 Stock repurchases by quarter Share repurchases of S&P 500 listed companies have grown 63.6% in comparison to last year and 16.6% in comparison with 2019, totaling $850B this year. Companies have invested $5.3T in stock repurchases since 2010. In the third quarter, companies paid out cash dividends averaging $15.36 per share, up from $13.97 in the same period the year before. More: - The rationale behind the rising stock buybacks is unclear, especially since the stock market is currently booming. But companies currently do have a lot of cash, with S&P 500 listed companies currently holding $3.78T, up from $3.41T the year before and $2.19T in 2019.
- In order to compel companies to disclose the reason behind stock repurchases, the SEC has proposed enforcing stringent disclosure requirements on such transactions.
- The currently stalled $2T "Build Back Better" spending package included a 1% tax on stock buybacks, although the introduction of the bill is anticipated to not slow down the rising trend.
- Anticipated share buybacks for this and the following year:
- Ciena Corp, a networking equipment provider, intends to buy $250M in accelerated stock purchases.
- Stanley Black & Decker Inc plans to buy $4B worth of stock in 2022.
- Johnson Controls International PLC will repurchase $1.4B in shares.
- Zoetis Inc, an animal-health company, plans to buy $880M in shares from an existing arrangement and introduce a new $3.5B program.
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 Novartis Novartis AG will acquire Gyroscope Therapeutics, a U.K.-based gene therapy startup, for $1.5B. The acquisition will help Novartis expand its service offerings to include Gyroscope’s geographic atrophy therapy, which is currently in mid-stage clinical trials. More: - Life science investor Syncona Ltd. had founded Gyroscope Therapeutics five years ago with a focus on eye disease treatment.
- Gyroscope’s GT005 treatment for geographic atrophy has been designed to reduce inflammation by increasing the production of CFI protein.
- Novartis will pay $800M upfront toward the acquisition, with a further $700M in milestone-based payments.
- Novartis already offers a few gene therapies, namely Zolgensma for treatment of spinal muscular atrophy for a $2M price, and Luxturna for treatment of blindness caused by inherited eye disease.
- The Swiss healthcare company has also acquired other companies intending to expand into gene therapy for eye diseases:
- U.S.-based Vedere Bio Inc was acquired for $280M last year.
- Swiss-based Arctos Medical was acquired for an undisclosed sum.
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 Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow Bolt, an e-commerce checkout software firm, is seeking to raise $400M in a funding round at a company valuation of $14B. The software firm offers its proprietary one-click payment technology for e-commerce websites. More: - The checkout software is deployed at ~300 merchants, including key brands like Forever 21 and Brooks Brothers.
- At the start of this year, Bolt had 4 million registered shoppers.
- Bolt has raised over $1B in VC funding since commencing operations in 2015 and is on track to generate $50M in revenue this year.
- Recent funding rounds of Bolt:
- Series E $400M in 2021.
- Series D $393M in Oct. 2021.
- The last funding saw participation from Hedosophia, BlackRock, and Abu Dhabi growth fund.
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The European Commission has proposed three new taxes to settle all EU nations' debt toward the $905B (€800B) euro recovery fund. The funds will be used to repay the borrowings toward the NextGenerationEU stimulus package, which is to be paid back by 2058. More: - The stimulus package was launched to guide the economic recovery of all 27 nations in the EU following the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
- Three new proposed taxes are:
- A new carbon tax for CO2 emitted by fuels for buildings and cars, while also levying taxes on ships and increased taxes on airlines.
- Carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) to tax imports of goods made in countries with weak CO2 standards
- Corporate tax for large multinationals that will be reallocated to the EU under the recent G20 and OECD agreement.
- Share of income to be diverted to the EU budget from each of the newly proposed taxes:
- 25% of the carbon tax is projected to contribute an average of $13.5B (€12B) each year between 2026 and 2030.
- 75% of the CBAM is expected to provide $1.1B (€1B) each year between 2026 and 2030.
- 15% share of corporate tax forecasted to contribute between $2.2B (€2B) to $4.52B (€4B) per year.
- The Commission is said to propose another set of taxes in late 2023 to help repay the recovery borrowing.
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- 28% of people admitted using their personal device for work more than their work-issued device
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 Maersk containers A.P.Moller-Maersk will buy LF Logistics for $3.6B to expand operations into warehousing and inland logistics. Maersk will gain access to 223 distribution centers across Asia and over 250 global customers as part of this acquisition from Li & Fung Ltd. LF Logistics is expected to eventually contribute to half of the group's earnings. More: - LF Logistics is also a freight forwarding service provider in addition to warehousing.
- Currently, less than 25% of Maersk's 70,000 customers use their inland warehousing and distribution services.
- Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company, reported $5.44B in profit in the quarter ending in September, as revenue increased 68% to $16.61B.
- Profit reported was 5x the same time last year.
- 80% of Maersk's current revenue is generated through ocean shipping operations.
- This deal would be Maersk's second-largest acquisition since purchasing Hamburg Süd for $4.2B in 2017.
- Earlier this year, Maersk bought two e-commerce logistics companies in the U.S. and Europe for a value of $1B as the logistics corporation continues to expand into land logistics.
- Unilever PLC recently signed a four-year agreement letting Maersk handle its ocean and airfreight transport.
Zoom out: - Mediterranean Shipping Co. offered to buy the African assets of Bollore SE for $6.4B in a deal that would grant access to 16 terminals across Ghana, Nigeria, and Gabon.
- Ceve Logistics AG was bought by French-based CMA CGM SA for $1.7B in 2019.
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Via, a shuttle service provider, has confidentially filed for an IPO, although the number of shares and price are yet to be determined. The mobility provider has raised a total of $777M in funding, with the most recent round of $130M last month increasing the company's worth to $3.3B. More: - Los Angeles Metro, Jersey City, and Miami are among Via's 500 partners.
- During the epidemic, the company saw a drop in ridership but partnered with emergency services in cities, which helped stimulate demand for its software.
- In order to strengthen its portfolio of services, Via acquired Remix in March for $100M, followed by Fleetonomy.
- Fellow mobility startups Voi Scooters and Kakao Mobility are expected to be publicly listed in 2022.
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- 1,400 Kellogg union workers on strike since Oct. 5 have agreed to a new five-year contract that includes wage increases, new health benefits, pension increments, cost-of-living adjustments to wages, and a guarantee to keep all plants operational for the next five years.
- NHTSA has opened an inquiry into the safety and driver distraction concerns about "Passenger Play" functionality, which allows games to be played on the dashboard even when the car is in motion. The inquiry may affect up to 580,000 cars sold by Tesla since 2017. Prior to a Dec. 2020 update, this feature could only be accessed when the car was in park.
- Chinese aluminum foil manufacturers exporting to EU nations will have an additional anti-subsidy duty ranging between 8.6% to 18.2%. The new tariffs are in response to complaints raised by European producers, who believe that Chinese producers got unfair subsidies.
- Berlin-based food delivery startup Delivery Hero will stop FoodPanda's operations in Germany due to increased competition and rising rider costs. The company has also decided to sell its FoodPanda Japan operations.
- Airbus SE will meet its target to deliver 600 aircraft in 2021, despite surface quality issues with A350s and handover delays with Aeroflot, Ethiopian Airlines, and a few Chinese airlines.
- Cohesity, a data management startup valued at $3.7B and backed by SoftBank, has confidentially filed for an IPO.
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 |  | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, Formula 1 lover, and a Licensed Pilot. He is also a part-time automobile and aviation fanatic, and a full-time introvert. | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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