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The coronavirus pandemic snarled the world’s sprawling supply chains for months, shutting factories, disrupting shipping and making it difficult for companies to get products from factories to consumers. Now, many companies are considering changing the model to avoid future product shortages and transportation delays, even if it might increase costs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Some are looking at moving production closer to home. Others are considering spreading small factories around the world instead of putting all their manufacturing in one place.
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Cleopatra Hospital Group, the biggest Egyptian private hospital operator by number of beds, agreed to buy Alameda Healthcare Group’s assets in the country in one of the largest African health-care transactions this year, Bloomberg News reported. The board of Cleopatra has approved the planned purchase, according to a statement yesterday. Cleopatra plans to partially fund the deal by issuing convertible loan notes to Alameda controlling shareholder Fahad Khater. The deal could value Alameda at about $450 million to $500 million including debt.
Dubai’s government expects to spend 57.1 billion dirhams ($15.5 billion) next year as it tries to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus, according to the budget approved on Sunday, Bloomberg News reported. The program takes into account “the exceptional economic conditions of the fiscal year 2020 and the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy,” according to a statement on the website of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai. Government revenue is expected to reach 52.3 billion dirhams, it said.
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The dedicated bankruptcy court has admitted the insolvency resolution petition against listed textile firm Bansal Multiflex Ltd for the default on its operational debt of about Rs 28 lakh, the The Economic Times (India) reported. The Ahmadabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has admitted the petition filed by Jodhpur-based Vardhman Textiles has argued in its petition that the company had supplied various raw materials to the company between July 2017 to January 2019.
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Chinese banks are expected to face headwinds raising funds next year as profit-conscious investors cling to the sidelines, expecting a wave of bad loans to hammer the sector and erode already slimming margins, Reuters reported. The sector is ending its worst annual performance in years after putting aside record provisions due to COVID-19 while Beijing urged banks to sacrifice profits to help the economy.
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Chinese financial regulators moved to rein in Ant Group Co., the financial-technology giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, telling it to switch its focus back to its mainstay payments business and rectify problems in faster-growing areas such as personal lending, insurance and wealth management, the Wall Street Journal reported. China’s central bank on Sunday criticized Ant for its behavior toward competitors and consumers, and what regulators said was problematic corporate governance.
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Seven labor groups representing workers at South African Airways who’ve not been paid since March agreed to accept a settlement offer of three months’ wages, a move that will aid the government’s efforts to revive the bankrupt state airline, Bloomberg News reported. Members of the groups, including the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union and the Solidarity union, will also receive a lump-sum payment related to an increase they were owed and part of a year-end bonus, the Department of Public Enterprises Enterprises said in a statement on Thursday.
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Montenegro Airlines has ceased operations this evening with the company to be shut down, ExyuAviation.com reported. The carrier's final commercial service was operated between Belgrade and Podgorica as flight YM103. In a statement, the airline said, "The Montenegrin government's decision to shut down our company will have a negative impact on the entire aviation sector in the country. We would like to inform the public that starting tomorrow, December 26, 2020, we are completely suspending all operations".
The High Court has appointed a provisional liquidator to an Irish-registered luxury property investment firm operated by an alleged fraudster, The Irish Times reported. The order was made in respect of Lux Estate Capital Limited, with a registered address at Townspark, Trim Road, Athboy, Co Meath, which purports to be involved in real estate investments in various countries, primarily in Spain. The court heard that the company was run and owned by a Polish national called Lukasz Salamander, aka Lukasz Salamandra.
Shunned in global financial markets, Argentina is seeking about US$5 billion for next year from multilateral organisations other than the International Monetary Fund as it negotiates a larger refinancing programme with the Washington-based lender, according to three people familiar with the plans, the Buenos Aires Times reported. Alberto Fernández’s administration is looking to institutions including the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, said the people, who asked not to be named because discussions are private.