The top corporate stories from the Dow Jones Newswires weekend programming.
Deutz-AR dismisses CEO – new chairman of the supervisory board
Deutz has dismissed its boss with immediate effect and also filled the top of the supervisory board. The group wants to appoint a woman to the board of directors in the future. As the engine builder announced on Saturday evening, CEO Frank Hiller has been dismissed by the supervisory board. Sebastian Schulte, previously Chief Financial Officer and Labor Director, will take over as CEO and will continue to assume his previous areas of responsibility on an interim basis, as the SDAX Group announced. In its meeting on Saturday, the supervisory board also elected supervisory board member Dietmar Voggenreiter as the new chairman
Allianz acquires Greek insurer European Reliance
Allianz SE expands its business in Greece with the acquisition of Greek insurer European Reliance. As the DAX group announced on Friday evening, it will pay a total of 207 million euros for European Reliance General Insurance Company SA, which is said to be the largest independent insurer in Greece. Allianz has already secured 72 percent of European Reliance through share purchase agreements, according to the announcement.
KLM suspends flights to Ukraine – other airlines are checking
The Dutch airline KLM is suspending its flights to Ukraine until further notice. The airline announced this on Saturday after the government in The Hague had published a travel warning. Lufthansa said the situation in Ukraine was being “very closely monitored.” “A cessation of air traffic is being examined, but there is no decision on this at this point in time.” The French airline Air France, whose group includes KLM, made a similar statement.
Lufthansa and Tui are recording strong booking figures for the holiday season
According to Bild am Sonntag, the tour operator Tui and Lufthansa are recording strong booking figures for the coming holiday season. “We are seeing a sharp increase in demand for holiday flights for Easter, Whitsun and also for the summer. The desire to travel is great and there is an enormous backlog after two years of the pandemic,” said Lufthansa board member Harry Hohmeister of the newspaper.
CORONA-BLOG/Walmart ends mask requirement for vaccinated workers
Walmart has eliminated the mask requirement for vaccinated employees. Vaccinated employees no longer have to wear masks at work, the US department store chain announced on Friday evening. In addition, a special sick pay program for Covid-19 diseases is to be discontinued and the daily health check is to be omitted. Walmart Inc., which employs around 1.6 million people in the US, previously had a mask requirement for all US employees and for customers when required locally. Unvaccinated employees must continue to wear masks, a letter to employees said.
Saudi Arabia transfers Aramco shares for USD 80 billion to sovereign wealth fund 2222.SA
Saudi Arabia has transferred around $80 billion worth of shares in oil giant Aramco to its state investment fund in a bid to diversify the kingdom’s hydrocarbon-dependent economy.
The transfer of 4 percent of state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco) to the fund will support the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) plan to grow its assets under management to over $1 trillion by 2025 from around $480 billion currently, it said the Saudi government on Sunday.
Cisco has made a takeover bid for Splunk for USD 20 billion – circles
According to several informants, Cisco has made a takeover bid for the US software manufacturer Splunk for more than 20 billion US dollars. The offer was made recently and the companies are not currently in active talks, according to some of those familiar with the matter. If closed, it would be Cisco’s largest acquisition to date.
Galeria boss defends new state aid for department stores
In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the boss of the ailing department store chain Galeria, Miguel Müllenbach, defended the government aid for the company worth millions. According to an agreement concluded in February, Galeria received EUR 220 million from the Economic Stabilization Fund after the company received a loan of EUR 460 million last year. “The deposit of the WSF has not only been checked intensively for its risk, but also deposited with collateral and will be repaid with interest,” said Müllenbach of the FAZ according to the preliminary summary.
CORONA-BLOG/Curevac boss thinks 2nd generation corona vaccines are necessary
Curevac is sticking to plans for a second-generation corona vaccine. “We see that the approved vaccines are coming to the end of their potential. It cannot be that a booster vaccination should be necessary every three months,” said Curevac boss Franz-Werner Haas of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.
CORONA-BLOG/China grants conditional approval for Pfizer’s corona drug
China has granted conditional approval to US pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug Paxlovid. The country’s authority responsible for medical products said on Saturday that the drug still needed to be researched further.
CORONA-BLOG/Germany’s breweries are raising the alarm about the Corona crisis
Germany’s breweries have warned of the existence-threatening consequences of the Corona policy and have called for the restrictions in gastronomy to be ended as soon as possible. The beer industry is currently “with its back to the wall,” said the general manager of the German Brewers’ Association, Holger Eichele, the picture from Saturday.
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DJG / DJN / AFP / uxd
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 13, 2022 11:16 ET (16:16 GMT)
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