Company news in brief
Mercedes-Benz and Nvidia struck a deal
Semiconductor maker Nvidia Corp has struck a deal with Germany's Daimler to develop and equip Mercedes-Benz cars with a next generation chip and software platform that could eventually be used for autonomous driving functions.
The alliance between a deep-pocketed tech player and the world's oldest carmaker allows Mercedes to jointly develop new automated driving capabilities and software applications at a time when the auto industry is struggling to generate profits.
"We want to launch a ground-breaking software-defined computer architecture for driving assistance and autonomous drive," Daimler chief executive Ola Kaellenius said during a joint presentation by the two companies on Tuesday.
The Nvidia Drive AGX Orin Platform, an autonomous vehicle processor, will be rolled out starting in 2024, allowing Mercedes to update a car's software the same way that smartphones are updated today.
The companies will jointly develop the artificial intelligence and automated vehicle applications to enable higher levels of automated driving, Daimler said. – Nampa/Reuters
Microsoft diversity investment
Microsoft Corp set a five-year diversity goal to address racial inequality at its offices, following protests over police brutality against African Americans in the United States.
The company said it will add another US$150 million in diversity and inclusion investment to double the number of black and African-American people managers, senior individual contributors, and senior leaders in the United States by 2025.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police triggered protests in the United States against racial inequality, while also forcing companies to confront the discrimination that remains prevalent in Corporate America.
Earlier in the month, Alphabet Inc's Google also said that by 2025, the company aims to have 30% more of its leaders from underrepresented groups.
Microsoft will take steps to address the needs of other underrepresented communities, including the Hispanic and Latinx community, across the company in the next five years. – Nampa/Reuters
Shell plans to restructure
Royal Dutch Shell will announce a major restructuring by the end of the year as the energy company prepares to accelerate its shift towards low-carbon, CEO Ben van Beurden told employees according to a company source.
In a video interview published on Shell's internal website, van Beurden said that the restructuring would involve job cuts as part of broad cost reductions, although no figures have been decided yet, according to sources who saw the interview.
"Ben spoke about positioning the company in the energy transition," one of the sources said. "The company will announce the new shape of the organisation by the end of the year. "The new structure will not take effect before 2021.
"Over the coming months we will go through a comprehensive review of the company. Where appropriate we will redesign our organisation to adapt to a different future and emerge stronger," Shell said in a statement.
The review, which could result in the first major change to Shell's structure in over a decade, comes after the Anglo-Dutch company set out ambitious plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and announced a cut in its dividend for the first time since the 1940s. - Nampa/Reuters
American Airlines to raise US$2 bln
American Airlines Group Inc said it expects to raise about US$2 billion through a stock-and-notes offering in an effort to bolster its balance sheet to better deal with a slowdown in travel due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The company plans to offer 74.1 million shares of its common stock priced at US$13.50 per share, representing a 15.6% discount to Friday's close, the last trading day before the company announced its plan to secure US$3.5 billion in new financing.
American also said it would offer US$1 billion in convertible senior notes with 6.5% coupon rate due 2025 in public offerings. Shares were down nearly 7% at US$13.93 in early trade.
The deal size increased from US$1.5 billion in equity and convertible bonds as announced on Sunday. The carrier still plans to offer US$1.5 billion in senior secured notes and intends to enter into a new US$500 million term loan facility due 2024.
Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan will be acting as representatives for the underwriters. – Nampa/Reuters
Pepco's sale delayed
The boss of Pepco Group, the owner of British discount retailer Poundland, said the coronavirus crisis has delayed the sale of the group by its troubled South African parent company Steinhoff.
Steinhoff, which has been battling the fallout from a 2017 accounting scandal, said last year it was evaluating a range of strategic options for Pepco Group, including a potential public listing, private equity sale or trade sale.
"As far as how that happens and when? I think clearly Covid -19 has thrown things up in the air," Pepco Group CEO Andy Bond told Reuters on Tuesday.
But Bond, a former boss of UK supermarket group Asda, said management's current focus was on getting the retailer through the crisis, which caused a 16.3% fall in first-half to end-March pre-tax profit to US$101 million.
"Right now, it's very much a secondary issue for everyone. It's about getting the business back into good health first and foremost," he said. It warned it expected revenue to remain below historical norms for the remainder of 2020. – Nampa/Reuters
Semiconductor maker Nvidia Corp has struck a deal with Germany's Daimler to develop and equip Mercedes-Benz cars with a next generation chip and software platform that could eventually be used for autonomous driving functions.
The alliance between a deep-pocketed tech player and the world's oldest carmaker allows Mercedes to jointly develop new automated driving capabilities and software applications at a time when the auto industry is struggling to generate profits.
"We want to launch a ground-breaking software-defined computer architecture for driving assistance and autonomous drive," Daimler chief executive Ola Kaellenius said during a joint presentation by the two companies on Tuesday.
The Nvidia Drive AGX Orin Platform, an autonomous vehicle processor, will be rolled out starting in 2024, allowing Mercedes to update a car's software the same way that smartphones are updated today.
The companies will jointly develop the artificial intelligence and automated vehicle applications to enable higher levels of automated driving, Daimler said. – Nampa/Reuters
Microsoft diversity investment
Microsoft Corp set a five-year diversity goal to address racial inequality at its offices, following protests over police brutality against African Americans in the United States.
The company said it will add another US$150 million in diversity and inclusion investment to double the number of black and African-American people managers, senior individual contributors, and senior leaders in the United States by 2025.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police triggered protests in the United States against racial inequality, while also forcing companies to confront the discrimination that remains prevalent in Corporate America.
Earlier in the month, Alphabet Inc's Google also said that by 2025, the company aims to have 30% more of its leaders from underrepresented groups.
Microsoft will take steps to address the needs of other underrepresented communities, including the Hispanic and Latinx community, across the company in the next five years. – Nampa/Reuters
Shell plans to restructure
Royal Dutch Shell will announce a major restructuring by the end of the year as the energy company prepares to accelerate its shift towards low-carbon, CEO Ben van Beurden told employees according to a company source.
In a video interview published on Shell's internal website, van Beurden said that the restructuring would involve job cuts as part of broad cost reductions, although no figures have been decided yet, according to sources who saw the interview.
"Ben spoke about positioning the company in the energy transition," one of the sources said. "The company will announce the new shape of the organisation by the end of the year. "The new structure will not take effect before 2021.
"Over the coming months we will go through a comprehensive review of the company. Where appropriate we will redesign our organisation to adapt to a different future and emerge stronger," Shell said in a statement.
The review, which could result in the first major change to Shell's structure in over a decade, comes after the Anglo-Dutch company set out ambitious plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and announced a cut in its dividend for the first time since the 1940s. - Nampa/Reuters
American Airlines to raise US$2 bln
American Airlines Group Inc said it expects to raise about US$2 billion through a stock-and-notes offering in an effort to bolster its balance sheet to better deal with a slowdown in travel due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The company plans to offer 74.1 million shares of its common stock priced at US$13.50 per share, representing a 15.6% discount to Friday's close, the last trading day before the company announced its plan to secure US$3.5 billion in new financing.
American also said it would offer US$1 billion in convertible senior notes with 6.5% coupon rate due 2025 in public offerings. Shares were down nearly 7% at US$13.93 in early trade.
The deal size increased from US$1.5 billion in equity and convertible bonds as announced on Sunday. The carrier still plans to offer US$1.5 billion in senior secured notes and intends to enter into a new US$500 million term loan facility due 2024.
Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan will be acting as representatives for the underwriters. – Nampa/Reuters
Pepco's sale delayed
The boss of Pepco Group, the owner of British discount retailer Poundland, said the coronavirus crisis has delayed the sale of the group by its troubled South African parent company Steinhoff.
Steinhoff, which has been battling the fallout from a 2017 accounting scandal, said last year it was evaluating a range of strategic options for Pepco Group, including a potential public listing, private equity sale or trade sale.
"As far as how that happens and when? I think clearly Covid -19 has thrown things up in the air," Pepco Group CEO Andy Bond told Reuters on Tuesday.
But Bond, a former boss of UK supermarket group Asda, said management's current focus was on getting the retailer through the crisis, which caused a 16.3% fall in first-half to end-March pre-tax profit to US$101 million.
"Right now, it's very much a secondary issue for everyone. It's about getting the business back into good health first and foremost," he said. It warned it expected revenue to remain below historical norms for the remainder of 2020. – Nampa/Reuters
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