purchase

Nov. 3 (UPI) — The Texas-based Kimberly-Clark Corporation announced Monday it reached a deal to purchase Kenvue — the maker of Band-Aid and Tylenol products — for $48.7 billion.

The combination cash and stock transaction will see Kimberly-Clark acquire all outstanding shares of Kenvue common stock. A news release from Kimberly-Clark said the sale will put 10 billion-dollar brands together under the same company.

Kimberly-Clark’s brands include Kleenex, Cottonelle, Huggies, Poise, Pull-Ups, Scott, Viva and Kotex.

“We are excited to bring together two iconic companies to create a global health and wellness leader,” CEO Mike Hsu said.

“With a shared commitment to developing science and technology to provide extraordinary care, we will serve billions of consumers across every stage of life.”

Kimberly-Clark said the sale is expected to close in the second half of 2026 upon approval by shareholders of both companies. Upon completion, Hsu will serve as chairman of the board and CEO of the combined company. Meanwhile, three board members from Kenue will join Kimberly-Clark’s board.

In the wake of the news, Kenvue’s shares increased 20% in premarket trading, and Kimberly-Clark’s decreased by 14% Monday, CNBC reported.

Less than a week before the announcement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he was suing Kenvue and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson, for “deceptively marketing” Tylenol as a safe pain reliever.

The Trump administration announced in September that there was a link between Tylenol and an increased risk of autism, though, on Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to explicitly claim that Tylenol causes autism.

Warren Buffett will step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 0.39%) (BRK.B 0.30%) at the end of the year. But before he does, the conglomerate he’s run for nearly 60 years will make at least one more big acquisition.

The Oracle of Omaha and soon-to-be CEO Greg Abel expect to close on a deal to acquire the petrochemicals business OxyChem from Occidental Petroleum (OXY 0.32%) in the fourth quarter. Berkshire will pay $9.7 billion in cash, which will barely make a dent in the $340 billion sitting on the company’s balance sheet. Still, it represents the largest purchase for Berkshire since Allegheny Corp. in 2022.

The deal is an exceptional example of Warren Buffett’s investing style, which relies on being in a good position to act when great opportunities present themselves. Here’s what Berkshire Hathaway is getting in the deal, and why it’s an absolutely genius move.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

What is Berkshire buying?

OxyChem is a leading petrochemical company, one of the largest producers of caustic soda, potash, chlor-alkali, and PVC. It’s a global operation with 23 facilities worldwide, and Greg Abel described the acquisition as “a robust portfolio of operating assets, supported by an accomplished team.”

However, the industry is facing pressure. Weak pricing for caustic soda and PVC led to disappointing pre-tax earnings in the second quarter of just $213 million. Management revised its outlook for the business for full-year pre-tax income low to between $800 million and $900 million for this year.

Occidental’s management expects the supply side pressure on pricing to mitigate next year. In management’s first quarter earnings call, it said it expects to generate “$1 billion in incremental pre-tax cash flow from non-oil and gas source in 2026, with further expansion in 2027.” Part of that improvement is from modernization of OxyChem facilities.

In the meantime, though, Berkshire is swooping in to buy the assets when the entire industry is near a cyclical trough. The $9.7 billion price tag is estimated to be around 8 times OxyChem’s 2025 EBITDA expectations. That’s roughly in line with other chemical stocks like Eastman Chemical and Dow, but the entire industry is seeing lower earnings multiples due to the same headwinds pushing profits lower at OxyChem.

If the industry turns around as Occidental’s management expects, Berkshire could be getting a heck of a bargain. But the way it’s acquired the business makes it an even better deal for Berkshire and its shareholders.

The cherry on top for Berkshire

The big reason Occidental was willing to sell OxyChem despite expectations that it will see significantly improved earnings and cash flow over the next few years is because it needs cash. The oil and gas company took on additional debt to acquire CrownRock in August of 2024.

The increase in debt on Occidental’s balance sheet was always meant to be temporary. When it announced the acquisition, management said it plans to divest assets and use excess cash flow to reduce its debt levels back below $15 billion. While it’s been aggressive in using excess cash to pay down debt, the company still had $24 billion worth of debt on its balance sheet as of the end of the second quarter.

The cash infusion from Berkshire is set to net $8 billion after taxes. Of that, $6.5 billion will go toward paying down debt, with the other $1.5 billion going to Occidental’s coffers. Combined with debt pay down from excess free cash flow, management expects to meet its sub-$15 billion target.

The debt reduction indirectly benefits Berkshire as well. The conglomerate owns a 28% stake in the business. The stronger balance sheet should support projects to maximize its vast resources in the Permian Basin while improving its free cash flow position with reduced debt burden. That should support long-term growth for the business.

One other aspect of the deal provides tremendous benefits to Berkshire and its investors. Instead of using Berkshire’s preferred shares of Occidental to acquire OxyChem, Buffett and Abel managed to convince the company to take cash. That means Berkshire will continue to collect its 8% annual dividend on the $8.5 billion in preferred shares it continues to hold. That’s a much better yield than the company’s getting on its short-term Treasury bills.

Occidental says it plans to start redeeming those preferred shares in August of 2029, giving Berkshire shareholders at least three more years of extra-high yields. That’s just the cherry on top for Berkshire shareholders, who finally saw Buffett put some of Berkshire’s growing cash pile to work.

Inside a historic aircraft hangar in Playa Vista, crowds of people gathered on Thursday to browse the latest fashions from handbags to clothing and shoes as they prepared for the holiday shopping season.

These weren’t shoppers or retailer buyers browsing for the latest products. Instead, they were YouTube video creators who were being courted by brands from Lowe’s to Shark Beauty to encourage online audiences to buy their products.

Aaron Ramirez, a 22-year-old influencer who focuses on men’s fashion and lifestyle, stood in front of racks of carefully curated shelves of backpacks as he decided which items he would endorse for his 234,000 YouTube subscribers.

“I can make a video about anything that improves my quality of life and add a link to it,” said Ramirez. “I only recommend products that I really use and really like.”

The San Diego resident was among about 300 creators participating in YouTube’s annual benefit for creators dubbed “Holiday House” that helps internet personalities get ready to sell goods during the busy holiday shopping season.

The event — held at the cavernous converted Google offices that once housed Howard Hughes’ famous Spruce Goose plane — underscores YouTube’s desire to be a bigger player in online shopping by leveraging its relationship with creators to promote products in much the same way that rival TikTok does.

In August, YouTube introduced new tools to help its creators better promote products they plug in their videos. One feature uses AI to identify the optimal place on the screen to put a shopping link when an influencer mentions a product. If a customer clicks on that link and makes a purchase, the creator gets a commission.

Brands that were once skeptical about influencers have embraced them over time as sales-tracking tools have improved and the fan base of video creators has mushroomed.

“It’s like the people that you saw on television and before that the people that you listened to on radio who became the trusted personalities in your life,” Earnest Pettie, a trends insight lead at YouTube, said in an interview. “Oprah’s Favorite Things was a phenomenon because of how trusted Oprah was, so it really is that same phenomenon, just diffused across the creator ecosystem.”

Despite economic uncertainty and tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, shoppers in the U.S. are expected to spend $253.4 billion online this holiday season, up 5.3% from a year ago, according to data firm Adobe Analytics.

Social media platforms have helped drive some of that growth. The market share of online revenue in purchases guided by social media affiliates and partners, including influencers, is expected to grow 14%, according to Adobe Analytics.

Cost-conscious consumers are doing more research on how they spend their money, including watching influencer recommendations. In fact, nearly 60% of 14- to 24-year-olds who go online say their personal style have been influenced by content they’ve seen on the internet, according to YouTube.

“It’s more about discovery, understanding where the best deals are, where the best options are,” said Vivek Pandya, director at Adobe Digital Insights. “Many of these users are getting that guidance from their influencers.”

YouTube is one of the top streaming platforms, harnessing 13.1% of viewing time in August on U.S. TV sets, more than rivals Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, according to Nielsen. And shopping-related videos are especially popular among its viewers, with more than 35 billion hours watched each year, according to YouTube.

With YouTube’s shopping feature, viewers can see products, add them to a cart and make purchases directly from the video they’re watching.

Promoting and enabling one-click e-commerce from video has been huge in China, triggering a wave across Asia and the world of livestreaming and recorded shopping videos. Live commerce, also known as live shopping or livestreaming e-commerce, is a potent mix of streaming, chatting and shopping.

The temptation to shop is turbocharged with algorithms like that of TikTok Shop, enticing people to try more channels and products.

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1. YouTube content creators Diana Extein, left, and Candice Waltrip, right, film clothing try-ons during YouTube’s Holiday House shopping event at Google Spruce Goose on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 in Playa Vista, CA. 2. YouTube content creator Peja Anne, 15, makes a video with beauty products as her mom Kristin Roeder films during YouTube’s Holiday House shopping event at Google Spruce Goose on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 in Playa Vista, CA.

A YouTube content creator who declined to give her name browses YouTube’s Holiday House shopping event at Google Spruce Goose on Thursday in Playa Vista, Calif.

YouTube content creator Cheraye Lewis’ channel focuses on lifestyle and fragrance, and a brand deal with Fenty Beauty helped launch her content to larger audiences.

More than 500,000 video creators as of July have signed up to be a part of YouTube Shopping, the company said.

Creators who promote products can make money through ads and brand deals, as well as commissions.

YouTube already shares advertising and subscription revenue with its creators and currently does not take a cut from its shopping tools, said Travis Katz, YouTube Shopping vice president.

“For us, it’s really about connecting the dots,” Katz said. “At YouTube we are first and foremost very focused on, how do we make sure that our creators are successful? This gives a new way for creators to monetize.”

Companies like Austin-based BK Beauty, which was founded by YouTube creator Lisa J, said YouTubers have helped drive sales for their products.

“They’ve built these long-term audiences,” said Sophia Monetti, BK Beauty’s senior manager of social commerce and influencer marketing. “A lot of these creators have established channels. They’ve been around for a decade and have just a really engaged community.”

To be sure, YouTube faces a formidable rival in TikTok, which is a leader in the live shopping space (its parent company, Byte Dance, is being sold to an American investor group so that the hugely popular app can keep operating in the U.S.).

Two years ago, the social video company launched TikTok Shop, working with creators and brands on live shopping shows that encourage viewers to buy products. TikTok had 8 million hours of live shopping sessions in 2024.

YouTube says its size and technology create advantages, along with the loyalty its creators build with fans when it comes to product recommendations.

Bridget Dolan, a director of YouTube Shopping Partnerships, said “shopping has been in YouTube’s DNA from Day One” and that the company has been integrating shopping features into its viewing experience.

YouTube content creators peruse products and film content during YouTube’s Holiday House shopping event at Google Spruce Goose on Thursday in Playa Vista, Calif.

Santa Clarita-based YouTube creator Cheraye Lewis said that YouTube Shopping helped her gain traction and earn a trusting audience through quality recommendations. Lewis, who has 109,000 subscribers on YouTube, makes videos about items such as fragrances and skincare products.

Lewis has been a video creator for eight years and has worked with such companies as Rihanna’s beauty brand Fenty.

“I try to inspire women and men to feel bold and confident through the fragrances that they’re wearing,” Lewis said at the event Thursday. “I give my audience real talk, real authenticity.”

On October 16, 2025, Collar Capital Management, LLC disclosed a new position in Salesforce (CRM 3.83%), acquiring 14,161 shares in a trade estimated at $3.36 million as of September 30, 2025.

What happened

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated October 16, 2025, Collar Capital Management, LLC initiated a new position in Salesforce, purchasing approximately 14,161 shares. The estimated value of the acquisition was $3.36 million as of September 30, 2025. This transaction brought the fund’s total number of reportable positions to 71.

What else to know

This new $3.36 million position accounts for 2.36% of the fund’s $142.14 million in reportable U.S. equity holdings as of September 30, 2025.

Top holdings after the filing:

NASDAQ:MSTR: $7.33 million (5.2% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

NASDAQ:TSLA: $7.19 million (5.1% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

NASDAQ:MU: $5.15 million (3.6% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

NASDAQ:COIN: $4.96 million (3.5% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

NASDAQ:AAPL: $4.85 million (3.4% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

As of October 15, 2025, Salesforce shares were priced at $236.58, down 17.95% over the past year and underperforming the S&P 500 by 32.23 percentage points (source: FMP, 1-year price change: -17.95%, 1-year alpha vs S&P 500: -32.23%).

Company overview

Company snapshot

Salesforce offers a comprehensive suite of cloud-based solutions, including its Customer 360 platform, Sales, Service, Marketing, Commerce, Tableau analytics, MuleSoft integration, and Slack collaboration tools.

It serves a global customer base across industries including financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing.

The company generates revenue primarily through subscription-based software and professional services.

Salesforce is a leading provider of enterprise cloud software, enabling organizations to manage customer relationships and business processes at scale. Its platform-centric strategy and broad product ecosystem position it as a key player in digital transformation initiatives.

Foolish take

Collar Capital appears to be making a contrarian move with the customer relationship management (CRM) specialist. The stock has tumbled about  26% in 2025.

Salesforce wasn’t a holding for Collar Capital in the second quarter. After buying 14,161 shares in the third quarter, it’s the fund’s 13th largest holding.

Salesforce was the second largest new acquisition Collar Capital completed in the third quarter. It also acquired 12,590 shares of UnitedHealth Group worth about $4.3 million. UnitedHealth Group is now the fund’s sixth largest holding.

Salesforce’s investments in artificial intelligence are starting to pay off for investors. In its fiscal second quarter that ended July 31, 2025, Data Cloud and AI annual recurring revenue climbed over 120% year over year to $1.2 billion.

Success with its new AI tools encouraged management to raise expectations. Now, it expects operating cash flow in fiscal 2026 to rise by 12% to 13% year over year.

Glossary

AUM: Assets under management – The total market value of investments managed by a fund or investment firm.

Position: The amount of a particular security or asset held in a portfolio.

Reportable positions: Holdings that must be disclosed to regulators, typically due to size or regulatory requirements.

Stake: The ownership interest or share in a company or asset.

Filing: An official document submitted to a regulatory authority, often detailing financial or ownership information.

Alpha: A measure of an investment’s performance relative to a benchmark, indicating value added or lost.

TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

Dividend yield: A financial ratio showing how much a company pays in dividends each year relative to its stock price.

Cloud-based solutions: Software and services delivered over the internet rather than installed locally on computers.

Platform-centric strategy: A business approach focused on building and expanding a central technology platform for multiple products or services.

What happened

In a filing dated Oct. 6, 2025, Kawa Capital Management, Inc reported buying 340,000 additional shares of Vale (VALE) during the third quarter of 2025, bringing its total holding to 1,020,000 shares. The estimated value of shares acquired was $3.47 million, based on the average share price for the period. For further details, see the SEC filing.

What else to know

This was a buy; after the trade, Vale represented 20.1% of Kawa Capital’s 13F assets under management as of September 30, 2025

Top holdings after the filing:

NYSE:BDN: $16.36 million (29.7% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

NYSE:ONL: $14.78 million (26.8% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

NYSE:VALE: $11,08 million (20.1% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

NYSE:GGB: $6.49 million (11.8% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

NYSE:DK: $6.45 million (11.7% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

As of October 3, 2025, shares were priced at $11.01, underperforming the S&P 500 by 17.08 percentage points over the year ended October 3, 2025

Vale reported trailing twelve-month revenue of $36,080,663,000 and net income of $5,166,767,000 for the period ended June 30, 2025

Over the past 12 months, Vale shareholders eaned a 3.38% dividend yield. The stock was 3.3% below its 52-week high as of October 6, 2025.

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

Vale S.A. generates revenue primarily from the production and sale of iron ore, iron ore pellets, nickel, and copper, with additional contributions from gold, silver, cobalt, and other by-products.

The company operates an integrated business model, extracting and processing minerals and providing related logistics services, enabling efficient delivery to global industrial customers.

Vale serves a broad global customer base through its scale and logistics capabilities.

Vale maintains a diversified portfolio that supports the energy transition and industrial materials sectors, operating at scale and providing integrated logistics services to customers worldwide.

Foolish take

The Brazillian mining giant is famous for producing products you need to produce batteries, copper, maganese, and cobalt. It’s also a top producer of iron, and nickel.

Unlike U.S. companies that usually pay even quarterly dividends, Vale distributes dividend payments twice a year. Fluctuating currency exchange rates and basic material prices have made its dividend payout highly variable. This isn’t an appropriate stock for investors seeking a steadily growing stream of passive income.

In the second quarter, iron ore production rose 4% year over year. Unfortunately, the average realized iron ore fines price was 13% lower year over year.

Second quarter copper production rose 18% year over year and efficiency is way up. In July, management revised its all-in copper cost guidance to a range between $1,500 and $2,000 per ton. The previous range was between $2,800 and $3,300 per ton.

Glossary

AUM (Assets Under Management): The total market value of investments managed by a fund or investment firm.
13F: A quarterly report filed by institutional investment managers to disclose their equity holdings to the SEC.
Dividend yield: Annual dividend payments divided by the stock’s current price, expressed as a percentage.
Trailing twelve months (TTM): Financial data covering the most recent 12 consecutive months.
Integrated business model: A company structure where multiple stages of production and distribution are managed within the same organization.
Iron ore pellets: Small, rounded balls of iron ore used as raw material in steel production.
Point-in-time metric: A measurement taken at a specific date, not averaged over a period.
Buy (in fund context): The purchase of additional shares or securities by an investment fund or manager.
Reportable assets: Investments that must be disclosed in regulatory filings due to size or type.
Underperforming: Delivering a lower return compared to a benchmark or index over a given period.
Energy transition: The global shift from fossil fuels to renewable and low-carbon energy sources.
Logistics services: The management of transporting and delivering goods efficiently to customers or markets.

Published on 15/09/2025 – 15:34 GMT+2
•Updated
15:53

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A French liberal MEP has gathered signatures from 20 other lawmakers for a letter seen by Euronews calling on the European Commission to review its commitment made under the EU-US trade agreement to purchase US energy.

In the document— soon to be sent to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, and Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen—the MEPs led by Christophe Grudler of Renew call on the EU executive to reconsider its pledge to buy $750 billion worth of US energy products over the next three years.

These products include liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil, nuclear fuels, and small modular reactors (SMRs). The signatories argue the deal will undermine the EU’s climate goals, industrial competitiveness, and strategic sovereignty.

“Increasing LNG imports from US shale gas directly undermines our climate agenda and our methane emissions regulation,” the letter says, adding: “LNG is highly polluting when liquefied, shipped across the Atlantic and regasified. Such dependence is a climate time-bomb.”

The initiative was launched by Christophe Grudler, a French MEP from the liberal Renew group.

The letter also warns that beyond energy concerns, the deal risks exposing the EU to “political blackmail”, the US demanding changes to EU climate policies, including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, under which the bloc will apply levies on the carbon footprint of foreign imports from 1 January 2026.

The energy purchase commitment forms part of the EU-US agreement reached over the summer.

Some MEPs view the arrangement as deeply unbalanced, given that the US continues to impose 15% tariffs on EU goods, while the EU has agreed to make major investments in the US, including in the energy and defence sectors.

‘Economic imbalance’

In their letter to the Commission, MEPs also slam what they describe as the “economic imbalance” created by the pledge to purchase $250 billion’s worth of energy over three years. 

The letter describes this figure as “astronomical” adding: “To put this in perspective, the entire Competitiveness Fund proposed in the MFF amounts to €362 billion over seven years. How can we ask European companies to massively buy from the US while urging them to strengthen our competitiveness at home?”

The inclusion of US small modular reactors in the deal has also raised concerns among MEPs.

“At a time when the EU is building its own SMR supply chain, opening the door to US competitors is total nonsense.”

They further stress that commercial decisions “should remain the prerogative of companies, not be preempted by political pledges.”

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro says India’s purchases of Russian crude oil are funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine and have to stop, as Washington ramps up pressure on New Delhi to cut off its energy imports from Russia.

“India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” Navarro wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times on Monday.

He added that India’s dependence on Russian crude is “opportunistic and deeply corrosive of the world’s efforts to isolate Putin’s war economy”.

India is the second-largest buyer of Russian oil, after China, and more than 30 percent of its fuel is sourced from Moscow, providing revenue to the Kremlin amid Western sanctions.

In the beginning of this month, United States President Donald Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods over the issue, straining US-India ties.

In a speech on the occasion of India’s Independence Day on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a defiant note, pledging to protect his country’s farmers in the face of high tariffs slapped by the Trump administration.

“Modi will stand like a wall against any policy that threatens their interests. India will never compromise when it comes to protecting the interests of our farmers,” he said.

India-Russia ties

India counts Russia among its closest defence partners, with the bulk of its weapons, including the S-400 missile defence system, sourced from Moscow. India has continued to maintain good ties with Russia, with Modi meeting Putin in Moscow amid the Ukraine war.

But New Delhi has been cultivating ties with Washington in the past decades, raising their relations to a strategic level. The two countries have annual bilateral trade of $128bn, but Trump has been pushing to lower the $45bn deficit in India’s favour.

The US also saw India as a bulwark against rising China, but the recent actions by the Trump administration seem to have pushed India to mend ties with its rival, China.

Indian Prime Minister Modi is set to travel to China at the end of the month, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is arriving in India on Monday on a two-day trip, for talks on the disputed border between the two countries.

In the opinion piece on Monday, the White House adviser pointed out that India is “cozying up” to Russia and China. “If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one,” Navarro wrote.

The adviser also said it was risky to transfer cutting-edge US military capabilities to India as New Delhi’s ties to China and Russia deepen.

Navarro is the second senior Trump administration official to accuse India of financing Russia’s war in Ukraine. Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House, in the first week of August said that New Delhi’s purchase of Russia crude was “not acceptable”.

“What he (Trump) said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia,” Miller, one of Trump’s most influential aides, said in an interview with Fox News.

‘Unfairly singled out’

India’s Foreign Ministry has said the country is being ‘unfairly’ singled out for buying Russian oil while the US and European Union continue to buy goods from Russia.

The EU and US trade much more with Russia than India does – New Delhi’s contention for being singled out – although this trade has dipped significantly since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

According to the EU, its total trade with Russia was worth 67.5 billion euros ($77.9bn) in 2024, a fall from 257.5 billion euros ($297.4bn) in 2021.

The bloc also continues to buy Russian gas – $105.6bn for gas imports since the war began – an amount equivalent to 75 percent of Russia’s 2024 military budget, according to the Finnish think tank the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Total Russia-US trade in 2024, meanwhile, stood at $5.2bn, according to the US Trade Representative’s office – though significantly down from 2021, when it stood at $36bn.

India and the US have also been haggling for months to agree on a free trade agreement, with Trump accusing New Delhi of denying access to US goods by imposing high tariffs.

Meanwhile, a planned visit by US trade negotiators to New Delhi from August 25 to 29 has been called off, a source told the Reuters news agency, delaying talks on a proposed trade agreement meant to be a relief from additional US tariffs on Indian goods.

Universal Music Group Chief Executive Lucian Grainge called Drake’s lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar’s hit diss track “Not Like Us” a “farcical” effort that’s “groundless and indeed ridiculous.”

In a declaration letter filed Thursday night in the Southern District of New York, Grainge said that Drake’s accusation that UMG (the parent label firm to both Drake and Lamar) defamed him and damaged his career “makes no sense due to the fact that the company that I run, Universal Music Group N.V., has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Drake, including longstanding and critical financial support for his recording career, the purchase and ownership of the bulk of his recording catalog, and the purchase of his music publishing rights.”

Drake signed a new deal with UMG label Republic in 2022 for a reported $400 million, and he’s one of the bestselling artists of the last 20 years. Yet Interscope artist Lamar’s scathing “Not Like Us” famously capped a venomous battle between the two artists, which resulted in a pair of Grammy wins for Lamar, who performed the song at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Drake’s attorneys, in discovery, have recently tried to obtain UMG’s contract with Lamar and information about his personal life (Drake accused Lamar of beating his partner in the song “Family Matters”). Drake has accused UMG of both defamation and running a clandestine campaign to boost “Not Like Us” at the expense of his own reputation and career.

A notably exasperated Grainge wrote to the court that “Given my role, I am accustomed (and unfortunately largely resigned) to personal attacks, and I further recognize that a frequent strategy of UMG’s litigation opponents is to attempt to waste my and UMG’s time and resources with discovery of the sort that Drake is seeking here — either in an attempt to gain media attention or in an effort to force some kind of commercial renegotiation or financial concessions.”

Grainge also denied having any personal involvement in the rollout or marketing for “Not Like Us.”

“Whilst, as part of my role, I certainly have financial oversight of and responsibility for UMG’s global businesses,” he said, “the proposition that I was involved in, much less responsible for, reviewing and approving the content of ‘Not Like Us,’ its cover art or music video, or for determining or directing the promotion of those materials, is groundless and indeed ridiculous.”

In a separate letter to the court, UMG said that “The premise of Drake’s motion — that he could not have lost a rap battle unless it was the product of some imagined secret conspiracy going to the top of UMG’s corporate structure — is absurd.”

L..A. County plans to pay more to upgrade the Gas Company Tower than it did to buy the downtown skyscraper in the first place.

County officials agreed last November to pay $200 million for the 52-story tower, which they planned to make the new headquarters for county employees.

The estimated price tag to earthquake-proof the tower: more than $230 million. Lennie LaGuire, a spokesperson for the county Chief Executive Office, said the tower is already safe, and the upgrades are “proactive.”

County officials had said some improvements to the tower might be necessary, but the cost and extent had been murky until now.

This week, the county received final proposals from firms looking to secure a contract for “voluntary seismic upgrades” to the Gas Company Tower, located at 555 W. 5th Street.

The Chief Executive Office, which negotiated the purchase, stressed in a statement that the seismic work was expected and far cheaper than the estimated $1 billion it would take to retrofit the county’s current downtown headquarters, the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, which was built in 1960 and is vulnerable to collapse during the next major earthquake.

The Gas Company Tower “does not require any seismic work to provide a safe, up-to-code and modern workplace for County employees. The County is choosing to perform this work proactively with an eye to the future, to ensure that the building performs optimally in the decades ahead,” LaGuire said. “The cost of this work, even when combined with the cost of the building, is a fraction of the cost of making urgently needed and long-overdue seismic and life safety improvements to the Hall of Administration.”

The $200-million sale was considered a bargain compared with the building’s appraised value of more than $600 million a few years earlier — a symptom of plummeting downtown office values.

Supervisor Janice Hahn, the only board member who opposed the purchase, said Friday that county officials never should have entered into the real estate transaction before they “had all the facts” on the cost.

“This is turning out to be a bigger boondoggle than was originally sold to the public,” said Hahn, who said she had not been told about the upgrade costs. “I am only more convinced that we are better off retrofitting the historic Hall of Administration and keeping the heart of county government in our Civic Center.”

At the time of the sale, Hahn argued that the purchase would be a fatal blow to downtown’s civic heart and make the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration obsolete. The building is named after her father, who served a record 10 terms as a supervisor.

The Hall of Administration is one of several county-owned properties considered vulnerable in an earthquake. The Gas Company Tower, built in 1991, was considered much safer, but at the time of the county purchase, it was unclear whether it was fully earthquake-proof.

The tower is one of many L.A. skyscrapers that incorporates a “steel moment frame” as part of its structure. In the 1994 Northridge earthquake, buildings with the frame did not collapse, but some were badly damaged.

Most of the seismic strengthening for the Gas Company Tower would involve “reinforcing of the welded steel moment frame connections,” according to the request for proposal for the $234.5-million project.

The contract will be awarded in October, according to the bidding documents, and the tower could be occupied during construction. County officials said they have already begun moving employees into the tower.

Times staff writers Roger Vincent and Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.

Turkiye is waiting for a price proposal for the possible acquisition of Eurofighter jets after submitting a list outlining its technical needs to Britain’s Defence Ministry, a Turkish Defence Ministry source said today according to Reuters.

The Eurofighter Typhoon jets are built by a consortium of Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, represented by companies Airbus AIR.PA, BAE Systems BAES.L and Leonardo LDOF.MI.

Ankara has been in talks with Britain and Spain to purchase 40 Typhoons and Germany took a step toward clearing the deal after initially being opposed to it.

“The […] document, prepared within the scope of the procurement of 40 Eurofighter Typhoon Aircraft, was sent to the British Ministry of Defence and the relevant company,” the source told a briefing in Ankara.

“We expect the price offer to reach us in the coming days.”

READ: Germany reconsiders Turkiye’s request to purchase Eurofighter

June 25 (UPI) — Britain is purchasing at least a dozen F-35A fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons from the United States and will be joining NATO’s dual-capable aircraft nuclear mission.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to make the announcement Wednesday, during the final day of the three-day NATO summit being held at The Hague.

“The UK’s commitment to NATO is unquestionable, as is the alliance’s contribution to keeping the UK safe and secure, but we must all step up to protect the Euro-Atlantic area for generations to come,” Starmer said in a statement.

He added that the addition of the F-35A aircraft “will herald a new era for our world-leading Royal Air Force and deter hostile threats that threaten the UK and our allies.”

The F-35A fighter jet is a Lockheed Martine aircraft that replaced the U.S. Air Forces’ F-16 Fighting Falcon and A-10 Thunderbolt II, and packs 43,000 pounds of thrust.

According to 10 Downing Street, the newly purchased fighters will be based at Royal Air Force Marham, with expectations that London will procure 138 of them over the lifetime of the program.

NATO’s nuclear deterrence policy and force rely on the United States’ nuclear arsenal that has been deployed to Europe. According to the defensive military alliance, a number of countries have contributed dual-capable aircraft to the mission “and are available at various levels of readiness.”

The announcement comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing NATO partners to do more to support their own defense and to rely less on Washington.

June 18 (UPI) — Japan-based Nippon Steel on Wednesday completed its buyout of U.S. Steel, changing its name to Nippon Steel North America, as the former U.S. industrial giant ended trading on Wall Street under its former iconic industrial brand.

Last week, President Donald Trump officially signed off on the deal, paving the way for a finalized acquisition after the president for weeks spoke of a “partnership” between the two steel companies that would allow U.S. Steel to stay an American-owned business entity.

However, the U.S.-based steel giant became a wholly owned subsidiary company of Nippon Steel North America on Wednesday after the New York Stock Exchange issued a notice to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that U.S. Steel’s listing would be removed.

U.S. Steel ended trading in the morning hours as Nippon’s massive American investment became final with a June 30 effective date for its NYSE delisting.

Former President Joe Biden blocked the Nippon buyout in January prior to exiting the White House, citing national security as the U.S. government’s primary concern over the acquisition.

Trump originally opposed Nippon’s takeover during the 2024 presidential election but flip-flopped upon taking office and in April ordered an official review of the deal.

In May, Trump stirred confusion among investors and union leaders on the agreed-upon terms of the sale when he announced in a social media post a “planned partnership” between Nippon and U.S. Steel.

Nippon Steel never balked from the initial December 2023 merger agreement terms in its SEC filing but did adopt Trump’s style of language, insinuating a preconceived “partnership.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Steel will continue to operate under its name.

Trump did, however, manage to compel both steel companies to sign a U.S. national security pact as a condition to his approval in clearing the transaction.

According to the terms of the national security agreement, Nippon will invest $11 billion by 2028 in U.S. Steel, which includes an initial $1 billion for a Greenfield project post-2028. In addition, U.S. Steel’s CEO and a majority of its board members must be American citizens with U.S. Steel to remain a U.S.-incorporated entity.

Trump was given a “golden share” under the agreement that grants him veto power over a number of decision, such as U.S. Steel’s name change or future exit from its Pittsburgh headquarters in Pennsylvania to outside of the United States.

In addition, the White House will hold sway of the moving production of steels jobs, some authority in the closure of domestic plants, sourcing and other business-related acts.

June 14 (UPI) — President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Friday officially giving the green light to Nippon Steel Corporation’s multi-billion-dollar purchase of U.S. Steel Corporation.

Trump’s executive order rescinds a directive issued by former President Joe Biden that blocked the Tokyo-based steel producer’s $14.9 billion purchase on national security grounds.

The president had been signaling he would approve such a move, stating in May that the two steel giants would form a “planned partnership.”

Trump previously ordered a review of the transaction by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

“Based on the recommendation of and my review of the materials provided by CFIUS, including re-review of the prior assessment of risk, I additionally find that the threatened impairment to the national security of the United States arising as a result of the Proposed Transaction can be adequately mitigated if the conditions set forth in section 3 of this order are met,” Trump wrote in the executive order.

“President Trump has approved the Companies’ historic partnership that will unleash unprecedented investments in steelmaking in the United States, protecting and creating more than 100,000 jobs,” Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel said in a release jointly issued with Nippon Steel.

“We thank President Trump and his Administration for their bold leadership and strong support for our historic partnership. This partnership will bring a massive investment that will support our communities and families for generations to come. We look forward to putting our commitments into action to make American steelmaking and manufacturing great again.”

Trump’s executive order requires both companies to enter into a National Security Agreement, which stipulates $11 billion in new investments must be made in the United States by 2028. That includes an already-underway project not scheduled for completion until after 2028.

The United States government will also be issued a golden share as part of the NSA, giving it unique voting rights.

“President Trump promised to protect American Steel and American Jobs — and he has delivered on that promise,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told CNN in a statement.

“Today’s executive order ensures US Steel will remain in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and be safeguarded as a critical element of America’s national and economic security.”

Confirmation of the deal comes just over a week after 50% tariffs took effect on metals imported into the United States from nearly all countries.

The tariffs were enacted a day after Trump signed an executive order doubling the duties on almost all imported aluminum and steel.

It’s all (Taylor’s Version) now.

Taylor Swift announced Friday that she had reacquired the rights to her early recordings, six years after music executive Scooter Braun bought her old record label (and with it, control of Swift’s first six studio albums).

Braun’s 2019 purchase of the Nashville-based Big Machine company — whose Swift holdings he later sold for a reported $300 million — inspired Swift’s massively successful “(Taylor’s Version)” campaign, in which the 35-year-old pop megastar has been meticulously re-recording each of those LPs in an effort to replace the originals in the marketplace.

“All I’ve ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy,” Swift wrote Friday on her website after posting a photo on social media of herself surrounded by those early albums.

“I will be forever grateful to everyone at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me,” she continued. “The way they’ve handled every interaction has been honest, fair, and respectful. This was a business deal to them, but I really felt like they saw it for what it was to me: My memories and my sweat and my handwriting and my decades of dreams. I am endlessly thankful.”

Last week, the New York Post’s Page Six reported that Braun — who once managed Swift’s nemesis Kanye West and whom Swift has accused of bullying her — was “encouraging” the new deal between the singer and Shamrock Capital, the L.A.-based investment firm that bought the rights to Swift’s early music from Braun in 2020. Yet a source close to the contract negotiations, who requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic, rebutted that claim.

“All rightful credit for this opportunity should go to the partners at Shamrock Capital and Taylor’s Nashville-based management team only,” the source told The Times. “Taylor now owns all of her music, and this moment finally happened in spite of Scooter Braun, not because of him.”

Shamrock was founded in 1978 by the late Roy E. Disney, a nephew of Walt Disney; Swift has struck several deals with the Disney company in recent years, including her decision to make a 2023 concert movie available to stream on Disney+.

The New York Post reported that Swift paid Shamrock between $600 million and $1 billion for the rights to her albums, a price range The Times’ source described as “highly inaccurate.”

Through a representative, Braun said on Friday: “I am happy for her.”

The pop star also provided an update on “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” in her Friday note.

“[I]t’s the one album in those first 6 that I thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it. Not the music, or the photos or videos. So I kept putting it off,” she said of the anticipated redo, which will follow earlier “(Taylor’s Version)” updates of her albums “Fearless,” “Red,” “Speak Now” and “1989.” “There will be a time (if you’re into the idea) for the unreleased Vault tracks from that album to hatch,” she added.

Swift said she had “already completely re-recorded” her self-titled debut album, which she released in 2006 at age 16, and “really love[s] how it sounds now.”

The original “Reputation” followed a public feud with West and his then-wife, Kim Kardashian, that reshaped Swift’s established image as the girl next door: “My reputation’s never been worse,” she told a new love interest in the song “Delicate,” “So you must like me for me.” The LP found the singer — who had described 2014’s “1989” as her first “official pop album” — dabbling in sounds and textures borrowed from hip-hop and R&B; the song “End Game” even featured a guest verse from the rapper Future.

“Reputation” earned a Grammy nomination for pop vocal album, though it famously missed a nod for album of the year after Swift had scored three earlier nominations in that category. In 2024, the singer became the first artist to win album of the year four times when “Midnights” took the prize; Swift’s latest project, “The Tortured Poets Department,” was nominated for album of the year at February’s ceremony, but Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” won.

Friday’s announcement came around six months after the finale of Swift’s blockbuster Eras tour, which launched in March 2023 and ran for 149 shows across five continents. The tour is said to be the highest-grossing of all time, with ticket sales in the neighborhood of $2 billion.

And in case anyone was unclear about how much this deal with Shamrock Capital means to Swift, she laid it out pretty clearly in her note.

“My first tattoo,” she wrote, “might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead.”

May 23 (UPI) — The American RedBird Capital Partners private investment firm announced a deal Friday to purchase the British Telegraph Media Group.

RedBird will pay $675 million to become the sole owner of the group, which owns The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers.

“This transaction marks the start of a new era for The Telegraph as we look to grow the brand in the U.K. and internationally, invest in its technology and expand its subscriber base,” RedBird Founder and Managing Partner Gerry Cardinale said.

RedBird said it aims to expand TMG’s presence in the United States and add new verticals such as events and travel to “maximize the commercial opportunities from a growing international and mass affluent subscriber base.”

“Telegraph Media Group is an award-winning news media organization, with exceptional journalism at its heart, supported by leading commercial expertise, a commitment to innovation and a laser focus on data to drive strategy,” TMG CEO Anna Jones said. “RedBird Capital Partners have exciting growth plans that build on our success — and will unlock our full potential across the breadth of our business.

RedBird’s deal to purchase TMG must still undergo regulatory approval after a previous bid by United Arab Emirates Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan was rejected by Britain’s last government.

RedBird previously joined with Mansour’s IMI Media Group to purchase the newspapers after they were seized for outstanding debts, seekign to curtail an auction of the assets by the Barclay family.

The government, however, rejected the deal that would have seen IMI take majority ownership of the papers and passed a law barring foreign governments from owning British print media.

If approved, TMG would join other acquisitions of Redbird, which include Skydance Media, which is expected to merge with Paramount, as well as sports-focused broadcasters such as Fenway Sports Group and the YES Network, plus Formula One’s Alpine Racing team. It also owns the Italian professional football club AC Milan.

It was the second time in one day that the FTC pulled out of litigation begun during the Biden administration.

The Republican-controlled Federal Trade Commission is abandoning a Biden-era effort to block Microsoft’s purchase of Call of Duty video game maker Activision Blizzard.

In an order issued Thursday, the FTC said it had determined that “the public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case.”

It was the second time in one day that the FTC pulled out of litigation begun during the administration of former President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Earlier Thursday, the FTC said it was dismissing a lawsuit against PepsiCo that was filed by the Democratic-controlled FTC in January.

Microsoft announced a $69bn acquisition of Activision in January 2022. It was one of the most expensive tech acquisitions in history and was designed to boost sales of Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console, which has lagged in sales behind Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo.

In December 2022, the FTC – then led by Democratic Chairwoman Lina Khan – sued to temporarily block the acquisition, saying it would let Microsoft suppress competitors who want access to Xbox and its subscription content.

In July 2023, the United States District Court in Northern California denied the FTC’s request to pause the acquisition, but the FTC appealed. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court also denied the FTC’s request.

In the meantime, Microsoft completed its purchase of Activision in October 2023 after it won approval from the United Kingdom’s competition watchdog, which had also considered blocking the merger.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chairman and president, said Thursday in a statement on X that the decision is a victory for video game players and for “common sense in Washington DC”.

“We are grateful to the FTC for today’s announcement,” Smith said.

Political actions

Khan stepped down from the FTC when President Donald Trump took office in January, and Trump fired Democratic Commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya in March. Bedoya and Slaughter have sued the Trump administration, saying their removal was illegal.

Right now, the FTC is made up of three Republican commissioners, and it’s unclear when the two Democrats on the commission will be replaced. A message seeking comment was left with the FTC.

In the PepsiCo case, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said the Biden-era FTC rushed to authorise a case just three days before Trump’s inauguration. He said on Thursday that the case, which alleged that PepsiCo was violating the law by giving unfair price advantages to Walmart, was a “dubious political stunt”.

But the FTC hasn’t stood in the way of some Biden-era policies. Earlier this month, a rule the FTC announced in December requiring ticket sellers, hotels, vacation rental platforms and others to disclose their fees upfront went into effect.