Company news in brief

Coke adds Moxie to beverage lineup

Coca-Cola Co said on Tuesday it will buy Moxie, a soda-based soft drink brand that is more than a hundred years old, from its bottling partner Coca-Cola of Northern New England.

Moxie, the official soft drink of the state of Maine, was invented two years before Coke in 1884 and counted President Calvin Coolidge and Boston Red Sox great Ted Williams among its patrons.

Both the companies did not disclose the value of the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.

-Nampa/Reuters

Thomson Reuters launches $9 billion buyback

Thomson Reuters Corp on Tuesday launched a US$9 billion share buyback, sending its shares higher, and said it would complete the sale of a majority stake in its Financial & Risk unit to Blackstone Group LP on October 1.

Shares in Thomson Reuters, which had been suspended prior to the announcement, were trading at C$58.03, up 3.6 percent at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT) in Toronto, having earlier hit C$58.50 after trading recommenced, their highest level since the deal was announced on Jan. 30

-Nampa/Reuters

FB, Google chase new US$1trn payments market

Surendrasingh Sucharia always has a few thousand rupees in his pocket, but can’t recall the last time he used cash. The 29-year-old product manager in Bangalore uses a string of smartphone apps including ones from Google and India’s Paytm to pay for everything from US$40 bags of groceries to street food that costs pennies.

A bewildering array of digital payment businesses from global names like Facebook’s WhatsApp to Google are in a slugfest to win Indian users. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is acquiring a stake in the company behind payments leader Paytm.

Meanwhile, a string of other big-name players are also expanding in the country’s digital payments market including its banks, its postal service, and its richest man, Mukesh Ambani.

-Fin24

Steinhoff's former CFO to appear

Former Steinhoff Chief Financial Officer Ben la Grange will present evidence before a joint sitting of four Parliamentary committees on Wednesday, but will not be joined by his ex boss Markus Jooste.

The embattled firm's share price has fallen by over 95% since early December 2017 when Jooste abruptly resigned after auditors uncovered irregularities in the conglomerate's books. These are still being investigated by PwC as part of an independent forensic audit.

The committee hearing is set to being at 10:00 and continue until 16:00.

La Grange resigned as Steinhoff's CFO in early January, roughly a month after Jooste left the company. At the time, the retailer said he would help finalise the group's audited financial statements. But last week, according to Bloomberg, the 43-year-old was suspended from this short term consultancy deal as well.

-Fin24

MultiChoice announces new 24-hour channel

MultiChoice on Tuesday announced Newzroom Afrika as the new black-owned 24-hour news channel on satellite service DStv's bouquet, after the group decided not to renew its contract with Mwanele Manyi's Afro Worldview.

Yolisa Phahle, the CEO of M-Net, said the winning bidder was a new entrant and had "met all qualifying criteria".

The two directors of little-known company are Thokozani Nkosi of production company Eclipse TV, and Thabile Ngwato of Rapid Innovation, who previously worked as a news anchor at the SABC.

Ngwato left the public broadcaster earlier this month. In a media statement, the SABC said she was leaving to "pursue business interests after five successful years of producing and presenting news at the SABC".

-Fin24