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Europe
The Guardian

Struggling Pizza Hut restaurant chain to be sold in two deals worth $2.7bn

A security guard stands in front of a Pizza Hut in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on 5 October 2024. Photograph: Luc Gnago/ReutersView image in fullscreenA security guard stands in front of a Pizza Hut in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on 5 October 2024. Photograph: Luc Gnago/ReutersBusinessStruggling Pizza Hut restaurant chain to be sold in two deals worth $2.7bnYum! Brands, parent company of KFC and Taco Bell, to sell Pizza Hut as it faces dated stores and growing competition The struggling Pizza Hut restaurant chain will be sold for $2.7bn by parent company Yum! Brands. Yum! Brands said in February that it was considering selling Pizza Hut and the chain looked to close 250 US restaurants. The pizza chain has struggled with outdated stores and growing competition. Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas. PepsiCo acquired the chain in 1977 but spun off its restaurant division – which became Yum! Brands – in 1997. Private equity firm LongRange Capital is buying Pizza Hut, excluding the mainland China business, for about $1.5bn, the company said on Tuesday. The mainland China Pizza Hut will be bought by Yum China Holdings, Inc for approximately $1.2bn, it said. “Under LongRange and Yum China, Pizza Hut will be well positioned for future growth with ownership that brings deep expertise in the restaurant industry,” the Yum! Brands CEO, Chris Turner, said in a statement. Yum! Brands, whose other brands include KFC and Taco Bell, began a strategic review to explore options for Pizza Hut in November, with the chain reporting declining sales at comparable stores. “Pizza Hut has long been the weak link in Yum’s portfolio,” Neil Saunders, the managing director of GlobalData, said in a statement. “Despite efforts to revitalize the brand and shut underperforming locations, it has become increasingly clear that pushing the division back into growth will require a level of investment and patience that Yum is just not prepared to commit to.” By selling Pizza Hut, Yum! Brands can focus more on its brands with stronger sales, he added. Yum! Brands, based in Louisville, Kentucky, expects both transactions to close in the third quarter. The company’s stock declined slightly before the market open.

Struggling Pizza Hut restaurant chain to be sold in two deals worth $2.7bn
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

NLC India, Indian Oil join hands for solar, wind and storage projects in Tamil Nadu

NLC India Ltd has partnered with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd to form a joint venture for developing large-scale renewable energy projects in Tamil Nadu. State-run NLC India Ltd (NLCIL) on Tuesday said that it has partnered with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) to form a joint venture for developing large-scale green energy projects in Tamil Nadu. NLCIL, which has a presence in mining and power generation, has been diversifying into large-scale renewable and green energy initiatives, including solar, wind, pumped hydro storage, Battery Energy Storage Systems and others. "The MoU was signed on 22 June, 2026 at New Delhi...for the development of large scale Renewable Energy (RE) projects including solar, wind, hybrid power with or without energy storage such as battery storage and pumped storage projects...and any other opportunity in the renewable energy sector in the State of Tamil Nadu... ," the company said in a filing to BSE. NLCIL Chairman & Managing Director Prasanna Kumar Motupalli said that the partnership with IOCL marks a significant milestone in the Navratna PSU's strategic diversification into clean and sustainable energy sectors. The strategic collaboration marks a major milestone in strengthening India's clean energy ecosystem and reflects the shared commitment of both organisations towards sustainable development, technological advancement and nation-building through reliable and green energy solutions, the filing said. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

NLC India, Indian Oil join hands for solar, wind and storage projects in Tamil Nadu
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

Me & My Money: Crane company boss says people are his most important investment

Pollisum Group CEO Chris Ang took over the family business when he was 30 and steered it to profitability while building a company culture he is proud of. Sign up for ST InvestMe and unlock full access to exclusive insights and financial literacy courses today. But Chris Ang left his job as an auditor at one such firm to eventually join his family’s business in the construction sector. Now 38, he is the chief executive officer of Pollisum Group, which specialises in crane leasing and transport. Under his leadership, the company returned to profitability and was ranked by The Straits Times and global research firm Statista among Singapore’s fastest-growing companies in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Ang cut his teeth in 2016 at a Malaysian transport business newly acquired by Pollisum, where he handled sales and operations. Ang says he found the transition from a corporate job to running a company challenging, especially as the firm was struggling then and needed a new strategic direction. “In a big company, everything is structured. But running a family business required me to take a more hands-on approach, with a greater responsibility for decision-making and problem-solving,” he says. “I was unfamiliar with running a business, let alone having knowledge of the crane industry. I had to rely heavily on my colleagues and draw on my parents’ experience. The learning curve was steep.” “Looking back, the hardest part wasn’t managing the numbers, but it was understanding the crane industry, making the right decisions and managing people. But that’s also the most rewarding part. Observing my team’s growth alongside the company’s validates my decision to make the transition,” he adds. The company, which Ang’s parents started in 1984, now has around 400 employees, many of whom are crane operators who work long hours under difficult conditions, he adds. He believes that engaging his employees’ families and recognising their support are important in building company culture.

Me & My Money: Crane company boss says people are his most important investment
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

AI is not magic; without good data it’s trash in, trash out: AvePoint CEO

Singapore has all the advanced use cases of developed markets for AI and data governance, said Avepoint CEO Dr Tianyi Jiang. SINGAPORE – Companies racing to deploy artificial intelligence tools may find their efforts unexpectedly throttled by the quality and organisation of their internal data. AI systems such as customer service chatbots, workplace assistants and automated workflows depend heavily on well-structured information. But in many organisations, up to 90 per cent of their data is scattered across e-mails, documents, chat messages and multiple platforms, stored in different formats with varying access permissions. “AI is tech and not magic. Without good data, it’s just trash in and trash out,” said AvePoint chief executive Tianyi Jiang. His firm’s suite of tools integrates into enterprise platforms to help companies organise and secure large volumes of information within enterprise systems such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint and Microsoft 365. This function has become more critical as companies use internal data to power AI systems. “It’s simply not good enough to just use a commercially available product like Claude or ChatGPT because they are trained on data on the internet,” he stressed. AvePoint was founded in the US in 2001 by Jiang and co-founder Xunkai Gong, with its first product a backup solution for Microsoft’s early SharePoint collaboration platform. Now a massive player in the software ecosystem space and with Microsoft as one of its biggest partners, AvePoint has expanded its focus beyond cloud-based software data management to AI-related offerings spanning education, modernisation and governance. Jiang said the company was able to grow these businesses due to its strong reputation, earned over the past 17 years in data management. The firm operates in 80 countries and handles about one zettabyte of data – or one trillion gigabytes – globally for governments and banks. After a visit to Singapore in 2008, where he met his future wife, Jiang decided to open AvePoint’s Singapore office a year later, drawn by its appeal as a base for business.

AI is not magic; without good data it’s trash in, trash out: AvePoint CEO
North America
Yahoo Finance

If You Hate (Or Love) The ‘Mag 7’ There Is An ETF To Profit

If you own an ETF tracking the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq-100, the Magnificent Seven are unavoidable. They’re a major part of both benchmarks, where a handful of technology giants continue to dominate index weights. Personally, I’m a bit cautious whenever financial media starts assigning catchy names to groups of stocks. Historically, that can be a sign that enthusiasm and valuations are beginning to run ahead of fundamentals.Still, there are reasonable arguments on both sides. Supporters of the Magnificent Seven point to their exceptional earnings growth, enormous cash generation, and ability to fund ambitious long-term projects. These companies are spending billions on artificial intelligence infrastructure, cloud computing, autonomous systems, semiconductors, and other emerging technologies. In many ways, they resemble venture capital firms operating inside publicly traded companies. Critics see things differently. They argue that soaring capital expenditures are transforming technology from a high-margin, asset-light business into something that increasingly resembles the telecom buildout that occurred during the dot-com era. The concern is that massive infrastructure spending could eventually weigh on profitability and shareholder returns. Either way, loving or hating the Magnificent Seven does not require aggressively buying or shorting individual stocks. If you want more exposure than what is available through traditional index funds, there is an ETF for that. If you want to avoid the Magnificent Seven entirely without shorting them, there is an ETF for that too. Let’s look at both options. If you want concentrated exposure to the Magnificent Seven, one of the simplest options is the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS). Rather than purchasing seven individual stocks yourself, MAGS packages them into a single ETF that maintains equal-weight exposure and rebalances quarterly. The portfolio consists exclusively of Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Tesla. The ETF charges a reasonable 0.30% expense ratio and has become one of Roundhill’s most successful launches, accumulating approximately $3.8 billion in assets under management. One interesting aspect of MAGS is that it does not always hold every underlying stock directly. For efficiency purposes, the fund may obtain exposure through total return swaps. In these arrangements, the ETF holds collateral and enters into agreements with counterparties to receive the performance of the underlying stocks. Another benefit is liquidity. Rather than executing seven separate trades, investors can gain exposure through a single ETF with a very tight 0.01% 30-day median bid-ask spread. The 1.48% 30-day SEC yield paid annually is modest, but investors looking for additional income can also utilize the ETF’s options chain to implement covered call strategies if desired. The methodology is straightforward. It starts with a broad large-cap universe and removes the Magnificent Seven entirely. The remaining stocks are then weighted by market capitalization and rebalanced quarterly. The practical effect is a significantly less top-heavy portfolio. As of June 9, the largest holding in XMAG is Broadcom at 4.28%. Compare that to a traditional S&P 500 ETF, where Nvidia currently represents roughly 7.97% of assets. In many Nasdaq-100 funds, concentration is even higher, with Nvidia accounting for more than 8% of the portfolio. Removing the Magnificent Seven also changes sector exposures substantially. Technology, consumer discretionary, and communication services become less dominant, while healthcare, financials, and industrials receive greater representation.

If You Hate (Or Love) The ‘Mag 7’ There Is An ETF To Profit
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Monsoon nears Mumbai as Bay system holds key to wider revival

Surge in winds from the seas from Monday morning translated into rainfall (dark blue) along the west and east coasts as the monsoon broke a fortnight-long hiatus to resume its journey. | Photo Credit: www.meteoblue.com After a frustrating fortnight-long pause, the monsoon has resumed its advance, reaching Alibag, less than 100 km south of Mumbai, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday. Conditions are becoming increasingly favourable for its arrival over Mumbai within the next couple of days. The renewed advance is expected to carry seasonal rains deeper into Maharashtra; remaining parts of Telangana and Odisha; and further into Chhattisgarh; Jharkhand; and Bihar. The progression marks the beginning of a broader wet spell spreading across East India and into the rain-starved agricultural belts of Central India. The revival comes as the Arabian Sea branch regains strength and a potentially crucial low-pressure area begins to take shape over the Bay of Bengal. Together, they could trigger a significant phase of monsoon advance since onset, bringing relief to deficit-hit regions and improving rainfall distribution across large parts of the country. Roughening seas have prompted fishermen warnings on both coasts. Alerts are in force over the Gulf of Mannar for the next five days; parts of the south-west Bay and adjoining Sri Lanka coast for three days from Thursday; and along the Odisha; West Bengal; and north Andhra Pradesh coasts for three days from Monday. The increasing churning over the Bay is also seen as a precursor to formation of the crucial ‘low.’ On the Arabian Sea side, fishermen have been advised against venturing into waters along and off the Konkan; Goa; Karnataka and Kerala coasts; and around Lakshadweep on Tuesday. Fresh warnings cover the Konkan; Goa; and Karnataka coasts for three days from Wednesday and the Comorin region for five days from Monday as monsoon winds gather strength and depth. Two atmospheric features are now under close watch. The first is the seasonal monsoon trough stretching from Rajasthan to Bihar through Uttar Pradesh. The second is an upper-air cyclonic circulation over the north and adjoining central Bay .Meteorologists believe the two could reinforce each other, creating an atmospheric corridor that channels moisture-laden winds from the Bay deep into Central and North-West India. Much depends on whether the Bay throws up a ‘low,’ as expected. If could become the anchor for monsoon revival phase and sustain rain activity well beyond the immediate term. Several weather models indicate that such a ‘low’ is likely to form, with some even hinting at a successor disturbance thereafter. Yet, the outlook warrants caution, with a strengthening El Niño continuing to cast a long shadow from the equatorial Pacific. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Monsoon nears Mumbai as Bay system holds key to wider revival
North America
CNBC Economy

A Chinese start-up's unfolding dilemma exposes cracks in Beijing's tech funding machine

The rush of capital into China's tech start-up world hit a speed bump this month. Within hours of each other last Friday, a Chinese city government ordered companies to disclose their financial ties to robot vacuum maker Dreame Technology, and China's State Council issued sweeping rules to tighten oversight of the country's 23 trillion yuan ($3.4 trillion) private fund industry. The events, in quick succession, underscored Beijing's tough balancing act in trying to rival U.S. tech dominance. While the state pours in money to support China's tech ambitions, there are not always the guardrails and market forces to prevent widespread misallocation. Beijing is reining in a co-investment model that local authorities have embraced in recent years to lure businesses into their regions, said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group. Local governments often "race to outspend one another" on strategic sectors, generating substantial fiscal waste and raising credit risks for the central government, Wang said. Chinese local governments have sought to pivot from land financing — which has essentially collapsed since the housing crisis in the early 2020s — to equity finance, using state capital and government guidance funds to acquire stakes in startups and use capital gains as a new source of fiscal income. Wall Street-linked U.S. funds that once invested in China have also largely pulled out in recent years due to geopolitical risk, leaving a gap for local Chinese yuan-denominated funds to fill. Local officials cannot necessarily evaluate projects the way professional investors do, and tend to go all-in on one or a handful of hopefuls — leaving public finances exposed when bets sour, Wang added. Dreame became the world's largest robotic vacuum maker by sales in the first quarter, according to research consultancy IDC, with fast-growing footholds in Europe and the U.S. And the startup's ambitions run far beyond floor cleaning. Echoing the aggressive expansion of certain Chinese start-ups, since its founding in 2017, Dreame has spawned nearly a thousand affiliated enterprises, spanning electric vehicles, smartphones, humanoid robots, bubble tea and satellite networks. Founder Yu Hao claimed in January he was building an ecosystem that would "become the first $100 trillion company in human history." That sprawl has come under scrutiny in recent weeks. A city government in Jiangsu province, one of China's biggest electronics manufacturing hubs, asked local companies to audit their exposure to Dreame-linked entities, including investment sizes, fiscal outlays and business operations, according to state-backed media. Yu's social media account on Weibo was also suspended, preventing the outspoken founder from making viral comments, according to state-linked media.

A Chinese start-up's unfolding dilemma exposes cracks in Beijing's tech funding machine
Europe
BBC Business

What is Helium-3 and could we get it from the moon?

One of the most valuable assets owned by Lancaster University is stored in beer kegs. In a carefully locked laboratory rows of metal kegs are arranged on shelves and linked together with spindly copper pipework. The containers aren't loaded with prize beer but rather a gas called helium-3, one of the most expensive materials in the world. A single litre costs roughly $2,000 (£1,500), though the price can fluctuate. "The lab has been going for 50 years or so. Back then, the helium was quite cheap," says Dima Zmeev, senior lecturer. "Our very wise predecessors stocked up." In the near future, more people could be looking to build up such a stockpile. Helium-3 has applications in quantum computing and nuclear fusion. However, the main source of it today is tightly controlled – it comes from nuclear weapons. Specifically, from the decay of tritium, a form of hydrogen, inside those weapons. Around the world, tens of thousands of litres of helium-3 are likely to be produced this way every year, estimates David McCollum, distinguished scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. But future demand could far exceed that supply. Some entrepreneurs and researchers say we need new sources of helium-3. It exists in the ground, though generally at very low concentrations. However, samples of moon dust, or regolith, from the Apollo missions suggest it may be present there at relatively high concentrations. As such, plans are now afoot to recover helium-3 from the moon. Helium-3 is an isotope of helium, defined by the number of neutrons in the atom's nucleus. Helium-4, with one additional neutron, is the comparatively cheap version – a gas that fills children's party balloons. Zmeev uses helium-3 in physics experiments. For example, he fills tiny chambers with the stuff, in a project to detect a type of mysterious dark matter particle. Should such a particle knock into one of the helium-3 atoms, it would make them all jiggle. This generates heat and that slight temperature rise can be measured. Scientists mix helium-3 and helium-4 together at very low temperatures to create the lowest temperatures in the known universe, down to the millikelvin range (-273C).

What is Helium-3 and could we get it from the moon?
Europe
BBC Business

Thames Water moves step closer to nationalisation after government objects to rescue deal

The government has objected to a proposed rescue deal for Thames Water, in a move which takes the UK's largest water company a step closer to a form of nationalisation. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds wrote to the industry regulator on Monday to raise concerns over the £10bn package put forward by the firm's lenders. Fears the company could collapse first emerged three years ago, and the government has been on standby to take control if required ever since. A government spokesman told the BBC that the current offer "does not do enough to protect consumers or the environment". Thames Water - which serves about 16 million customers, mostly across London and parts of southern England - has faced heavy criticism in recent years over its performance, sewage discharges, and pipe leaks. In May last year, it was handed a £122.7m fine, the biggest ever issued by the water industry regulator, for breaching rules on sewage spills and shareholder payouts. A group of its existing lenders has offered to write off £9.4bn of its near £20bn debt pile and inject billions in new money, but want leniency from future pollution fines in return. London & Valley Water, a consortium of large financial institutions and investors, said some £3.35bn of cash would be put into the company along with a new £6.55bn debt facility. It would be part of a £10bn business plan until 2030. A spokesman for the group has previously said the proposed rescue deal would "fund significant improvements for customers, clean up local rivers and achieve full compliance as quickly as possible". Ofwat, which regulates water companies in the UK, has been reviewing the proposal and a decision is expected this summer. Without a rescue deal agreed, Thames Water is set to run out cash within a matter of months and could collapse. The Times, which first reported the story, said the government's intervention was over concerns the deal would place an "undue burden" on customers. Reynolds is due to address Parliament on Tuesday.

Thames Water moves step closer to nationalisation after government objects to rescue deal