Company news in brief

NAMPA
Microsoft's US$7.5 billion GitHub deal set for EU approval

US software giant Microsoft is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its US$7.5 billion purchase of privately held coding website GitHub, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Microsoft announced the deal in June, its largest acquisition since it bought LinkedIn for US$26 billion in 2016. The GitHub deal is expected to boost the US software giant’s cloud computing business and challenge market leader Amazon.

GitHub, the world’s largest code host, has more than 28 million developers using its platform.

It will become a part of Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud unit once the acquisition is completed.

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has tried to assuage users’ worries that GitHub might favor Microsoft products over competitors after the deal, saying GitHub would continue to be an open platform that works with all public clouds.

-Nampa/Reuters

Google drops out of bidding for US$10 billion data deal

Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Monday it was no longer vying for a US$10 billion cloud computing contract with the US Defense Department, in part because the company’s new ethical guidelines do not align with the project, without elaborating.

Google said in a statement “we couldn’t be assured that would align with our AI Principles and second, we determined that there were portions of the contract that were out of scope with our current government certifications.”

The principles bar use of Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) software in weapons as well as services that violate international norms for surveillance and human rights.

Google was provisionally certified in March to handle US government data with “moderate” security, but Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp have higher clearances.

Amazon was widely viewed among Pentagon officials and technology vendors as the front-runner for the contract, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud, or JEDI.

Google had been angling for the deal, hoping that the US$10 billion annual contract could provide a giant boost to its nascent cloud business and catch up with Amazon and fellow JEDI competitor Microsoft.

-Nampa/Reuters

Volkswagen set to hire four banks for truck unit IPO

Volkswagen is close to hiring Citigroup Deutsche Bank Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to help with the potential stock market listing of its truck unit Traton, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

Volkswagen said last month that Traton should by year-end be in shape for a potential stock market listing, which is expected to take place in mid-2019.

VW plans to convert Traton’s legal structure to a Societas Europaea (SE) and to shortly mandate investment banks and legal advisers for a possible initial public offering, Volkswagen said at the time.

VW, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Officials at Citi were not immediately available for comment.

Bloomberg earlier on Monday reported that the banks were likely to be mandated for the IPO.

-Nampa/Reuters

Facebook debuts smart speaker for Messenger video calls

Facebook Inc on Monday released a smart speaker designed to ease video calls, but the company’s history of privacy mishaps and the device’s price and limited functionality could slow it from taking on market leaders Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.

The device, known as Portal, comes in US$199 and US$349 versions and its signature feature is a wide-angle camera that automatically keeps users in focus as they move about a room, Facebook hardware executives told Reuters in a meeting last week.

They said Portal is available at Amazon and Best Buy stores in addition to Facebook.com and starts shipping to US customers in early November.

Smart speakers costing under US$100 from Amazon and Google have become best sellers in the nascent industry. Users issue voice commands to search, shop and listen to music, turning the speakers into a major funnel into the technology companies’ competing networks.

Portal could help Facebook stop users from flocking to rival chat and video apps on other speakers and give it a new, wholly controlled environment to sell ads.

About 32% of US consumers own a smart speaker, but another 16% plan to buy one by the end of 2018, according to an Adobe Analytics survey released last month.

Facebook expects to stand apart on the market because of Portal’s touchscreen and the 400 million people who call through its Messenger service each month worldwide. Rival smart speakers with screens lack a video-chatting app that is as popular.

-Nampa/Reuters

Starbucks taps Hyatt financial chief

Starbucks Corp on Monday named Hyatt Hotels Corp’s financial chief Patrick Grismer as its new chief financial officer, making another leadership change in the past year as it battles intense competition in a cooling US coffee market.

Grismer’s appointment completes a three-month search for a new finance chief since current CFO Scott Maw announced plans to retire in June.

Maw’s announcement coincided with executive chairman and former Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz’s departure from the company, who built Starbucks into a global powerhouse over four decades.

-Nampa/Reuters

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Katima Mulilo: 19° | 37° Rundu: 17° | 33° Eenhana: 18° | 33° Oshakati: 20° | 31° Ruacana: 19° | 33° Tsumeb: 17° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 28° Omaruru: 18° | 31° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 17° | 28° Henties Bay: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:54, High tide: 04:57, Low Tide: 22:58, High tide: 17:16 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 29km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:55, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:14 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 33km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:54, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 22° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 34° Aranos: 21° | 31° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 34° Oranjemund: 15° | 21° Luanda: 27° | 30° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 24° Mbabane: 15° | 23° Maseru: 12° | 28° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 29° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 17° | 23° Durban: 21° | 25° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 18° | 30° Harare: 15° | 31° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.97 | EUR to NAD 20.54 | CNY to NAD 2.63 | USD to NAD 19.05 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.8 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.45 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.27 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 19.05 | USD to ZMW 24.97 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 73909.5 Up +0.41% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1516.02 Down -0.13% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12981.98 Up +0.34% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 28224.37 Down -2.87% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 199.60/OZ UP +0.40% | Copper US$ 3.98/lb DOWN -0.0019 | Zinc US$ 2 441.60/T DOWN -0.61% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 86.61/BBP UP +0.26% | Platinum US$ 896.95/OZ UP +0.23% Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 19° | 37° Rundu: 17° | 33° Eenhana: 18° | 33° Oshakati: 20° | 31° Ruacana: 19° | 33° Tsumeb: 17° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 28° Omaruru: 18° | 31° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 17° | 28° Henties Bay: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:54, High tide: 04:57, Low Tide: 22:58, High tide: 17:16 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 29km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:55, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:14 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 33km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:54, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 22° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 34° Aranos: 21° | 31° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 34° Oranjemund: 15° | 21° Luanda: 27° | 30° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 24° Mbabane: 15° | 23° Maseru: 12° | 28° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 29° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 17° | 23° Durban: 21° | 25° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 18° | 30° Harare: 15° | 31° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.97 | EUR to NAD 20.54 | CNY to NAD 2.63 | USD to NAD 19.05 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.8 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.45 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.27 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 19.05 | USD to ZMW 24.97 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 73909.5 Up +0.41% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1516.02 Down -0.13% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12981.98 Up +0.34% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 28224.37 Down -2.87% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 199.60/OZ UP +0.40% | Copper US$ 3.98/lb DOWN -0.0019 | Zinc US$ 2 441.60/T DOWN -0.61% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 86.61/BBP UP +0.26% | Platinum US$ 896.95/OZ UP +0.23%