SoftBank abandons plan for $3bn WeWork tender offer | Calamatta Cuschieri

The Maltese market closed in the green on Wednesday, with MSE total index ending the session 1.629% higher to 7,887.544 points. The best performer was HSBC Bank Malta plc with 11.11% surge to close at 1.00, followed by 10.28% jump of International Hotel Investments plc. FIMBank plc and Medserv plc resulted over 4% gain to close at 0.47 and 1.00 respectively. The biggest fall of 3.61% was seen from Main Street Complex plc with closing price of 0.48, followed by 2.67% drop of Harvest Technology plc and 2.60% slide of RS2 Software which closed at 1.46 and 1.87 respectively.

European stocks got off to a poor start for the second quarter with analysts pointing to the still impending peak in coronavirus cases in the States and poor economic data as the reasons for the weakness. At the end of the session, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was down by 2.90% at 310.77, alongside a 3.94% fall for the German Dax to 9.544.75, while the FTSE Mibtel was lower by 2.97% to 16,544.97.

US stocks finished sharply lower on Wednesday, continuing on from the losses recorded at the end of the Dow's worst first quarter in history. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 4.44% at 20,943.51, the S&P 500 lost 4.41% at 2,470.50, and the Nasdaq Composite was 4.41% weaker at 7,360.58.

SoftBank Group Corp. scrapped an agreement to spend $3 billion to buy WeWork

SoftBank has pulled out of a planned $3bn purchase of WeWork stock, a move that is expected to spark litigation by the lossmaking property group’s co-founder and one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious venture capital groups, according to people briefed on the matter. 

The $3bn share tender was agreed last year as part of a multibillion-dollar rescue package that SoftBank put in place as WeWork was on the brink of insolvency. The tender offer was set to provide a lucrative payout to early backers of the company including Benchmark Capital and Adam Neumann, WeWork’s former chief executive.

SoftBank said in a statement that it had decided to pull out after WeWork failed to meet a set of conditions behind the deal also it added that SoftBank remained “fully committed” to the US group’s success and that its decision would not have any impact on WeWork’s operations.

This article was issued by Nadiia Grech, Junior Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.