Live from the Markets: EssilorLuxottica comes back with Prada, big fine for Seb, Micron gets cut off

In France

Important announcements (and less important… I would like to point out that the information is given immediately before the opening and does not prejudge the color of the shares during the session)

• Renault, Nissan’s largest shareholder, says it is open to talks with Honda.
• EssilorLuxottica renews its licensing agreement with Prada for 10 years.
• Stellantis will advance the launch of a new hybrid version of its best-selling Ram pickup before an electric version, citing slowing demand for EVs.
• Thales optimizes access to automobiles through reliable and secure contactless solutions.
• Scor repurchases €186.4 million of RT1 super subordinated bond securities.
• Elis buys the German Ernst.
• Seb sanctioned with a fine of 189.5 million euros by the Competition Authority.
• Valneva is increasing the accessibility of its chikungunya vaccine in Asia through a collaboration with the Serum Institute of India.
• Fnac Darty will not contest the €109 million fine from the Competition Authority for facts concerning Darty prior to 2014.
• Atos “has the resources and flexibility necessary to implement its medium-term strategy“, estimates management after the completion of the capital increases transforming debt into shares.
• Emeis has sold 251 million euros worth of assets since October.
• Lisi is negotiating the sale of its subsidiary Lisi Automotive Nomel to ZeroBaseInvest, which had already purchased assets in 2020.
• At Viridien, Sophie Zurquiyah temporarily combines the functions of president and general manager due to the arrival of Philippe Salle at the helm of Atos.
• A community in Pennsylvania chooses Waga Energy to produce biomethane.
• Carbios is postponing construction work on the Longlaville PET biorecycling plant by 6 to 9 months.
• WeAccess obtains a subordinated loan of €0.5 million from Banque des Territoires.
• Hydrogen Refueling Solutions selected for a recharging station in Guyana.
• Crossject confirms the operational availability of its Zepizure manufacturing line.
• Spineway receives its first orders in Vietnam.
• Gensight is seeking funds to continue its activity beyond the start of January 2025, which should allow it to receive in the meantime enough to continue its operations via the compensation received from its AAC program.
• Metavisio will apply for listing on the Nasdaq OTC.
• The main publications of the day : Plastivaloire, Exel, Geci… The rest here.

In the big world

Important (and not so important) announcements

D’Europe

• New vehicle registrations fell 2% to 1.06 million units in Europe in November, according to ACEA.
• Continental plans to list its automotive business in Frankfurt by the end of 2025 and divest its Original Equipment Solutions business, with the sales process beginning in the first quarter of 2025.
• Volkswagen and unions continue negotiations over factory closures and wage cuts.
• Roche says its Parkinson’s drug failed to meet primary endpoint in Phase 2b trial.
• Douglas expects sales to increase in 2025.
• Saipem secures a new offshore contract from Shell in Nigeria worth around $900 million.
• SoftwareOne announces a $1.3 billion deal (NOK 144 per share) to buy its Norwegian competitor Crayon.
• ING Groep is accelerating its expansion in Switzerland.
• Telecom Italia has received a firm offer from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Retelit, a company controlled by the Asterion fund, for the purchase of Sparkle for €700 million.
• Covestro shareholders accept ADNOC’s takeover offer of XRG.
• Skanska sells rental property in Denmark for SEK 800 million.
• Syensqo will prepay a senior US dollar bond maturing in May 2025.
• Kardex reorganizes its Remstar division.
• The main publications of the day : Douglas, SkiStar…

From North America

• Lennox will replace Catalent in the S&P500.
• Micron plunged 16% outside the session after its quarterly results.
• Lennar plunges 8% outside the session after its quarterly.
• GFL Environmental is in exclusive talks with Apollo Global Management to sell its environmental services division for about C$8 billion (US$5.59 billion), the Globe and Mail reported Wednesday.
• Apple is reportedly in talks with Tencent and ByteDance to roll out AI features in China.
• The FDA classifies the Boston Scientific catheter recall as “most serious.”
• Chevron will pay $400 million to Woodside in an equity swap for energy projects.
• The main publications of the day : Accenture, Nike, Cintas, Fedex, Paychex…

From Asia Pacific and beyond

• CATL, the world’s leading electric vehicle battery maker, is considering a second listing in Hong Kong.
• According to Bloomberg, Eneos plans to IPO up to 70% of JX Advanced Metals.
• United Microelectronics refutes speculation about building a production site in the United States.
• Fuji Soft’s founding family supports Bain’s $2 billion hostile takeover bid.
• The main publications of the day : nothing…

The rest of the global publications calendar here.

Lectures