Tillerson says U.S. expects Russia to meet Ukraine commitments
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday that the United States was ready
to work with Russia if it found common areas for cooperation, but said Moscow had to adhere
to commitments made over Ukraine.
"As we search for new common ground we expect Russia to honor its commitment to the Minsk
agreements and work to de-escalate violence in Ukraine," Tillerson told reporters after
meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Tillerson said he had a productive meeting with Lavrov and the two men discussed a range
of issues of mutual concern.
He gave no details aside from his comments on Ukraine and answered no questions.
His comments on the Ukraine crisis came two days before a four-way meeting of the German,
French, Russian and Ukrainian ministers that is due to take place on the sidelines of the
Munich Security Conference.
Tillerson said Washington was ready to work with Russia, but would stand up for its interests
in areas where there were differences.
"Where we do not see eye to eye, the United States will stand up for the interests and
values of America and her allies," he said.
Snap seeks valuation of up to $18.5 billion in highly awaited IPO
Snap Inc, owner of the popular messaging app Snapchat, is seeking a valuation of between
$16.20 billion and $18.52 billion in its highly awaited initial public offering.
The company, which filed for an IPO earlier this month, was widely expected to be valued
at between $20 billion and $25 billion, giving it the richest valuation in a U.S. technology
IPO since Facebook Inc.
"I think that the lower proposed valuation reflects feedback from institutional investors
that the higher valuation is hard to justify," Jay Ritter, IPO expert and professor at the
University of Florida, told Reuters.
"The concerns are about Snap, not the IPO market."
Investors have raised concerns about competition from Facebook and Alphabet Inc's Google, widening
losses and the firm control of its founders even as the Venice, California-based company
readies to hit the road to pitch the offering.
Snap said in a filing on Thursday that it expects to raise as much as $3.2 billion from
the offering of 200 million Class A share.
The offering is expected to be priced between $14 and $16 per share.
Selling shareholders will sell 55 million shares and the remaining will be sold by the
company.
Snap will have about 1.16 billion shares outstanding after the offering and list on the New York
Stock Exchange under the symbol SNAP.
"Snap is right to be conservative in setting the initial range.
They want to avoid setting a range and then price below the range," said Kathleen Smith,
principal at Renaissance Capital, which manages IPO-focused exchange traded funds.
Snap said it expects to use proceeds of about $2.1 billion for general corporate purposes
and to acquire businesses, among other things.
Snap, which launched in 2012 with an app that sends disappearing messages, rebranded itself
last year as a camera company and started selling $130 video camera glasses.
Revenue surged to $404.48 million for year ended Dec. 31.
However, net loss widened to $514.64 million from $372.89 million a year earlier, hurt
by higher costs.
Snap's co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy will hold 14.5 percent of Class A shares
each, after the offering, down from 21.8 percent.
The founders will maintain tight control over Snap's stock through a unique three-share
class structure.
The structure will give Spiegel and Murphy the right of 10 votes for every share.
Existing investors will have one vote for each of their shares, while new investors
will have no voting rights.
The company generates the majority of its revenue from advertising, seeking to challenge
the dominance of existing internet giants.
Facebook's Instagram, which recently introduced disappearing video content, had 600 million
users as of late last year.
Like Snapchat, Instagram sells advertising on its platform.
Morgan Stanley & Co LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co, JP Morgan Securities LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities
Inc, Barclays Capital Inc and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC are among the underwriters
to the IPO.
India's Tata Motors, Microsoft ink technology collaboration deal
ata Motors Ltd and Microsoft India on Thursday announced a strategic collaboration on the
technology front to make driving a more personalized experiences for the customers, the companies
said in a joint statement.
The first vehicle showcasing the vision of the enhanced driving experiences will be unveiled
at the Geneva International Motor show on March 7, they said.
"Using IoT (internet of things), AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning technologies,
we will provide vehicle owners in India and across the world a safe, productive and fun
driving experience," Anant Maheshwari, President at Microsoft India, said.
Tata Motors CEO Guenter Butschek said at a press conference that he saw the tie-up creating
new revenue opportunities for the company as car buyers increasingly look for value-added
services.
SMBC head says will give Toshiba as much support as possible
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC), one of the main lenders to Toshiba Corp (6502.T),
will provide as much support as possible to the troubled Japanese firm, the bank's chief
executive said.
The TVs-to-nuclear conglomerate is scrambling for cash to stay in business as a multi-billion-dollar
hole has emerged in its nuclear business.
Toshiba has announced it would consider selling most, even all, of its stake in its prized
flash-memory chips business, highlighting the scale of its financial woes.
Toshiba is expected to "effectively" keep positive net worth at its business year-end
in March if the sale of its memory chip business, which could come after the period, is counted,
said SMBC's Takeshi Kunibe, who was speaking on Thursday at a news conference as chairman
of the Japanese Bankers Association.
SMBC is a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T).
"Memory business is performing very well.
It has a very good value.
Toshiba is considering selling a certain proportion of the business and if it is taken in consideration,
its equity capital is effectively in positive territory," Kunibe said.
According to a source, Toshiba may delay the sale of its flash-memory chip unit given the
firm's rethink on the size of the stake.
The company was earlier looking to sell less than 20 percent of the unit.
Toshiba has accepted it may remain in negative net worth through the end of the business
year, the source said, which could see its shares demoted to the second section of the
Tokyo Stock Exchange.
As a result, the source said, it would have to convince its lenders to keep the funds
coming.
At a meeting with its creditors on Wednesday, Toshiba executives asked for an extension
of a waiver for a loan covenant violation until the end of March, financial sources
said, declining to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media on the
matter.
Senior House Democrats want briefing on Flynn, Russians
The House of Representatives Democratic leader and the top Democrat on the House Intelligence
Committee asked U.S. intelligence on Thursday for an immediate briefing on contacts between
Russian officials and President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Adding to the clamor from Congress for more information about the matter, Leader Nancy
Pelosi and Representative Adam Schiff wrote to Michael Dempsey, the acting director of
National Intelligence, asking for an immediate "comprehensive" briefing and access to uncensored
transcripts of Flynn's conversations with Russian officials.
Lockheed F-35 jet could cost as little as $80 million in future Pentagon official
The cost of Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) stealthy F-35 fighter jet could shrink to
$80 million in future purchases according to the Department of Defense's head of the
program.
The jet, which most recently cost about $94.5 million for the F-35 "A" model, is the most
expensive Department of Defense program.
Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, Program Executive Officer, F-35 Joint Program Office was speaking
to the U.S House of Representatives at a Capitol Hill hearing on military services' 5th generation
tactical aircraft challenges and F-35 joint strike fighter program.
For more infomation >> High-Que Nomex & Kevlar Gasket for Ceramic Grills | Product Roundup by All Things Barbecue - Duration: 6:13. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét