Ikea Takes on NZ 🪑

Author

Jay Geris
June 03, 2023

Good Morning,

NZ PM greeted by angry student protesters in Dunedin, US Senate signs off debt deal with just days to spare, Ikea breaks ground on first New Zealand store, Banks write fewer new loans to home-buyers and businesses, and Consumer NZ accuses Air NZ of 'greenwashing' over compostable cups.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • Markets were up over that past two days. The NZX 50 gained +0.6%, to 11,880.90 the ASX 200 increased +0.8% to 7,145.10, the S&P 500 grew +0.4% to 4,221.02 and the Nasdaq gained +0.6%.

  • Market wrap: Pacific Edge was the star on a quieter day (Stuff)

  • Stocks climbed after the debt-ceiling deal passed its last Congressional hurdle, with traders now looking to US jobs data later Friday that may clarify the Federal Reserve’s policy path (BBG)

Earnings and Data

  • New Zealand’s trade deficit narrowed to $3.2 billion NZD in the March 2023 quarter, compared with $3.9b NZD in the March 2022 quarter, Stats NZ said today (Herald)

  • The United Nations food agency's world price index fell in May to its lowest in two years, as a slump in prices of vegetable oils, cereals and dairy outweighed increases for sugar and meat (RT)

News Summary

  • Prime Minister Chris Hipkins faced a hostile welcome from student protesters in Dunedin today as anger continues to brew over deep job cuts at universities (1 News)

  • Fending off a US default, the Senate gave final approval today to a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, grinding into the night (local time) to wrap up work on the bipartisan deal and send it to President Joe Biden's desk to become law before the fast-approaching deadline (1 News)

  • Swedish furniture giant Ikea is about to begin construction on its first New Zealand store at Auckland's Sylvia Park, and expects it to open its doors at the end of 2025 (Stuff)

  • Consumer NZ is accusing Air New Zealand of “greenwashing” and misleading passengers with a statement on its compostable cups (Stuff)

  • New bank lending is falling as home-buyers and businesses pull in their horns, according to statistics released by the Reserve Bank (Stuff)

  • First-home buyers in New South Wales will be granted increased stamp duty exemptions and concessions from the start of July, after legislation passed state parliament on Thursday (9 News)

  • Twitter's head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, told Reuters on Thursday that she has resigned from the social media company, which has faced criticism for lax protections against harmful content since billionaire Elon Musk acquired it in October (RT)

  • Meta Platforms Inc. on Thursday said it will begin tests on its social media websites Facebook and Instagram that will limit some users and publishers from viewing or sharing some news content in Canada (RT)

  • Meta will require employees to return to the office three days a week starting in September (CNBC)

  • PC makers from Lenovo Group Ltd. to Samsung Electronics Co. are pinning their hopes for reviving laptop sales on upgraded displays (BBG)

  • The Blues will host the Waratahs in next weekend’s Super Rugby quarterfinals at Eden Park, and you have to say their cunning plan to hit a late-season peak appears to be on track (Stuff)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • SVB Securities management is in talks to buy back the investment bank from bankrupt SVB Financial Group, according to people familiar with the matter (BBG)

  • EQT AB is exploring a sale of Ellab that could value the industrial technology company at about €1 billion ($1.1 billion USD), people with knowledge of the matter said (BBG)

  • EQT AB agreed to buy UK veterinary drugmaker Dechra Pharmaceuticals Plc for a lowered price of ÂŁ4.46 billion ($5.6 billion USD) in what is still the biggest European take-private this year (BBG)

  • Philippine billionaire Ramon Ang will increase his stake to over a third in Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc., the parent company of food-to-power conglomerate San Miguel Corp., where he is both president and CEO (BBG)

  • The owners of an office tower in the heart of Dubai’s financial district, whose tenants include JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp., are considering selling a stake in the skyscraper, according to people familiar with the matter (BBG)

  • Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund acquired a 30% stake in Tamimi Markets Co. for an undisclosed sum in a deal that would precede a potential initial public offering in the grocery chain, according to a statement (BBG)

  • Ireland's Finance Ministry and Britain's NatWest Group said on Friday they had jointly sold 54.6 million shares in Permanent TSB representing 10% of the Irish bank's share capital.

  • Utility firm Constellation Energy Corp said on Thursday it would acquire NRG Energy Inc's stake in a nuclear plant in Texas in a deal valued at $1.75 billion USD (RT)

  • British autocatalyst maker Johnson Matthey is planning to sell its medical device components business as the company looks to streamline its portfolio of assets, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday (RT)

VC & Fundraising

  • Metallurgical coal miner Bowen Coking Coal was passing around the hat for a $50 million AUD raising on Friday morning to speed up production at its Burton Complex (AFR)

  • Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. is considering raising funds for the maker of London’s iconic black cabs, people familiar with the matter said, as the Chinese automaker looks to bolster its electric fleet (BBG)

  • Hybe Co., the South Korean music agency behind BTS and Ariana Grande, is seeking to raise around 500 billion won ($380 million USD) to fund acquisitions in the US and expand its business beyond K-pop (BBG)

Equity Raises

  • Russian state-owned lender VTB on Friday set the price for its secondary public offering (SPO) at 0.018225 roubles per share, implying a maximum capital raising of 169.5 billion roubles ($2.18 billion USD) (RT)

  • WE Soda, the world's largest producer of natural soda ash, is looking to raise at least $800 million USD for its parent Ciner Group in an initial public offering (IPO), its chief strategy officer told Reuters, in a show of confidence in London's capital markets (RT)

Daily Picks

  • A New Zealand man is begging for help for his father, who is starving to death in Bali prison after being caught up in a drug scam while trying to find love (Herald)

  • Chinese scientists have begun drilling a 10,000-meter (32,808 feet) hole into the Earth’s crust, as the world’s second largest economy explores new frontiers above and below the planet’s surface (BBG)

  • Japan's birth rate declined for the seventh consecutive year in 2022 to a record low, the health ministry said on Friday, underscoring the sense of crisis gripping the country as the population shrinks and ages rapidly (RT)

Job Board

New Zealand

  • ASB rural banking graduate - Apply here

  • Waterman Capital investment analyst - Apply here

Australia

  • Citadel Securities graduate and intern roles - Apply here

  • Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Intern - Apply here

  • IMC graduate and intern roles - Apply here

  • Jarden

    • Graduate role - Apply here

    • Summer internships - Apply here

  • Macquarie graduate roles - Apply here

  • Optiver

    • Graduate role - Apply here

    • Internships - Apply here

The Daily Deck is sponsored by Industrial Equity, LLC

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