Company news

Ndamanguluka Nakashole
Murray & Roberts agrees to buy Aveng

South African-based Murray & Roberts has agreed to buy construction firm Aveng Limited, although its biggest shareholder ATON said it will not support the one billion rand (US$78.5 million) takeover.

The proposed deal announced by both firms on Friday would give additional scale in Murray & Roberts’ (M&R) key markets such as Australasia and Africa, while shoring up liquidity in loss-making Aveng in the near-term.

The deal comes after a month after Murray & Roberts (M&R) rejected a takeover bid by German investor and biggest shareholder ATON.

-Nampa/Reuters

Anadarko seeks to raise US$14-15b

Anadarko Petroleum is seeking to raise a record US$14 to US$15 billion from banks and export credit agencies for its huge liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique, sources close to the matter said.

Fast-growing gas demand from China and Southeast Asia is reassuring export project developers sitting on huge untapped gas discoveries in Mozambique and elsewhere that the market cycle is turning after three years of low prices.

-Nampa/Reuters

Steinhoff seeks three-year debt extension

Steinhoff International Holdings is seeking a three-year extension on most of its US$11.3billion of debt as the retailer battles to come to grips with an accounting scandal that’s wiped more than 96% off the share price.

The owner of Conforama in France and Mattress Firm in the US presented an initial restructuring plan to creditors in London on Friday it said is “essential” for the company to survive.

Steinhoff proposed its holding company debt be extended and that it pay no cash interest, except on loans of the Hemisphere real estate unit.

-Fin24

Postal Service urged to double rates for Amazon

President Donald Trump has personally pushed the postmaster general to double the rates the US Postal Service charges Amazon.com and other companies to ship packages, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing three unnamed sources.

Postmaster general Megan Brennan resisted Trump’s suggestion in private conversations in 2017 and 2018, telling him that package delivery rates are set by contract and reviewed by an independent commission, the sources said, according to the newspaper.

She also told Trump, using a set of slides that showed other companies besides Amazon that partner for deliveries, that the arrangements have helped the financially challenged Postal Service, the Post said, citing the sources.

-Nampa/Reuters

LG Group chairman dies

The chairman of LG Group, Koo Bon-moo, who helped transform South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate into a global brand, passed away on Sunday after a battle with a brain disease.

Koo, 73, had been ill for a year, LG Group said in a statement.

Koo had been fighting a brain disease and had undergone surgery, said a group official who declined to be identified.

“Becoming the third chairman of LG at the age of 50 in 1995, Koo established three key businesses - electronics, chemicals and telecommunications - led a global company LG, and contributed to driving (South Korea’s) industrial competitiveness and national economic development,” LG said.

-Nampa/Reuters

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-22

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