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Book-publishing powerhouse Simon & Schuster will let its $2.2 billion sale to Penguin Random House collapse on Monday, opening the door for a new suitor to try to clinch a deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The acquisition was blocked on Nov. 1 by a federal judge on antitrust grounds. Penguin was unable to convince Simon & Schuster to launch an appeal and extend their deal contract before it expires on Monday, the sources said. Penguin will owe Simon & Schuster a $200 million breakup fee as a result of the transaction falling apart. The sources requested anonymity ahead of official announcements this week. Bertelsmann and Paramount did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Justice Department had sued to stop the tie-up of the two publishers, which combined would have accounted for more than 25% of all print books sold in the United States this year. In its complaint it argued the deal would lead to lower earnings for authors because of the reduced...

A model of an Airbus A350-1000 jetliner at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, or Airshow China, on Sept. 28, 2021. ALY SONG/Reuters Airbus is preparing the ground for further delays to planned delivery dates of some medium-haul aircraft in 2023 even as it races to meet delivery targets for 2022 in the face of supply chain and labor problems, three industry sources said. The twin-speed approach comes as uncertainty remains over supplies of engines for new plane production as well as other parts and labor, they added, asking not to be named. A spokesperson for Airbus said it had no comment on deliveries ahead of its next monthly bulletin in early December. Analysts say aerospace is grappling with a series of concurrent problems with multiple knock-on effects. Jetliner and engine makers are battling supply chain and labor problems, but so too are the worldwide repair shops needed to help airlines meet a sharper than expected recovery in demand by keeping their ex...

Netflix Inc NFLX-Q is planning to let tens of thousands of users around the world to preview content from early next year, expanding beyond its current previewer base of 2,000-plus subscribers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Netflix’s Preview Club, which started more than a year ago, allows its members to watch some shows or films before they appear broadly on the platform and review them, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The video streaming giant did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The move underpins Netflix’s efforts to ensure quality content, at a time when investors and analysts focus more on the profitability of streaming firms. https://www.tausiinsider.com/netflix-reportedly-planning-to-let-more-subscribers-preview-content/?feed_id=331568&_unique_id=6455d96229785

U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday said they have charged eight individuals in a securities fraud scheme, alleging they reaped about $114-million by using Twitter and Discord to manipulate stocks. The eight men allegedly purported to be successful traders on the social media platforms and then engaged in a so-called “pump and dump” scheme by hyping particular stocks to their followers with the intent to dump them once prices had risen, according to prosecutors in the Southern District of Texas. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it has filed related civil charges against the defendants in the scheme, claiming that seven of the defendants used Twitter and Discord to boost stocks. It said the eighth was charged with aiding and abetting the scheme with his podcast. “Securities fraud victimizes innocent investors and undermines the integrity of our public markets,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The individuals...

Bombardier Inc Chief Executive Eric Martel voiced concerns that Canada may be considering awarding a sole-source contract directly to Boeing. HO/The Canadian Press Bombardier Inc Chief Executive Eric Martel voiced concerns over Canada’s potential plan to buy reconnaissance jets directly from Boeing Co instead of tapping its home-grown aerospace industry through a bidding process. “As President and CEO of Bombardier, I want to publicly share my concern that Canada, which is facing an important choice about the airborne surveillance of its vast borders, may be considering awarding a sole-source contract directly to Boeing.” Martel’s comments come after a recent media report that Canada was considering a multi-billion dollar purchase of up to a dozen P-8 Poseidon aircraft from Boeing. Martel pushed for Bombardier’s jets, saying the Canadian planemaker’s Global 6500 aircraft “will be the right-sized solution and will respond to Canada’s needs.” Boeing did not immediately respond to a req...

Canada-based miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd. FM-T would suspend a “significant amount” of jobs at its operations in Panama if the Central American government forces it to halt operations during a contract dispute, the company said in a letter. “If we have to reduce operations to care and maintenance mode, the company will need to take steps to reduce expenditure across the business. We could be forced to suspend a significant amount of our valued workforce,” the letter sent to employees and seen by Reuters said. The company’s Cobre Panama mine generates about 40,000 direct and indirect jobs and interacts with some 1,800 suppliers, according to a consultant. First Quantum was notified on Dec. 21 of a government order for it to create a plan to halt operations within 10 working days, after it missed a deadline for a new contract due to disagreements centered on royalties and tax payments. “This is a drastic and, in our view, unnecessary step, which will potentially have a huge impact...

Canada's banking regulator says mortgage lending risks have increased considerably since the onset of the pandemic, and as a result they are proposing tougher lending rules. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press Canada’s bank regulator is proposing tougher lending rules that would make it even harder for borrowers to get a mortgage, after a spike in borrowing costs that has upended household budgets and ramped up risks to the banking system. Three proposals unveiled Thursday by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) would tighten underwriting rules for federally regulated banks, which already have the strictest standards among lenders. The regulator is considering limiting the share of highly leveraged borrowers a bank can have in its mortgage portfolio, toughening debt servicing metrics and bolstering the mortgage stress test for risky loans. If new rules are implemented, they would make it harder for borrowers to get a mortgage. But the current climate is al...

Former OPSEU boss Warren 'Smokey' Thomas speaks to reporters at Queens Park in Toronto in a file photo on Jan. 21, 2019. Chris Young/The Canadian Press The former president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union — Warren ‘Smokey’ Thomas — has called the recent allegations of financial improprieties made against him by the union “bogus” and is vowing to defend them. Mr. Thomas released a statement on Tuesday afternoon, just a day after OPSEU filed a lawsuit accusing him and two other former union executives of improperly using millions of dollars in cash and assets for personal enrichment. The statement, issued by Mr. Thomas’s lawyers, said that the lawsuit was riddled with “errors, falsehoods and untrue allegations.” “Mr. Thomas rejects the claims against him and intends to defend his good name,” the statement read. The union alleges that Mr. Thomas, who served as president of OPSEU for 15 years before retiring from the union last April, along with Eduardo Almeida, the...

Top advertisers on Twitter slashed their spending after Elon Musk’s takeover, according to estimates compiled for Reuters by research firm Pathmatics, in the latest shock to the company’s dominant revenue source. Fourteen of the top 30 advertisers on Twitter stopped all advertising on the platform after Mr. Musk took charge on Oct. 27, according to the Pathmatics’ estimates. Four advertisers reduced spending between 92 per cent and 98.7 per cent from the week before Mr. Musk’s acquisition through the end of the year. Overall, advertising spending by the top 30 companies fell by 42 per cent to an estimated US$53.8-million for November and December combined, according to Pathmatics, despite an increase in spending by six of them. Pathmatics said the previously unreported figures on Twitter advertising are estimates. The firm bases its estimates on technologies that track ads on desktop browsers and the Twitter app as well as those that mimic user experience. But the company said those ...

Top advertisers on Twitter slashed their spending after Elon Musk’s takeover, according to estimates compiled for Reuters by research firm Pathmatics, in the latest shock to the company’s dominant revenue source. Fourteen of the top 30 advertisers on Twitter stopped all advertising on the platform after Mr. Musk took charge on Oct. 27, according to the Pathmatics’ estimates. Four advertisers reduced spending between 92 per cent and 98.7 per cent from the week before Mr. Musk’s acquisition through the end of the year. Overall, advertising spending by the top 30 companies fell by 42 per cent to an estimated US$53.8-million for November and December combined, according to Pathmatics, despite an increase in spending by six of them. Pathmatics said the previously unreported figures on Twitter advertising are estimates. The firm bases its estimates on technologies that track ads on desktop browsers and the Twitter app as well as those that mimic user experience. But the company said those ...

Elon Musk speaks during a news conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility, near Boca Chica Village, Texas, on Feb. 10, 2022. JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images Tesla Inc TSLA-Q Chief Executive Elon Musk testified on Tuesday that he expected strong financial support when he tweeted that he would take the electric car maker private in 2018, but admitted he lacked specific commitments from potential backers. Musk ended three days on the stand defending against claims that he defrauded investors by tweeting on Aug. 7, 2018, that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. The trial in San Francisco federal court is testing whether the world’s second-richest person can be held liable for his sometimes impulsive use of Twitter. Musk told a jury that he could have drawn upon several sources of financing to take Tesla private, from existing shareholders like Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund or his own fortune. “Funding was absolutely not an issue,” ...