Sotheby's auction house is being taken private by group controlled by art collector Patrick Drahi - CNBC

Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong.

Anthony Wallace | AFP | Getty Images

Sotheby's auction house announced Monday that it has signed an agreement to be acquired by BidFair USA, a venture wholly owned by French media entrepreneur and art collector Patrick Drahi.

Sotheby's stakeholders will receive $57 per share in cash as a result of the transition, a premium of 61% to the company's stock price on Friday. The deal is valued at $3.7 billion.

The transaction, if approved by shareholders, would result in Sotheby's returning to private ownership after 31 years as a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

The stock rallied about 57% in early trading Monday following the news.

President of French telecoms and media group Altice, Patrick Drahi smiles during the inauguration of the Altice Campus in Paris on October 9, 2018.

Eric Piermont | AFP | Getty Images

"Patrick Drahi is one of the most well-regarded entrepreneurs in the world, and on behalf of everyone at Sotheby's, I want to welcome him to the family," Sotheby's CEO Tad Smith said in a press release. "This acquisition will provide Sotheby's with the opportunity to accelerate the successful program of growth initiatives of the past several years in a more flexible private environment."

Sotheby's was No. 2 in the world among art auction houses in the first half of 2018 with a turnover of more than $2 billion. CNBC's David Faber first reported that Sotheby's would be sold, citing people familiar with the matter.

LionTree Advisors is serving as financial advisor to Sotheby's while Sullivan & Cromwell is acting as legal counsel.

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2019-06-17 13:01:09Z
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Pfizer spends $11.4B to buy Array BioPharma for its cancer drug chemistry - STAT

Pfizer said Monday morning that it will spend $11.4 billion in cash to purchase Array BioPharma, a Boulder, Colo.-based biotech known not only for developing its own medicines but as being a top choice among biotechnology firms that need to synthesize new drugs. Pfizer said it will keep Array open as a new research site for the company.

The deal values Array at $48 in cash per share. Array shares rose 60% to $47.40 in pre-market trading; Pfizer shares dipped 0.1% to $47.20.

Array sells a combination of two drugs, Braftovi and Mektovi, that were approved last June to treat metastatic melanoma. The medicines could have a much greater potential, Pfizer said, in colon cancer, where they are also being tested, and where the proteins the drugs target are thought to play a role. Pfizer’s chief executive, Albert Bourla, said in a press release that the acquisition “sets the stage to create a potentially industry-leading franchise for colorectal cancer alongside Pfizer’s existing expertise in breast and prostate cancers.”

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But Array has also played a background role in inventing medicines that are principally thought of as belonging to other companies. The company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission list 13 drugs being developed by other companies that were invented by Array, including both of the cancer drugs credited to Loxo Oncology, which was purchased by Eli Lilly for $8 billion in January. Targeted cancer drugs have resulted in a string of pharmaceutical acquisitions worth more than $36 billion over the past 2 1/2 years.

“We are very excited by Array’s impressive track record of successfully discovering and developing innovative small-molecules and targeted cancer therapies,” said Dr. Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer’s chief scientific officer.

Targeted cancer drugs such as the ones that Array develops have been a major part of Pfizer’s research over the past decade. Nine such medicines have reached the market since 2009, according to Bernard Munos, the principal at pharma consultancy InnoThink, including Xalkori, a pathbreaking lung cancer drug, and Ibrance, the company’s breast cancer drug, which generated $4.1 billion in revenue last year. Pfizer’s $14 billion acquisition of Medivation in 2016 also focused on this area, adding the prostate cancer drug Xtandi, which generated $699 million in alliance revenue for Pfizer last year.

“We are incredibly proud that Pfizer has recognized the value Array has brought to patients and our remarkable legacy discovering and advancing molecules with great potential to impact and extend the lives of patients in critical need,” Ron Squarer, Array’s chief executive officer, said in the press release announcing the deal.

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2019-06-17 12:39:27Z
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Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Pfizer, Array Biopharma, Boeing, Lockheed, Disney & more - CNBC

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

Pfizer – The drugmaker is buying Array Biopharma for $48 per share in cash, or $11.4 billion, including debt. That's a 62% premium over Array's Friday close. Array specializes in treatments for diseases where there is a large unmet need, as well as cancer drugs.

Boeing – Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told reporters at the Paris Air Show that it will take time to win back the confidence of its customers following the two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max jet. He also said the company had failed to communicate properly with regulators and customers about problems with a cockpit warning system.

Lockheed Martin – Lockheed executive Greg Ulmer said he is not concerned that the proposed merger of Raytheon and United Technologies would affect the F-35 program or put pressure on its profit margins. Ulmer is program manager for the F-35.

Walt Disney – Disney was downgraded to "in-line" from "outperform" at Imperial Capital on a valuation basis, with the stock up nearly 26% since the "outperform rating was put in place in November.

Deutsche Bank – Deutsche Bank plans to create a so-called "bad bank" to hold billions in non-core assets, according to Reuters. The move is said to be in conjunction with an overhaul of the bank's trading operations.

Alibaba – Alibaba is proposing an eight-for-one stock split, in a move designed to increase flexibility in capital raising. The proposal will be brought up at the China e-commerce giant's July 15 annual meeting.

Deere – R.W. Baird upgraded Deere to "outperform" from "neutral." Baird said the bad weather which has driven up the price of corn and other commodities will also spur demand for farm equipment.

Keane Group – Keane and rival oilfield services firm C&J Energy announced an all-stock merger of equals, valuing the combined company at $1.5 billion excluding debt.

Goldman Sachs – Goldman will combine four of its units that invest in private companies into one new operation, according to The Wall Street Journal. The paper said the newly created unit would be nearly as big as KKR and about one third the size of Blackstone.

Target – Target said its registers are back online after outages over the weekend that prevented shoppers from making purchases on Saturday, and some from using credit cards on Sunday. The retailer said neither incident was caused by a cyberattack.

Papa John's – Papa John's dismissed KPMG as its auditor and hired Ernst & Young. Earlier this year, KPMG had said the pizza chain did not maintain effective control over its financial reporting.

FedEx – China's state news agency Xinhua said the country's investigation into FedEx should not be seen as retaliation for trade tensions between the U.S. and China. China launched a probe over parcels intended for telecom giant Huawei delivered to the wrong address.

Symantec – Symantec was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at Mizuho Securities, citing the cybersecurity software maker's valuation after the stock fell 31 percent since the beginning of 2018.

Keurig Dr Pepper – BMO Capital upgraded the beverage maker's stock to "outperform" from "market perform," saying the stock's valuation discount to its non-alcohol peers is now too large to ignore.

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2019-06-17 11:40:16Z
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Pfizer to buy cancer drug developer Array for $10.64 billion - Yahoo Finance

FILE PHOTO: The Pfizer logo is seen at their world headquarters in Manhattan, New York, U.S.

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc said on Monday it would acquire Array Biopharma Inc for $10.64 billion in cash, giving it access to the target's approved drugs for skin cancer and the targeted cancer medicines in its pipeline.

The offer of $48 per Array share represents a premium of about 62% to the stock's close on Friday. Array's shares surged 56% in light premarket trade.

Pfizer has been investing in cancer drugs and gene therapies in the face of competition for its blockbuster pain drug Lyrica.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year approved Array's oral combination treatment for use in patients with the deadliest form of skin cancer.

The company is also testing its triple combo therapy in colorectal cancer patients.

"(The acquisition) sets the stage to create a potentially industry-leading franchise for colorectal cancer alongside Pfizer's existing expertise in breast and prostate cancers," Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said.

Pfizer said it expects to complete the deal in the second half of 2019.

The transaction is expected to add to earnings beginning 2022, and will be dilutive to adjusted earnings per share by between 4 and 5 cents this year and in 2020, Pfizer said.

(Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel and Sriraj Kalluvila)

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2019-06-17 11:27:00Z
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Huawei says US ban will cost it $30 billion in lost sales over two years - CNN

"In the next two years, I think we will reduce our capacity, our revenue will be down by about $30 billion compared to the forecast, so our sales revenue this year and next year will be about $100 billion," Ren Zhengfei said during a panel discussion at Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen.

The embattled Chinese tech firm has become a flashpoint in the US-China trade war. The Trump administration delivered a huge blow on May 16, when it added Huawei to a blacklist that bars US companies from selling it technology without first obtaining a US government license.

Washington fears that Beijing could use its equipment to spy on other nations and it's been pressuring allies to shut the company out of next generation super-fast 5G wireless networks. Huawei has repeatedly denied that any of its products pose a risk to national security.

Despite being locked out of the US market for nearly a decade because of those concerns, Huawei grew into the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker and the No. 2 smartphone brand.

But just four weeks on the US trade blacklist is hitting the company hard, hurting its smartphone business and eroding its dominance in 5G equipment.

Overseas smartphone unit sales have "dropped by 40%," Ren said. A company spokesman said that Ren was referring to sales in June, compared to the month last year.

Falling back behind Apple?

Ren's comments come less than a week after Huawei abandoned its goal of overtaking Samsung to become the world's No. 1 smartphone brand by the end of the year.

Some analysts say Huawei may even struggle to stay ahead of Apple (AAPL) if it remains cut off from US technology for long.

If there are "positive developments" for Huawei in the next two months, then it could "possibly" maintain its No. 2 position this year, according to Kiranjeet Kaur, an analyst with research firm IDC.

"Otherwise, it will be a tough situation for Huawei, which had almost half of its smartphone shipments in overseas markets in 2018 and the first quarter of 2019," she said.

The US export ban forced companies like Google (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) to cut Huawei off from popular apps and services, without which Huawei phones become a lot less attractive to consumers.

Top carriers in the United Kingdom and Japan are delaying the launch of Huawei smartphones, and suppliers outside the United States are reporting a decline in orders from the Chinese company. The chairman of Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, Mark Liu, said earlier this month that "demand from Huawei has dropped so far this year."

5G dominance at risk

Beyond smartphones, Huawei's prized position as the leader in 5G technology is looking vulnerable.

Ren said the company had expected tough competition, and even conflict, once it reached a position of market leadership.

"However what we didn't foresee was that the US strategic determination to attack us would be so great, and could be so unwavering," said Ren. "We also didn't foresee that the US would strategically attack us on so many fronts," he added.

The company has invested heavily in developing the next generation of wireless technology. Huawei and its affiliated companies have made more contributions to the effort to establish an international standard for 5G than rivals Nokia (NOK) and Ericsson (ERIC) combined, according to IPlytics, a market intelligence firm that tracks tech trends.

Now, Nokia is closing the gap on Huawei by winning new 5G contracts, and some companies are reportedly avoiding Huawei at international meetings.

South Korean carrier LG UPlus, and chipmakers Intel (INTC) and Qualcomm (QCOM) have reportedly restricted employees from having informal conversations with Huawei.

A spokesperson for LG UPlus, the only carrier to use Huawei in its 5G rollout in Seoul, said "there was no formal policy within the firm about limiting conversations with Huawei." Intel declined to comment on the matter and Qualcomm did not respond to a request for comment.

Ren remains confident his company can survive, and he predicted the company could return to growth in a couple of years.

"We will not be complacent, we still want to openly collaborate with the world," he said.

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2019-06-17 10:33:00Z
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Huawei says US ban will cost it $30 billion in lost sales over two years - CNN

"In the next two years, I think we will reduce our capacity, our revenue will be down by about $30 billion compared to the forecast, so our sales revenue this year and next year will be about $100 billion," Ren Zhengfei said Monday during a panel discussion at Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen.

The embattled Chinese tech firm has become a flashpoint in the US-China trade war. The Trump administration delivered a huge blow on May 16, when it added Huawei to a blacklist that bars US companies from selling it technology without first obtaining a license to do so.

Huawei became the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker and the No. 2 smartphone brand, despite being locked out of the US market for nearly a decade.

But just four weeks on the US trade blacklist is hitting the company hard, hurting its smartphone business and eroding its dominance in 5G equipment.

So far this year, overseas smartphone unit sales have "dropped by 40%," Ren said.

Mobile networks in countries like Japan and the United Kingdom have delayed the launch of Huawei smartphones, and companies like Google (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) have been forced to suspend access to some of their services from the Chinese firm's new devices.

This is a developing story.

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2019-06-17 08:36:00Z
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It's been 100 years since we've seen anybody like Elon Musk — here's why that's so disorienting - Business Insider

Tesla CEO Elon Musk.Tesla

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk is more like an old-school automotive entrepreneur than a modern-day business manager.
• His personality is consistent with what it always takes to start a car company, but it's unfamiliar to many because no one has started a major automaker in decades.
• If we had access to a time machine, we could go back to the early 20th century and find a lot more people who were like Elon Musk.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If you had a time machine and could travel back to the turn of the 19th century, you'd find a world that still made great use of the horse — but that was newly captivated by a clattering new contraption, the motor car.

The automobile was the internet of the late 1800s and early 1900s, attracting a frenzied level of entrepreneurship, launching hundreds of new companies, and transforming a shipping center in the upper Midwest into Motown, the center of what would become the auto industry.

The car business is now very different. Ford and General Motors were each founded over 100 years ago. Upstart Toyota has been manufacturing cars since the 1930s. Even dashing Ferrari has been around since 1939, selling road cars since the late 1940s.

Automakers operate at a huge scale, across international time zones, employing hundreds of thousands of people while selling millions of vehicles annually. They can't be run by visionaries anymore because visionaries, while valuable, aren't good at keeping the giant machine humming.

This is why Tesla CEO Elon Musk is such a shock. His personality isn't so different from one of those determined entrepreneurs from the 1900s who wanted to stick a motor on a carriage and get people moving without having to hitch a horse. For grizzled industry veterans, Wall Streeters, and Musk critics, he can be tough to take.

But he's not usual, in the history of people who start car companies. In fact, he's true to type. Here's why:

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2019-06-16 13:06:01Z
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