DAILY DOSE: May 21, 2021

Posted on 05/21/2021


1. MORE WOMEN IN PRIVATE EQUITY – As part of a 500 million-euro bond issue priced earlier in May, Stockholm-listed EQT agreed to pay lenders a higher interest rate if it failed to increase the percentage of women in its investment team, according to the sale prospectus. With women accounting for just 21% of EQT’s team currently, it set itself a target of 28% by 2026.

2. A WAY OUT FOR AXIOS: Brevity blog site Axios was once contemplating a SPAC and once took PPP money (then gave it back). Axios could be part of Axel Springer’s media empire. Axel Springer took over Business Insider a while back. Axios has been trying to generate revenue on email newsletter and podcasts, while making a run at subscription offerings.

3. Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop continues to create chaos for the administration. Hunter Biden is the son of President Joe Biden. Emails recovered show that while Joe Biden was vice president, a trust for his grandchildren – the children of his late son Beau Biden – received a US$ 100,000 from a foundation controlled by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, who was a lawyer for 3 corrupt foreign businessmen, later convicted, and imprisoned. The Daily Mail writes that Louis Freeh’s consulting firm had clients including the jailed former Malaysian prime minister (remember 1MDB). Freeh also represented a Romanian real estate tycoon convicted of bribery, and a French-Israeli diamond magnate later convicted of bribery and a US$ 145 million property graft.

4. The Chinese government rebuffed requests from the U.S. government over high-level military talks. Chinese government released images of its rover on Mars.

5. A mutually agreed ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is still holding. Israel has vowed that any future rocket attacks will be met with a “new level of force”. Israeli police stormed Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque hours after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, firing rubber bullets and stun grenades at Palestinians. Police claim there were riots, claiming some people threw stones. Hamas leader Haniyeh thanked U.S.-sanctioned Iran for supplying weapons to Gaza in a TV statement.

6. Markit: “Growth would have been even stronger had it not been for businesses often being constrained by supply shortages and difficulties filling vacancies.”

7. European Union drug regulator warned healthcare professionals against giving AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria to anyone who developed blood clots with low platelets after receiving the COVID shot. In addition, European Medicines Agency said on Friday a COVID-19 antibody treatment developed by GSK and Vir Biotechnology can be used to treat patients who are at risk of severe disease and do not need supplemental oxygen. The rolling review of the drug in ongoing.

8. Netflix is looking into getting into the video game business.

9. NVIDIA Corp. announces 4-to-1 stock split, pending shareholder approval.

10. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says the next logical step is a permanent Moon base and eventually a city on Mars.

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