Industry Update

HP Inc. was awarded $439 million in damages against Quanta Storage Inc. and its U.S. subsidiary after a federal judge tripled a jury’s 2019 award for damages caused by a widespread scheme to inflate the price of optical disk drives. In October, a Houston jury ordered Quanta to pay HP $176 million in damages. U.S. District Judge David Hittner said Friday that Quanta hadn’t shown any reason why the jury’s findings should be set aside. He tripled the damages award, as authorized under antitrust law, to $528 million before deducting the $89 million in settlements paid by the other companies HP accused of participating in the price-fixing scheme.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-03/hp-wins-438-million-after-judge-triples-jury-price-fixing-award?srnd=premium-middle-east

Volkswagen (VW) has been slapped with a record fine by Australia's consumer watchdog to settle lawsuits over the carmaker's global emissions scandal. The A$125m ($86m; £66m) penalty is the highest ordered by a court for breaches of Australian consumer law. VW has been hit with a flurry of legal action since 2015, when it emerged the firm had been cheating emissions tests. Australian regulators have also launched proceedings over VW's consumer loans. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has alleged in a federal court that VW failed to make proper checks into borrowers' living expenses, or to determine if the loans were unsuitable for them. The allegations relate to 49,380 consumer loans made between 2013 and 2016.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50862356

Eight West African countries Saturday agreed to change the name of their common currency to Eco and severed the CFA franc’s links to former colonial ruler France. The CFA franc was initially pegged to the French franc and has been linked to the euro for about two decades. Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo currently use the currency. All the countries are former French colonies with the exception of Guinea-Bissau. The announcement was made Saturday during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer and France’s former main colony in West Africa.

Source: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1602501/business-economy

India has stepped up scrutiny of engines on Airbus SE’s A320neo jets, forcing the country’s biggest airline, IndiGo, to have to replace more than previously estimated, a move that could further delay the budget carrier’s expansion plans. A “more intense boroscopic examination” of engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney has identified more engines at risk of shutting down in midair, Arun Kumar, the head of India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, told Bloomberg News on Sunday. Out of roughly 200 engines in use, IndiGo will now have to replace at least 130.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-22/indigo-woes-rise-as-india-steps-up-scrutiny-of-airbus-engines?srnd=premium-asia

Lemon Tree International, a subsidiary of Al Waleed Investment Group, has opened its first hotel in the UAE. The Lemon Tree Dubai Hotel on Al Wasl Road in Jumeirah, features 114 rooms, restaurant, an outdoor lounge, conference hall, swimming pool and a wellness centre. The 3-star mid-range property represents an investment value of up to AED100 million ($27.2 million), a statement said. Mohammed Abdul Razzaq Al Mutawa, CEO of Al Waleed Investment Group, said: "The local market in Dubai in various economic sectors is particularly engaging and has continued to gain interest from international companies that aspire to win the best investment opportunities in light of the growing demand for the local environment. "Rattan Kiswani, deputy general manager of Lemon Tree Hotels & Resorts, said: "We are delighted to enter the hospitality market in Dubai, with the management of the first distinctive hotel facilities in the emirate."

Source: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/travel-hospitality/435172-lemon-tree-international-invests-27m-in-first-uae-hotel

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala is placing a bet on the growing demand for food delivery platforms with an investment in Spanish start-up Glovo. Mubadala was the lead investor in Glovo’s 150 million euro ($167 million) funding round closed Wednesday, according to a statement, bringing its valuation to over $1 billion. Other backers in Barcelona-based Glovo included Drake Enterprises, Lakestar and Idinvest, all of which were already investors. This was the third round in which Glovo raised more than 100 million euros over the past 17 months, as it seeks to bolster its position in the booming food delivery sector by expanding into new markets and increasing its software development teams. Glovo operates in 26 countries.

Source: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transport/435717-uaes-mubadala-invests-in-spanish-food-delivery-firm-glovo

Italian automotive champion fears a feminine model would drive away male customers which make up a significant portion if its consumer base. The world’s most popular supercar maker does not want to make cars for women. Italian automotive champion Ferrari says it would be a “mistake” to design a car for women because its female clients do not want a “female Ferrari” and look to experience the brand’s renowned performance and aggressive design. “We know there’s an important number of females who want to drive a Ferrari. The important thing we learned is that they don’t want a Ferrari for females,” Enrico Galliera told Arabian Business.

Source: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transport/435831-making-supercars-for-women-mistake-ferrari

Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) CEO Alain Bejjani has revealed ambitious expansion plans, which include a $996.26 million investment in Egypt and a further $533.6m in Saudi Arabia. Bejjani told Reuters that the company’s investment, which will be spread over the next two to three years, is set to include $866m on a single mall in Cairo. Further expansion plans include opening seven Carrefour locations in Uzbekistan in 2020 and to open a Carrefour in Uganda on December 16, which will be the company’s first investment there.

Source: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/retail/434916-majid-al-futtaim-to-invest-15bn-in-saudi-egypt-expansion-plans

State-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco has raised a record $25.6bn (£19.4bn) in its initial public offering in Riyadh. The share sale was the biggest to date, surpassing that of China's Alibaba which raised $25bn in 2014 in New York. Aramco relied on domestic and regional investors to sell a 1.5% stake after lukewarm interest from abroad. The IPO will value it at $1.7tn when trading begins - short of its $2tn target, but making it the most valuable listed company in the world.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50681159

A unit of Ericsson AB pleaded guilty to foreign bribery and the parent company agreed to pay more than $1 billion to resolve a long-running US corruption investigation involving payoffs in Asia and the Middle East. The Stockholm-based company admitted to a years-long campaign of corruption aimed at solidifying its grip on the telecommunications business, US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman in Manhattan said in announcing the settlement that outlined tens of millions of dollars in illicit payments in five countries.

Source: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/technology/434969-ericsson-pays-over-1bn-to-settle-us-corruption-probe