Company news in brief

Vodafone to pay up in legal fightVodafone Group yesterday offered over 2 billion euro to buy out minority shareholders in Kabel Deutschland Holding, in a deal aimed at ending a long-running legal battle with hedge fund Elliott and others over the cable company.The British firm, which bought a nearly 77% stake in the German cable company in 2013 for 7.7 billion euro, said it would offer all minority shareholders of KDG 103 euro in cash for each outstanding share.Vodafone said shareholders representing 17% of shares had accepted the offer, which valued all remaining minority holdings in Germany's largest cable company at up to 2.12 billion euro.KDG minority shareholders had previously appealed a 2019 decision by a Munich district court that ruled that Vodafone's compensation for the 2013 takeover was "adequate"."As a result of the agreement to tender their shares in KDG to Vodafone, the accepting shareholders will withdraw their appeal from the court of appeal in Munich," Vodafone said. – Nampa/ReutersEasyJet delays delivery of planesEasyJet has delayed delivery of new Airbus planes, the British no-frills airline announced yesterday, as the coronavirus pandemic destroys demand for air travel.A total of 22 aircraft due between 2022 and 2024 will be deferred until 2027-28, EasyJet said in a statement.Other deliveries due 2022-24 will have flexible timings."In this period of uncertainty, this flexibility is even more valuable, as it will enable us to quickly flex our fleet size in response to customer demand," chief executive Johan Lundgren said.EasyJet recently posted the first annual pre-tax loss in its 25-year history on the virus fallout, while the airline is axing up to 4 500 jobs or almost one third of its staff. – Nampa/AFPTesla tumbles 6.5% in S&P 500 debutShares of Tesla ended sharply lower in their S&P 500 debut Monday, with losses accelerating after news of potential future competition from Apple.Tesla ended down 6.5% from a record high in the previous session, its steepest one-day drop in over a week. Losses steepened towards the end of the session after Reuters reported that Apple is targeting 2024 to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology.The company's shares had opened down nearly 5%.The electric car maker, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, is the most valuable company ever admitted to Wall Street's main benchmark and accounted for a 1.69% weight in the index ahead of Monday's trading.Tesla is by far the most traded stock by value on Wall Street, with US$18 billion worth of its shares exchanged on average in each session over the past 12 months, easily beating Apple, in second place with average daily trades of US$14 billion, according to Refinitiv. – Nampa/ReutersMGM movie studio explores saleUS movie studio MGM Holdings is exploring a sale, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.The movie studio behind the "James Bond" franchise has tapped investment banks Morgan Stanley and LionTree LLC and started a formal sale process, the source said, asking not to be identified.The company has a market value of around US$5.5 billion, based on privately traded shares and including debt, the source added. MGM Holdings said it had no comment. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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Company news in brief

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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