Credit Suisse's $17B Of AT1 Debt Written Down To Zero, Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Plans Insolvency, Court Freezes Volkswagen's Russian Assets: Today's Top Stories

Reuters

Credit Suisse Bondholders Enraged As $17B Of AT1 Debt To Be Written Down To Zero: What It Means

• Credit Suisse Group AG CS said 16 billion Swiss francs ($17.24 billion) of its additional tier 1 (AT1) debt, a type of bond, will be written down to zero on the orders of the Swiss regulator FINMA as part of its rescue merger with UBS Group AG UBS.
• The decision by the Swiss regulator would mean AT1 bondholders may be left with nothing while shareholders, who sit below bonds in the priority hierarchy for repayment in a bankruptcy process, will get $3.23 billion under the deal.
• Investors said the move by FINMA could make it difficult for other lenders to raise funds via new AT1 debt.

Large Vaccine Players Including GSK, Moderna Prepare For Bird Flu Vaccine' Just In Case'

• Executives at GSK Plc GSK, Moderna Inc MRNA, and CSL Seqirus, owned by CSL Ltd CSLLY, said they are developing or about to test sample human vaccines against bird flu as a precautionary measure against a future pandemic.
• Others, like Sanofi SA SNY, said they "stand ready" to begin production if needed, with existing H5N1 vaccine strains in stock.
• The U.N. agency said it had signed legally binding agreements with 14 manufacturers for 10% of their pandemic flu vaccine in a mix of donated doses and doses to be bought at affordable prices.

Court Freezes Volkswagen Assets In Russia

• A court in Russia has reportedly frozen all of the assets of Volkswagen AG VWAGY in the country.
• The development comes after auto manufacturer GAZ, which contracted to produce Volkswagen vehicles at its factory in Nizhny Novgorod, sued the German carmaker for breach of contract.
• Volkswagen terminated the agreement after foreign carmakers halted their Russian operations in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Airbus Expands Its Workforce To Boost Jet Manufacturing

• Airbus SE EADSY EADSF reportedly plans to increase the manufacturing of its A320neo family single-aisle aircraft by two-thirds to 75 per month in 2026 from its current 45.
• "Airbus is better prepared for the challenge of securing enough people to handle jet production increases than before the pandemic," a senior executive stated.
• For the second year in a row, Airbus wants to hire 3,500 people in Germany to help ramp up and feed projects on decarbonization and industrial systems.

Volkswagen's Skoda May Eliminate 3,000 Jobs, If 'Euro 7' Is Approved In Current Form

• If the European Union's "Euro 7" emissions plan is implemented in its current form, Czech automaker Skoda, a part of Volkswagen AG VWAGY, may be forced to eliminate some models and 3,000 jobs.
• The proposed Euro 7 law tightens limits on car emissions of health-harming pollutants, including nitrogen oxides.
• According to the report, Martin Jahn, a board member of Skoda, stated that "If (Euro 7) is approved in this shape, it would mean for Skoda Auto to close one plant because we would stop producing the smaller models - Fabia, Scala, Kamiq - that means 3,000 jobs (would be) hit at least."

 

Wall Street Journal

Labor Tension Deepens At New York Times As Staff Takes To Slack To Discuss Frustrations

• New York Times Co's NYT labor tensions intensify as it expresses concerns about the union's negotiation tactics and Times staffers taking to Slack to vent frustrations with management.
• Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger sent a note to the union's bargaining group members for the first time, expressing his concern about the lengthy negotiations. 
• Times staffers have taken to the messaging app Slack to express their frustrations.

 

Sky News

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Reportedly Plans For Insolvency Even As It Seeks Emergency Funding

• Billionaire Richard Branson's commercial space satellite venture Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. VORB is reportedly working with two restructuring firms on fallback plans for its insolvency days if it cannot secure new funding.
• Virgin Orbit, the sister company of Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. SPCE, is formulating fallback plans in case they cannot procure new funding.
• Virgin Orbit is now working with restructuring firms Alvarez & Marsal and Ducera.

 

Benzinga

Tron's Justin Sun Wants To Buy Credit Suisse For $1.5B And Transform It Into 'Crypto-Friendly' Institution

• Justin Sun, the Huobi crypto exchange's founder, offered to acquire Credit Suisse for $1.5 billion.
• Sun wrote in a series of tweets on March 19: "I would like to propose my offer of $1.5 billion to acquire Credit Suisse and integrate it into the Web3.0 world. Switzerland has been one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world."
• Sun is also the founder and CEO of Tron TRON/USD, a blockchain-based digital platform primarily hosting entertainment applications.

Stellantis Launches Six Fiat Car Lines In Algeria; Reveals €200M In First Wave Of Investments

• Stellantis NV STLA has launched the FIAT brand in Algeria with six car lines, Fiat 500 Hybrid, Fiat 500X, Fiat Tipo, Fiat Doblò, Fiat Scudo, and Fiat Ducato.
• The investment phase materializes the automotive specifications agreement signed on November 2022 with the Algerian Investment Promotion Agency (AAPI) ratifying the framework agreement signed on October 13.
• A first wave of investments from Stellantis and its suppliers will total over €200 million to manufacture the four models.

Why Bed Bath & Beyond Shares Are Plunging Today?

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc BBBY plans to hold a special meeting of shareholders to seek approval to amend the company's Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.
• At the discretion of the Board of Directors, the amendment is to effect a reverse stock split of the company's common stock at a ratio of 1-for-5 to 1-for-10.
• The ratio is to be determined at the discretion of the Board.