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Quick overview of the day's main events:

  • Vodafone is buying a 49% stake in CK Hutchison's VodafoneThree for £4.3 billion.

  • Janus Henderson has completed a take-private transaction with Trian and General Catalyst.

  • The US has granted Iran a 60-day license to sell oil.

  • Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continues to grow, with mines still a threat.

Overseas Investments

The British telecommunications giant Vodafone Group has announced an agreement to buy a 49% stake in the Hong Kong group CK Hutchison in the joint venture VodafoneThree, making it the sole owner of this British mobile operator. The transaction, carried out in the form of a share buyback, is valued at £4.3 billion, or approximately $5.8 billion. According to analysts, the move suggests that the Hong Kong group is gradually exiting the European telecommunications market and focusing on selling off other individual assets across Europe and Asia.

The British asset management group Janus Henderson Group, according to BusinessWire, has completed the process of obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals and client consents to close the previously announced transaction with the investment fund Trian Fund Management and the technology investor General Catalyst. This is one of the most significant take-private deals of the year in the asset management industry, which will allow the company to restructure itself outside the pressure of quarterly results on public markets.

From the French telecommunications market comes confirmation of a long-discussed transaction: Altice France has extended the exclusivity period for the consortium of Bouygues Telecom, Iliad Group, and Orange regarding the carve-out of the operator SFR for a total enterprise value of €20.35 billion. The transaction would reduce the number of major French mobile operators from four to three.

The American telecommunications conglomerate Telephone and Data Systems has submitted an offer to the board of directors of Array Digital Infrastructure to acquire the remaining 24.99% stake that TDS does not yet own, in the form of a stock merger. The transaction would complete the full integration of the data infrastructure unit under a single owner.

The Indian pharmaceutical conglomerate Zydus Lifesciences, according to a regulatory announcement, has completed the merger with Assertio Holdings, which it acquired through its subsidiary Zara Merger Sub for $23.50 per share. Assertio has thus formally become a wholly owned subsidiary of Zydus and has left the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Significant Events with Global Impact

The US Federal Reserve left interest rates in a range of 3.50% to 3.75% at its June meeting, as expected, but according to Reuters, the updated projections and the first press conference by new chairman Kevin Warsh were more hawkish, which triggered a sell-off in the stock markets and a rise in short-term yields on government bonds. Nine of the eighteen members of the committee expect at least one rate hike this year, while the expectation of a rate cut prevailed in the March projection. The Fed also raised its inflation forecast, with the headline PCE expected to reach 3.6% this year.

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Oil prices have meanwhile fallen to the lowest levels since the beginning of March. According to Trading Economics, oil has stabilized around $74 per barrel after Washington granted Iran a 60-day license to sell oil on international markets, increasing the hope for a faster recovery of global supply. Operations through the Strait of Hormuz continue according to available data, Iran exported over 30 million barrels in the last week, and producers such as Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are gradually lifting the state of force majeure. Full resumption of operations could release up to 80 million barrels onto the market, further pushing prices down during a period of weak demand.

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Tradingeconomics.com