russia's conflict in Ukraine.
Some of the top politicians and officials have reacted to this situation.
POLISH PREMIER MINISTER DONALD TUSK
"We're dealing with a massive provocation...We are prepared to repel such provocations." No one doubts the seriousness of the situation, or that we need to prepare for different scenarios.
The fact that these drones posed a threat to security were shot down has changed the political climate.
This is the closest that we've been to an open war since World War Two.
NATO SECRETARY GEN. MARK RUTTE
It is dangerous, regardless of whether it was done intentionally or not. "But the full assessment continues."
My message to (Russian president Vladimir) Putin is clear. Stop the war in Ukraine. Stop violating the airspace of allies. "Know that we are ready and vigilant to defend every inch NATO territory.
RUSSIA'S RIA NEWS AGENCY CITES ANDREY ORDASH AS A RUSSIAN CHARGE d'AFFAIRES IN POLAND.
We find the allegations to be unfounded. "No evidence has been provided that these drones were of Russian origin."
KREMLIN SPOKESMAN, Dmitry Peskov
"The EU and NATO leaders accuse Russia on a daily bases of provocation." "Most of the time without even attempting to present some sort of argument."
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY
"It's clear that Russian aggression is a threat to every independent nation of our region. Only a coordinated and joint action can ensure reliable security." It is a precedent that several European countries have used combat aircraft simultaneously to destroy Russian weapons, and save human lives.
"Europeans are stronger together." "Europeans are stronger together."
KAJA KALLAS - EUROPEAN UNION HEAD OF REPRESENTATION FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRES AND SECURITY POLITICS
"Russia's War is not ending, it is escalating." We must increase the price on Moscow, support Ukraine and invest in Europe’s defence.
"The EU has a significant role to play and we will be supporting initiatives such as the Eastern Border Shield defense line."
FRENCH PREMIER EMMANUEL MACON
"The incursion by Russian drones in the Polish airspace, during an attack conducted by Russia against Ukraine, is simply unacceptable." It is a crime that I condemn in the strongest possible terms. "I call on Russia to stop this reckless escalation."
"I reaffirm to the Polish people and government our complete solidarity. Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO, and I will be speaking soon. "We will not compromise the security of our Allies."
BRITISH PREMIER MINISTER KEIR S STARMER
The barbaric attack by Russian drones on Ukraine this morning and their egregious violation of NATO and Polish airspace is very concerning. This was a reckless act by Russia, which only served to remind us about President Putin's disregard for peace and the constant bombardment of innocent Ukrainians.
JOHANN WADEPHUL, GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER
"Russia has accepted recklessly a dangerous escalate... Unfortunately, even three years later, Moscow has not shown any serious willingness to negotiate for peace. The Kremlin, on the other hand, wants to subjugate Ukraine through force. "We will and must respond with a clear response."
U.S. AIR COMMANDER GENERAL ALEXUS GRYNKEWICH, NATO SUPREME Allied Commander Europe
"The Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, and Allied Command Operations have been in contact and coordinated with Poland and the other Allies about the drones which entered Polish airspace. NATO responded swiftly and decisively, demonstrating its capability and resolve in defending Allied territory. (Reporting Alan Charlish and Mathias de Rozario; Andrew Gray, Kate Holton and Juliia Dysa, compiled by Timothy Heritage and edited by Peter Graff, Hugh Lawson and Hugh Lawson.
(source: Reuters)