By Nick Lambe – Managing Director, Links International
So, only a couple more days to wait for what seems to be the longest US election build up EVER!
It will be very interesting to see how the markets reach either way when the winner is announced on Wednesday! In other news, here are my top picks of the latest global business news:
M&A is breaking records
Some welcome good news coming out of the investment banks last week was within the M&A market, where global M&A activity showed a record $251 billion worth of deals in October alone, and $11 billion more than the previous record month in July 2015. This has been largely driven by the Tech sector with $530 billion of tech M&A deals so far in 2016. Tweets on the street are that Twitter is a clear target for a future acquisition.
Will Hong Kong continue to lead the way in electric cars?
With the unveiling of Elon Musk of Tesla’s ‘solar roof’ and Powerwall 2 (both of which look pretty cool by the way!), the question on a lot of people’s minds is whether Hong Kong’s government will look to continue its love of electric cars and whether the scheme will waive the first registration tax of these vehicles from March 2017 onwards. In a city where roadside pollution can reach dangerous levels, surely this would make a lot of sense for both the community and the environment?
Another Flagship store closes…
Forever 21 is due to close its Flagship store in Capital Centre in Causeway Bay, for which they are currently paying a whopping HK$13.8m per month. The company has cited high rents and reduction of mainland tourists as reasons for the closure. The incumbent tenants are reported to be Victoria’s Secret and will be paying a fraction of the price at “only” HK$7m. So, is this the continued trend for the property market in Hong Kong and will we see a lot more movement of flagship stores into 2017?
Disclaimer: This column is designed to be a lighthearted weekly update on the global business news that I enjoyed reading. We would welcome your thoughts, comments and suggestions. Please do not hesitate to contact us.
More next week…
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