Headlines

Telkom SA SOC Ltd. offered to buy Cell C Pty Ltd. and combine South Africa’s two smallest mobile network operators to better compete against larger rivals, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The bid includes a plan to reduce Cell C’s debt and renegotiate contracts with suppliers, the people said, asking not to be identified because negotiations are ongoing. Telkom wants to take over the management of Cell C’s business, they said. The approach comes as Cell C explores options with MTN Group Ltd.

Argentina must repay $5 billion by the end of 2019. It doesn’t have much to work with. While the country’s foreign reserves total a still somewhat robust $43 billion, that figure shrinks markedly once untouchable assets such as dollar deposits of everyday Argentines and a credit line from China are stripped out, Bloomberg News reported. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News estimate that the amount that policy makers can actually freely spend is no more than $12.5 billion. One of the analysts, Siobhan Morden of Amherst Pierpont Securities, puts the figure at as little as $6.5 billion.

Lenders of debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech will meet on 18 November to take forward the process of insolvency resolution after the Supreme Court directed early this month to complete the process within 90 days, Firstpost reported. Crisis-hit Jaypee group firm Jaypee Infratech went into insolvency in 2017 after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted an application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium seeking resolution of the firm. Jaypee Infratech, a subsidiary of Jaiprakash Associates, has an outstanding debt of nearly Rs 9,800 crore.

A camper trailer company in the marginal seat of Gilmore was awarded a $750,000 federal government grant at a time that it may have been trading while insolvent, Guardian Australia can reveal. The grant, awarded under the regional jobs and investment program that was subject to a scathing report from the auditor general, was given to Off Road Camping Accessories, based in the NSW south coast town of Moruya, to develop a new type of composite panel to be manufactured for camper trailers, The Guardian reported.

Trips and holidays by Thomas Cook Germany with a departure date of Jan. 1, 2020 or later, "cannot be commenced" even if they had already been partially or fully paid for, the tour operator announced on Tuesday, Xinhuanet reported. "We are so sorry that we have to deliver this message to our customers with departure in the new year," said Stefanie Berk, chairwoman of the management board of Thomas Cook Germany. Among others, the tour operators that are affected were Thomas Cook Signature, Thomas Cook Signature Finest Selection, Neckermann Reisen and Oeger Tours.

A district court in the Latvian capital on Tuesday declared the country's oldest and largest cosmetics company Dzintars insolvent, local media reported. An aide to the judge at Riga City Pardaugava District Court who ruled on the financially ailing company's insolvency said that Dzintars had failed to provide proof that it had met its obligations to creditors, Xinhuanet reported.

Insolvency regulator IBBI is serious about enforcing a recently enacted legal provision to ensure completion of the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) in a time-bound manner, The Hindu Business Line reported. It has asked registered insolvency professionals to furnish details of all ongoing CIRP, which is not completed within 330 days. Reasons for non-compliance and details of persons responsible for non-completion have to be furnished to the regulator to enable it to take appropriate legal remedy.

Canada is on track this year to record the largest increase in consumer insolvency filings in a decade and the first increase in business insolvencies since 2001, says a national association of insolvency and restructuring professionals, Try-City News reported. The total number of Canadian insolvencies increased 8.4 per cent over the past 12 months to September, according to a report from the federal government's Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.

China’s local governments face a record number of lawsuits for failing to pay their contractors as the country’s slowing economy puts a strain on public finances, the Financial Times reported. The financial outlook has deteriorated so markedly that analysts have warned that there is a risk of social unrest. Chinese courts have listed 831 local governments as being in default in the first 10 months of this year, compared with 100 in the whole of 2018.

Even in a record-breaking year for global bond markets, Greece stands out. As recently as 2012, investors decided the country’s debt load had spiralled out of control and refused to lend to Athens at any cost, the Financial Times reported. Now, after a rally that has bewildered many observers, investors pay Greece to borrow on short-term debt. Ten-year bond yields trade at 1.2 per cent — well below the equivalent borrowing cost for the US government.