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Venezuela asks US Court to reject Elliott affiliate’s bid for Citgo parent
Lawyers for U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum, Venezuela's owner and Venezuelan government asked the court to reject an offer from an Elliott Investment Management affiliate on Tuesday due to the "low price" which was lower than a rival bid submitted to the court and that the sale process was defective. Delaware's court is attempting to complete the auction for Venezuelan-owned PDV Holding (parent company of Citgo Petroleum) to compensate up 15 creditors who have suffered debt defaults or asset expropriations. An officer in charge of the auction recommended a $5.9 billion offer by Elliott's Amber Energy, which was a change from his earlier recommendation of a 7 billion dollar bid from a Gold Reserve subsidiary. Amber's bid also includes a separate agreement to pay $2.1billion to holders of defaulted Venezuelan bonds. After a hearing in Delaware this week, Judge Leonard Stark will determine the winner. The court will discuss the bids from Venezuela and Gold Reserve and the motions they filed to disqualify him, the court officer who evaluated the bids, and two advisory firms for alleged conflicts of interest. Nathan Eimer said that Amber's offer "is so low...that it shocks this court's conscience and cannot be confirmed" during the hearing. Since the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela and the administration of President Nicolas Maduro in 2019, Citgo severed ties with its ultimate parent, Caracas-headquartered oil company PDVSA, and is now controlled by boards appointed by an opposition-led congress. The auction organized by the court is rejected by both the Maduro government and the opposition political party led Maria Corina Machado. The U.S. Treasury Department must approve the winner of the auction, as it has protected Citgo against creditors in recent years.
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CenterPoint sells Ohio natural gas distribution for $2.62 billion
CenterPoint Energy has agreed to sell its natural-gas distribution unit in Ohio for $2.62billion, in order to focus on its core electric and gas operations. In the morning trading on Tuesday, shares of National Fuel and CenterPoint both fell by a combined 4.7%. CenterPoint stated that the assets being sold include approximately 5,900 miles in Ohio of transmission and delivery pipelines serving around 335,000 metered clients. This is just the latest of a series of deals by U.S. utilities that are refocusing their efforts on regulated, higher-growth markets to meet the surge in power demand. Jason Wells, CEO of CenterPoint, said that the company will be able to recycle over $2 billion in other electric and gas businesses. Analysts from Scotiabank say the deal shows CenterPoint progress towards a profit increase of almost 9%. This would be one of the fastest gains in the industry. Investors should find CenterPoint appealing because it is one of the few utilities that can turn demand into profits. The CenterPoint deal will improve its balance sheet, and allow it to invest in Texas and Indiana. In late September, the utility announced that it planned to spend $65 billion on capital expenditures from 2026 to 2035. National Fuel gains a foothold in Ohio and expands its regulated utility gas services. CenterPoint stated that the value of the deal represents approximately 1.9 times its unit's rate base for 2024. The deal is expected close in the fourth-quarter of 2026. CenterPoint anticipates a total of $1.42 billion to be generated in 2026, with the remainder in 2027. The company provides electricity and natural gases to over 7 million customers in Indiana, Louisiana and Mississippi as well as Ohio, Texas and Texas. (Reporting and editing by Sahal Muhammad in Bengaluru, Katha Kalia)
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Automakers join forces with EV manufacturers to avoid EU emission fines
Automakers formed alliances with electric vehicle companies to avoid heavy fines from the European Union for carbon emissions. Several legacy automakers could face fines, as the transition from ICEs to EVs has been slower than expected. As of Tuesday, here are the details on the regulations and alliances that will be in place by 2025. Initial EU fines were based on carbon emissions levels in 2025. The European Commission, under pressure from the automakers, allowed compliance in March based on average emissions between 2025 and 2027. All alliance agreements currently in existence, as identified by their pool managers, will expire this year. It is expected that they will be renewed in the coming years. NISSAN Nissan, the Japanese EV manufacturer, teamed up with BYD in October. KG MOBILITY A second pool was created at the end September by South Korea’s KG Mobility, and Chinese EV manufacturer Xpeng. In January, Tesla, Stellantis, Toyota, Ford and Chinese EV manufacturer Leapmotor formed a pool. Mazda, Subaru, Mazda, and Subaru also joined. In March, Japan's Honda & Suzuki joined the pool. MERCEDES In January, this pool included Mercedes, Volvo Car, Polestar, Smart Automobile, and EV manufacturer Polestar. Volvo Car and Polestar both have the backing of China's Geely. Geely Chairman Li Shufu owns a 9.69% share in Mercedes. He is the second largest shareholder of the group after China's BAIC Group. Smart Automobile was formed as a joint venture by Mercedes and Geely. Forecasts of EV According to AlixPartners consultant, EVs accounted for 12% of the total European light vehicles sold last year and will reach 15% in 2019. AlixPartners predicts that their market share will increase to 24% by 2027, and 40% at the end of this decade.
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Fluor gains after Starboard purchases stake, NuScale urges review
Two sources said that shares of the construction company Fluor Corp rose by 2.7% after activist investor Starboard Value purchased a stake of nearly 5%, in order to unlock value for its 40% ownership in NuScale Power. Jeff Smith, the founder of Starboard, is expected to present the investment thesis for the firm at the 13D Monitor Active Passive Investment Summit, which will be held in New York, later that day. He will also talk about plans for TripAdvisor - another recent target. NuScale Power shares fell 7% at the opening of trading. Citigroup analysts said that Starboard's investment supports their view that Fluor shares still have room for growth. They cited the value of the NuScale stake and the potential improvement to the core operations of the company. Fluor could eventually sell its remaining 111,000,000 shares of NuScale, which represents over 60% of the company's market capitalization. Fluor's shares are down by 3% this year. NuScale's shares are up over 145% this year due to the growing demand for clean energy products that power AI-driven data centres and defense infrastructure. Starboard and Fluor both did not respond immediately when contacted. Fluor's core businesses, including infrastructure and energy projects have been under pressure. The company posted a 6% decline in revenue for the second quarter, falling short of analyst expectations. Starboard claims the segment is undervalued in comparison to Fluor NuScale's stake, and wants strategic options. Fluor, which is in a good position to benefit from the infrastructure policies of President Donald Trump that could boost investments in energy and construction, has launched an activist campaign. (Reporting and editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri; Rashika Singh)
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IIR: Dangote refinery gasoline unit is operating at 60% capacity
In an email, IIR, a industry monitor in Nigeria, said that the Dangote oil refining company restarted its 204,000 barrels per day gasoline production on October 19, as planned. The run rate was 60%. IIR said that the unit will be expected to maintain this rate until a planned shutdown in December 2025 or January 2026 has been completed. A spokesperson from Dangote didn't immediately respond to a comment request. The unit's outage, which began late in August, improved export economics to West Africa, covering the shortfall. This helped boost European gasoline refinery margins. According to calculations, the news of the planned restart last week pushed the margins down to $16.50 per barrel on Monday from $20 per barrel on October 16 Kpler data indicates that gasoline exports to West Africa from Europe are on track to hit about 300,000 barrels per day in October. This is their highest level since May. Aliko Dangote built the 650,000 bpd refinery in Africa. It has been undergoing maintenance for several years, resulting in a reduced demand for crude oil. Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Editing by Kirsten Doovan and Ros Russel
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Canada's inflation rate increases in September due to a smaller drop in gas prices
Data released on Tuesday showed that Canada's inflation rate rose to 2.4% annually in September. This was mainly due to a lower decline in gasoline prices compared to the previous month, and an increase in food prices. The Bank of Canada will meet later this month to make its next monetary decision. Economists will closely monitor the report to determine when it might be time for another rate cut. Money markets have put a probability of 86% on a rate cut of 25 basis points on October 29. This would reduce the benchmark rate to 2.25%. The Canadian dollar rose 0.12%, to 1.4018 US cents. The analysts polled predicted that the annual inflation rate would increase to 2.3% from 1.9% in august. StatsCan reported that the CPI increased 0.1% month-over-month in September after a decline of 0.1% in August. The Canadian government removed the carbon tax on gasoline that was keeping prices high all last year. The decline in August was greater than September, mainly because of a large drop in gasoline prices that occurred in September 2024. After a 2.4% increase in August, the CPI excluding gasoline rose by 2.6% in September. To gauge the price trend, economists have used the BoC's preferred measures of inflation that exclude the effect of tax measures. The CPI-median or the middle component of the CPI Basket, one of the BoC's preferred core measures of inflation that excludes the impact of tax measures, was 3.2% in September. This is unchanged from last month's upwardly revised annual number. StatsCan reported that the CPI-trim measure, which excludes extreme price changes, increased to 3.1% from 3.0% in September. Last month, the CPI basket had a share above 3% and below 1%. After a 3.4% rise in August, food prices rose 3.8% last month. This increase was due to an increase of 4% in food purchases from stores compared to a 3.5% rise in August. Statisticians said that the increase in grocery prices in September was the biggest year-over-year gain since April 2024. Rents contributed to the CPI's increase year-over-year, with a jump of 4.8% in September. This move brought shelter inflation, which is the largest component of the CPI, down to 2.6%. Promit Mukherjee, Dale Smith, and Paul Simao edited the report.
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M23 rebels have looted $70 million in gold from Congo mines since May, according to company reports
The company said that rebels who occupy Twangiza Mining’s gold concession located in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have stolen at least 500 kg of bullion from May. It also accused some of its employees of assisting the theft. The looted gold, at current prices is worth approximately $70 million. The mine is in South Kivu, where M23 rebels, backed by Rwandans, staged an offensive lightning fast this year which allowed them to capture more territory than they ever had before. The mine was seized in May. Twangiza Mining, in response to questions about losses after M23 took over the mine, said that they had transported a first batch of 50 kg gold in a short period of time with the help of a few employees. The company stated that "since the occupation they have secretly obtained and transported at least 500kg gold through underground channels." M23 didn't immediately respond to our request for a comment. Twangiza Mining is a Congo-based company that describes itself as Chinese. It has lost more than 100 kg of gold per month since it was taken over, along with $5 million in equipment and materials. It said that the company was preparing to submit a formal complaint before international arbitrators and Congolese officials, and had declared force majeure. The rebels were accused of expulsion, demolishment of churches and the use Rwandan technicians for geological data extraction to resume and expand mines. There are still more than 150 workers on the site. The company stated that it was unable to contact them. The Rwandan government didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. On October 15, a drone strike destroyed the power generation infrastructure of the mine. The drone strike's perpetrator is still unknown. The fighting in eastern Congo this year has resulted in the deaths of thousands and displacement of hundreds of thousands. According to U.N. inspectors, armed groups have taken over several mining sites located in the mineral rich eastern Congo. According to a U.N. Security Council report last year, M23 rebels earn around $300,000.00 per month from mineral taxes in Rubaya's coltan rich region. In June, U.S. president Donald Trump mediated a peace agreement between Congo and Rwanda as part of a plan to stabilize eastern Congo and attract Western mining investment. Rwanda has denied supporting M23 rebels despite claims from U.N. officials and regional governments. Qatar has hosted direct talks between Congo's M23 and Qatar. As part of this process, the two sides missed a deadline in August for a deal on peace. However, they did agree to a monitoring system for a possible ceasefire. Maxwell Akalaare Adombila, Sonia Rolley and Robbie Corey Boulet edited the article.
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Uganda to hold general elections on January 15,
The Ugandan electoral commission announced on Tuesday that the general elections will be held in the country on January 15. At the election, the octogenarian president Yoweri Museeveni will try to extend his reign to almost half a century. Museveni, Africa's fourth-longest-serving leader, has had his government change the constitution twice in order to remove term and age limits. This allows him to stay in office ever since 1986. As in the 2021 election, Museveni's main rival is expected to be 43-year-old pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who has parlayed his singing stardom to amass a large support base among young voters. Wine, who is Robert Kyagulanyi in real life, claims that Museveni was able to win the last elections through ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, bribery, and other methods of rigging. Officials of the ruling party dismiss this accusation, claiming that Museveni was elected with genuine support. Six candidates from smaller parties will be running in the next presidential race. Voters will also elect parliament members. Former rebel Museveni is credited for stabilizing Uganda, promoting growth and fighting HIV/AIDS. Critics have condemned the suppression of political opposition, abuses of human rights and scandals involving corruption by his government. Officials deny allegations of human rights abuses, and claim that those in custody are subjected to due process. The government of Museveni hopes that the beginning of crude oil exports from fields operated France's TotalEnergies, and China's CNOOC next year will propel economic growth to double digits. Uganda is an important geopolitical actor in East Africa. It has troops in Somalia and South Sudan as well as in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo on missions of anti-insurgency, peacekeeping or military co-operation. (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Alexander Winning, Alexandra Hudson)
Trump's SEC chief shifts power away from investors and into boardrooms
Experts say that new policies by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission give corporate boards greater power over investors. This could limit investor-initiated efforts to reform everything from climate policy or director contests.
Since the U.S. president Donald Trump appointed Mark Uyeda as acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, the agency has made a number of changes. They have increased the filing requirements for passive funds and limited the communication capabilities that investors can use.
Attorneys say that the changes will give directors greater freedom to ignore efforts to limit emissions and report diversity in the workforce. Traditional activists who run their own director slates may also find it more difficult to challenge boards.
Ann Lipton, a professor of business law at Tulane University, said: "It is a reallocation that is relatively dramatic. It's not only to make corporate policies but also to protect them against activists."
Uyeda, along with other Republican officials, including Paul Atkins, Trump’s nominee to lead the SEC, have expressed their skepticism about environmental, social, and governance (ESG), investment considerations. Uyeda stated in a speech from 2023 that "shareholder meetings were never intended to be debating societies or political battlegrounds under state corporate law."
A spokesperson for the SEC declined to comment upon being contacted. Atkins didn't respond to any questions posed by his current firm.
Fewer ballot items
The SEC changes are consistent with other Trump Administration efforts, such as the dismantling of diversity programs and withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.
ESG resolutions received significant support between 2021 and 2022 but have declined since. In a legal bulletin issued on February 11, the SEC encouraged companies to avoid voting on resolutions by claiming that the proposals would "micromanage" the businesses.
This change could make the process of negotiating with executives difficult for activists who are interested in ESG.
Rick Alexander, CEO at Shareholder Commons (which tracks and writes resolutions), said that it would be more difficult to carry out this kind of work if it was harder to get a resolution passed by the SEC.
The SEC revised its "beneficial ownership" reporting interpretations on February 11, allowing firms such as asset managers BlackRock or Vanguard to rely more on SEC Schedule 13G forms to report their major holdings.
The agency has tightened the rules on when managers may use the Schedule 13D form instead of the more complicated Schedule 13D which increases their costs. The SEC will now test if an organization "imposes pressure" on management, such as by tying director voting to the presence of a staggered or poison pill defense against takeovers.
BlackRock and Vanguard both have policies on proxy voting that suggest these circumstances could lead critical votes.
BlackRock and Vanguard declined comment.
Caroline Crenshaw via email, the only Democratic member currently on the SEC said that the change may have a negative impact on the outreach of big funds.
The interpretation confuses institutional investors with an unstated aim of discouraging them from engaging in business with corporations. Crenshaw stated that this policy was bad for capital creation.
Communication Breakdown
Thirdly, new guidelines have been issued on the use of electronic records by investors to send out "exempt solicitations" or communications between shareholders.
Smaller investors have started to file their own exempt solicitations to express their opinions on certain issues, such as whether they should oppose a director or support a resolution by shareholders.
In an update on January 27, the SEC restricted their use. The SEC stated that the documents "are not intended to be used as a means by which someone distributes written soliciting materials to security holders" but are only meant to inform the public about written materials sent through other means to security holders.
Tom Quaadman is Senior Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This top business lobbying organization welcomed the SEC changes.
He said: "You are seeing a rebalancing in SEC rules and policies that is designed to remove special interest activism, and to bring things back to an investor-focused focus." Reporting by Ross Kerber, Boston. Simon Jessop, London editor.
(source: Reuters)