Read It And Eat 21/12

Welcome to ‘Read it and Eat’ — your go-to for bite-sized updates on corporate actions in finance, AI and anything I consider newsworthy. Join me twice a week for quick reads, where I serve up the latest insights that matter in the world of business.

Major Headlines

• Google to pay $700M in PlayStore settlement

• Google has agreed to pay $700M and make several other concessions to settle allegations that it stifles competition against its Android Play store. Google collects commissions tango from 15%-30% on in-app purchases which drove up prices had there been an open market for payment processing. This settled sum, although large, is insignificant compared to the $10.5B the attorney generals estimated the company would have been forced to pay if the case went to trial instead. [https://www.wsj.com]

• An AI-driven startup, Lendbuzz, hires investment banks with an IPO in view

• Lendbuzz is a US, fintech startup that alleges using artificial intelligence to offer auto loans to people without a credit history. With a goal of a 2024 IPO in the first half of the year, it has begun hiring investment banks, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, RBC Capital Markets and Mizuho Financial Group, for underwriting and valuation of the stock, they claim to be worth more than $2B. It aims to raise between $300M and $400M. [https://www.reuters.com]

• Comcast says that as many as 36 million customer accounts were compromised in a recent hacker breach.

• The company says that its broadband internet, pay-TV and wireless phone service business Xfinity was breached by hackers and they were able to gain data such as the names, dates of birth, contact information, and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers from 36 million accounts, which is nearly all of Xfinity’s customers.[https://www.wsj.com]

• Wells Fargo employees vote in favour of Unionising.

• Wells Fargo employees at its Albuquerque, New Mexico branch voted to join a union. With the unionisation at this New Mexico branch, Wells Fargo became the first major U.S. lender to have a unionised workforce and the employees stated that the votes “stands as a testament to workers in the financial services industry who know we need a collective voice to improve the industry we are integral to.” [https://www.cnbc.com]
  

Minor Headlines

• Blackstone will sell its entire $833M 23.6% stake in India’s largest REIT (real estate investment trust) Embassy Office Parks. [https://www.reuters.com]

• Dog cancer treatment startup ImpriMed raised a $23M Series A round led by SoftBank. [https://techcrunch.com]

• Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX announced a settlement with its liquidators in the Bahamas over whether the company’s US bankruptcy proceedings should take precedence over the Bahamian liquidation. [https://www.reuters.com]

• Apple ramps up production of the Visions Pro with a launch goal of February in view. [https://www.bloomberg.com]

• Technology-focused middle market private equity firm Clearhaven Partners raised over $580M for its Clearhaven Fund II. [https://www.wsj.com]

• Claim, a social network and rewards app raised a $4M SEED round by Sequoia Capital. [https://techcrunch.com]

• In-person and Virtual, weight-inclusive primary care and metabolic health start-up, Knownwell raised a $20M series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). [https://www.businesswire.com]

• Southwest Airlines and its pilots agree in principle to a 50% pay increase. [https://www.wsj.com]
  

News of the Day:

Warner Bros and Paramount Global in talks for a possible Merger

Warner Bros Discovery, owner of HBO Max the Discovery Channel and the Food Network, and Paramount Global, owner of Paramount Pictures Paramount+ and Nickelodeon, are in early talks about a possible merger. A deal that would bring together two of Hollywood’s ‘Big Five’ studios at a combined market value of $38B. This is the News of The Day for me because in a conversation with a friend the other day when discussing what we think the future of streaming looks like, I stated that it looks like a further consolidation of media companies far greater than what we have seen since 2022, as example with the Warner Bros and Discover Inc merger that created Warner Bros Discovery and it is happening now in order to ease up the choice fatigue that users of these streaming platforms tend to have and end up cancelling one or more of the platforms that don’t offer as much value to them. [https://www.bloomberg.com]

GenZ Word Of The Day

Rizz: A term that comes from the word Charisma, it is the ability to confidently approach people and talk to them, in a more romantic or flirty way. It was coined by the popular YouTuber and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat.