Flipkart deal has termination clause
Walmart's agreements to purchase a 77 percent stake in India e-commerce company Flipkart for $16 billion have an out clause, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company said in the filing its share issuance agreement and share purchase agreement contain termination rights for the parties if transactions have not closed by March 9, 2019. No termination fee would be payable by any party if the agreements regarding the acquisition were terminated.
Other details outlined in the filing show Flipkart will have eight directors on its board, including five appointed by Walmart. The number of directors can be increased to nine at any time and appointed by Walmart.
Walmart has the ability to appoint or replace the chief executive officer and other principal executives of the Flipkart group of companies, subject to certain consultation rights of the board and the company's founder.
The filing also specified that holders of 60 percent of Flipkart's shares held by minority shareholders, if acting together, can require Flipkart to "effect an initial public" offering after the fourth anniversary of the transaction's closing at a valuation no less than that paid by Walmart.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Promenade at Chenal theater to reopen
Nearly one year and $3 million in renovations later, the movie theater at the Promenade at Chenal will reopen Friday as the AMC Theatres Chenal 9.
The dine-in theater, which had its application to serve wine, beer and mixed drinks approved by state officials Monday, already has tickets available online for six movies. They include Deadpool 2 and Show Dogs, both of which are scheduled for release the same day the movie complex reopens.
Chenal 9 features nine screens and 849 dine-in luxury recliners. The theater has an Imax screen, but Imax tickets are not on sale yet, according to an AMC spokesman.
AMC Theatres, based in Leawood, Kan., is the largest movie chain in the world. It operates about 1,000 theaters with 11,000 screens around the globe, including more than 200 in the United States.
The Chenal 9 complex has been closed since last summer when AMC acquired the complex from B&B Theatres of Gladstone, Mo. Work on the renovation began in late January.
-- Noel Oman
Lifting bank growth ban up to Fed board
Unprecedented growth restrictions imposed on Wells Fargo will stay in place until the Federal Reserve's board agrees that the bank has made enough progress in fixing flaws that led to customer-abuse scandals over the past two years, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
In a letter to Warren dated Thursday, Powell agreed to deviate from the terms of the regulator's February order that said that the limits would be lifted once Wells Fargo satisfied the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Fed staff's head of supervision.
The Fed's order blocked Wells Fargo from increasing assets until it creates a credible plan to fix internal controls that allowed the company to open accounts without customer approval, force unwanted car insurance on borrowers and charge mortgage customers improper fees.
-- Bloomberg News
Postal Service loses $1.3B in quarter
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Postal Service on Friday reported another quarterly loss after an unrelenting drop in mail volume and costs of its health care and pension obligations outweighed strong gains in package deliveries.
The report shows a net loss of $1.3 billion between January and March, larger than a $562 million loss in the same period last year, due in part to rising fuel costs and added wage expenses as it grows its package business.
The Postal Service called for greater freedom to raise stamp prices to help cover costs. It warned of a serious financial situation that prevented it from making much-needed investments in letter and package delivery, saying it could not wait for a task force created by President Donald Trump to study the reasons behind its losses at a time of increased competition in the e-commerce age.
-- The Associated Press
U.S., UAE reach deal in airline dispute
WASHINGTON -- The United States and the United Arab Emirates signed a deal Friday to resolve a years-old spat over alleged UAE government subsidies to its airlines and accusations of unfair competition in the U.S.
After months of negotiations, a deal was reached that was carefully constructed to allow both sides to claim victory. Yet in a sign of how testy the issue has become, the UAE and the U.S. airlines immediately disagreed about what the deal said about the most contentious issue: flights to the U.S. that don't stop in the UAE.
Under the deal, the Dubai-based Emirates airline and the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways agreed to voluntarily open up their accounting books by publishing annual financial statements "consistent with internationally recognized accounting standards." The major U.S. carriers -- Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines -- have long alleged those financials obscure billions in hidden subsidies by the UAE government.
-- The Associated Press
Crowds on Demand exec defends action
NEW ORLEANS -- The chief executive officer of a California public relations company that hired people to attend and speak at public hearings on a New Orleans power project says his firm strives to make sure the people it pays to attend such meetings are sincere in the opinions they express.
Adam Swart is the founder of Crowds on Demand, which paid people to attend and speak at hearings in support of a power plant in New Orleans.
The utility giant Entergy said Thursday that it had not known the company was paying supporters until it conducted an investigation into claims that actors were among the backers at public hearings. It said Crowds on Demand was hired without authorization by The Hawthorn Group, a Virginia-based firm that did work for Entergy.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 05/12/2018