Morning Brief: Top Stories Dominating Financial Media on Tuesday, March 29

CNBC

Domino’s Pizza China Operator Eyes Hong Kong Listing

• Domino’s Pizza Inc’s DPZ store operator in China, DPC Dash, is planning to go public on the Hong Kong stock exchange, CNBC reported.
• Domino’s Pizza has a 15.7% stake in DPC as of the filing date through wholly-owned entities, the report added.

This AI Startup Roped In Big Tech Executives From Google, Meta As Founding Members

• LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman roped in artificial intelligence gurus from Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google, and Meta Platforms Inc FB for their Inflection AI startup.
• Heinrich Kuttler quit his research engineering manager role at Meta AI in London to work on the technical side of Inflection’s business.
• Joe Fenton quit his senior product manager role at Google to work on the product side of Inflection’s business.

Sanctions On Russia After Ukraine Invasion, Are Likely To Lead To Higher Prices

• According to an energy expert, consumers will have to be ready for higher prices as Russia continues its war in Ukraine and disruptions to the global energy market persist, writes CNBC.
• “What is the price consumers in the West are willing to pay for the principle that you cannot invade a sovereign nation [and] rip up the security architecture in Europe?” said Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy of RBC Capital Markets asked.

Reuters

Porsche SE Supports Volkswagen’s IPO Plans For Porsche AG, Sees Conflict In Ukraine Affecting Timing

• Volkswagen AG VWAGY shareholder Porsche Automobil Holding SE POAHY supports plans to list luxury sportscar maker Porsche AG. Still, the conflict in Ukraine could affect the timing of the proposed IPO.
• Volkswagen aims to conduct the Porsche initial public offering (IPO) in 4Q22, though that may change if the conflict in Ukraine drags on, Porsche SE’s CFO mentioned.
• “We cannot rule out, if the conflict lasts a longer time, that this could have potential implications on the listing,” Johannes Lattwein told a news conference without elaborating on how it would affect plans.

US Mulls Sanctions On Russian Supply Chains, Says U.S. Treasury’s Adeyemo

• Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said that the U.S. and its allies plan new sanctions on more sectors of Russia’s economy that are important in sustaining its invasion of Ukraine, including supply chains.
• “In addition to sanctioning companies in sectors that enable the Kremlin’s malign activities, we also plan to take actions to disrupt their critical supply chains,” Adeyemo added.

Maersk Warns Shanghai City Lockdown Will Severely Hurt Trucking Services And Bump-Up Transport Costs

• P. Moller Maersk A/S AMKAF ( AMKBY expects the Shanghai lockdown to severely hurt trucking services and increase transport costs as China’s intensifying efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 further rattled the global supply chains.
• The Chinese coastal city locked down half of the city and intended to do the same to the other half for four days starting Friday in a two-stage testing exercise, the report noted. While it has kept its airports and deepwater port open, it has imposed stringent movement curbs.

GM Keeps Up Production In China By Retaining Workers In Factory

• General Motors Company’s GM joint venture in Shanghai, China, is continuing production amid lockdown by making workers sleep on factory floors.
• The company has formed an arrangement in which workers sleep, live, and work in isolation from the rest of the world to prevent virus transmission.
• General Motors runs the facilities as a joint venture with Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor Corp.

WSJ

DOJ Supports Antitrust Bill Targeting Big Tech - Read Why

• The Justice Department supported American Innovation and Choice Online Act and similar legislation banning large digital platforms from biasing their products and services over competitors.
• The DOJ saw the rise of dominant platforms like Amazon.com Inc AMZN and Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google jeopardizing open markets and competition.
• Amazon, Google, Apple Inc AAPL, and others opposed the legislation arguing that it would make it harder to offer popular services.

Bloomberg

Why Vertical Aerospace Shares Are Jumping Today

• Turkey’s leading aviation conglomerate Gözen Holding agreed to purchase or lease up to 50 VX4 eVTOL aircraft from aircraft leasing company Avolon.
• Gözen also had the option to purchase or lease up to 50 additional aircraft.
• In June 2021, Avolon ordered 500 VX4 eVTOL aircraft from Vertical Aerospace Ltd EVTL, valued at $2 billion.
• Avolon completed placing its entire 500 VX4 eVTOL aircraft order book, which was oversubscribed by 50 options.

Financial Times

AIG Files $20B IPO For Its Life Insurance & Asset Management Business

• American International Group Inc AIG has filed for an initial public offering of its life and asset management business, reportedly by far the largest to file for a US IPO this year publicly.
• The S-1 registration statement filed on Monday did not give a value for Corebridge. Financial Times, citing people familiar with the process, mentioned the value of approximately $20 billion, consistent with the $2.2 billion Blackstone paid in November for a nearly 10% stake in SAFG.

Benzinga

Bitcoin Bull Cathie Wood Picked Up More Shares In This Crypto Exchange On Monday

• Ark Investment Management, led by Bitcoin BTC/USD bull Cathie Wood, on Monday further raised its exposure in the cryptocurrency-linked fintech stock Coinbase Global Inc COIN.
• The popular investment firm bought 62,877 shares, estimated to be worth $12.7 million based on Monday’s closing price, of Coinbase.
• Coinbase stock closed 7.8% higher at $201.4 a share on Monday and is down 19.7% year-to-date.

Tesla Co-Founder JB Straubel Expects Most Electric Vehicle Batteries To Last This Long

• Tesla Inc TSLA co-founder JB Straubel, who now runs battery recycling startup Redwood Materials, said on Monday electric vehicle batteries could easily last up to 15 years in most cases.
• Straubel said battery life usually tracks the vehicle’s life in response to a question from Daniel Yargin, Vice-Chairman, IHS Markit, during a panel discussion at the CERAweek 2022.
• “I think it’s easily going to be 15 years in most cases ... I think people will probably keep the batteries in their cars for a long time and really extract as much utility as they can,” Straubel said.

World’s Largest Crypto Fund Considers Suing SEC If Bitcoin ETF Is Rejected

• Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest cryptocurrency asset manager, isn’t ruling out a legal battle with the SEC if a spot Bitcoin BTC/USD exchange-traded fund (ETF) stands rejected.
• In an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said that the firm had been putting all of its resources behind converting the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC into an ETF.
• “It’s really important that investors know that we have and will continue to advocate for them,” said Sonnenshein.

Costly Mistake? $350,000 Bored Ape NFT Sells For Just $115

• A Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT has sold for just $115, 99.9% lower than its current floor price.
• According to data from OpenSea, Bored Ape #835 sold for $115 worth of DAI DAI/USD on Monday. The floor price, or the minimum price to acquire a BAYC NFT, was 106 ETH worth $350,000 at the time of writing.
• It was unclear why the Bored Ape holder, known by the pseudonym “cchan”, accepted such a low bid.

Rumors About Apple Cutting AirPods Orders Not True, Says Analyst

• Two electronics manufacturing service (EMS) suppliers of AirPods have publicly denied rumors about Apple Inc. AAPL cutting orders for the earphones this year, long-time Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo noted.
• Kuo noted that the China-based suppliers Luxshare Precision and GoerTek have denied rumors about Apple cutting AirPods orders by 10 million units for this year.

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