COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF
Mediclinic board backs new takeover offer
After rejecting three cash offers from Remgro and MSC in recent weeks, Mediclinic’s board says it will support the fourth.
Mediclinic received and rejected the first offer - for 463 pence (R89) - from the parties a month ago. Since then, Remgro and MSC submitted three further offers.
Two of these bids have been rejected. But on Wednesday, the parties made a new offer of 504 pence (R101) per share (minus Mediclinic's final dividend for this current year).
The latest bid offers a premium of 35% to the Mediclinic share price before the first offer was made, Mediclinic's independent board said in a statement.
"The independent board remains confident in Mediclinic’s strategic direction and long-term prospects as the group positions itself as an integrated healthcare partner, harnessing data, technology and innovation to facilitate growth across the continuum of care, supported by leading market positions.
However, having weighed all relevant factors, including the current macro-economic conditions, the independent board is of the view that the near-term value realisation of the latest proposal provides Mediclinic’s shareholders an attractive alternative to the group continuing as an independent company," it said in a statement. -Fin24
Twitter vows legal fight
Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla and the world's richest person, said on Friday he was terminating his US$44 billion deal to buy Twitter because the social media company had breached multiple provisions of the merger agreement.
"The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk," Twitter's chairman, Bret Taylor wrote.
In a filing, Musk's lawyers said Twitter had failed or refused to respond to multiple requests for information on fake or spam accounts on the platform, which is fundamental to the company's business performance.
"Twitter is in material breach of multiple provisions of that Agreement, appears to have made false and misleading representations upon which Mr. Musk relied when entering into the Merger Agreement," the filing said.
Musk also said he was walking away because Twitter fired high-ranking executives and one-third of the talent acquisition team, breaching Twitter's obligation to "preserve substantially intact the material components of its current business organization."-Fin24
Takealot workers on unprotected strike
Work came to a halt at the Montague Gardens, Cape Town, warehouse of online retailer Takealot when hundreds of workers embarked on an unprotected strike on Friday morning.
The workers are demanding permanent positions. They also want a certain manager they accuse of racism to be fired.
In a letter given to workers’ representatives, signed by S Hill, general manager, workers were informed that if they did not return to work by 11:15am, the no work, no pay principle would apply.
Workers were told to elect representatives to meet with management while the rest return to work. The striking workers would also be required to sign a confirmation form stating that they were going to perform their normal duties.
The workers refused.
Dunoon activist Lethu Tyhalithi led the strike. He said he had heard numerous complaints about how staff are treated at the company.
Azola Mangena, who works at Takealot through a labour broker, said he thought that after a year he would be hired permanently. He has been at Takealot for over three years now. Mangena also alleged that workers were not treated "fairly and equally" and that there was a disproportionate number of white managers. -Fin24
TikTok sued in US
Video-sharing sensation TikTok is being sued in California after children died while taking part in a "Blackout Challenge" that makes a sport of choking oneself until passing out.
The lawsuit filed in state court in Los Angeles last week accuses TikTok software of "intentionally and repeatedly" pushing the Blackout Challenge that led to the deaths of an eight-year-old girl in Texas and a nine-year-old girl in Wisconsin last year.
"TikTok needs to be held accountable for pushing deadly content to these two young girls," said Matthew Bergman, an attorney at the Social Media Victims Law Centre, which filed the suit.
"TikTok has invested billions of dollars to intentionally design products that push dangerous content that it knows are dangerous and can result in the deaths of its users."
TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit alleges that TikTok's algorithm promoted the Blackout Challenge to each of the girls, who died from self-strangulation — one using rope and the other a dog leash.
It additionally listed children in Italy, Australia and elsewhere whose deaths have been linked to the TikTok Blackout Challenge.-Fin24
After rejecting three cash offers from Remgro and MSC in recent weeks, Mediclinic’s board says it will support the fourth.
Mediclinic received and rejected the first offer - for 463 pence (R89) - from the parties a month ago. Since then, Remgro and MSC submitted three further offers.
Two of these bids have been rejected. But on Wednesday, the parties made a new offer of 504 pence (R101) per share (minus Mediclinic's final dividend for this current year).
The latest bid offers a premium of 35% to the Mediclinic share price before the first offer was made, Mediclinic's independent board said in a statement.
"The independent board remains confident in Mediclinic’s strategic direction and long-term prospects as the group positions itself as an integrated healthcare partner, harnessing data, technology and innovation to facilitate growth across the continuum of care, supported by leading market positions.
However, having weighed all relevant factors, including the current macro-economic conditions, the independent board is of the view that the near-term value realisation of the latest proposal provides Mediclinic’s shareholders an attractive alternative to the group continuing as an independent company," it said in a statement. -Fin24
Twitter vows legal fight
Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla and the world's richest person, said on Friday he was terminating his US$44 billion deal to buy Twitter because the social media company had breached multiple provisions of the merger agreement.
"The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk," Twitter's chairman, Bret Taylor wrote.
In a filing, Musk's lawyers said Twitter had failed or refused to respond to multiple requests for information on fake or spam accounts on the platform, which is fundamental to the company's business performance.
"Twitter is in material breach of multiple provisions of that Agreement, appears to have made false and misleading representations upon which Mr. Musk relied when entering into the Merger Agreement," the filing said.
Musk also said he was walking away because Twitter fired high-ranking executives and one-third of the talent acquisition team, breaching Twitter's obligation to "preserve substantially intact the material components of its current business organization."-Fin24
Takealot workers on unprotected strike
Work came to a halt at the Montague Gardens, Cape Town, warehouse of online retailer Takealot when hundreds of workers embarked on an unprotected strike on Friday morning.
The workers are demanding permanent positions. They also want a certain manager they accuse of racism to be fired.
In a letter given to workers’ representatives, signed by S Hill, general manager, workers were informed that if they did not return to work by 11:15am, the no work, no pay principle would apply.
Workers were told to elect representatives to meet with management while the rest return to work. The striking workers would also be required to sign a confirmation form stating that they were going to perform their normal duties.
The workers refused.
Dunoon activist Lethu Tyhalithi led the strike. He said he had heard numerous complaints about how staff are treated at the company.
Azola Mangena, who works at Takealot through a labour broker, said he thought that after a year he would be hired permanently. He has been at Takealot for over three years now. Mangena also alleged that workers were not treated "fairly and equally" and that there was a disproportionate number of white managers. -Fin24
TikTok sued in US
Video-sharing sensation TikTok is being sued in California after children died while taking part in a "Blackout Challenge" that makes a sport of choking oneself until passing out.
The lawsuit filed in state court in Los Angeles last week accuses TikTok software of "intentionally and repeatedly" pushing the Blackout Challenge that led to the deaths of an eight-year-old girl in Texas and a nine-year-old girl in Wisconsin last year.
"TikTok needs to be held accountable for pushing deadly content to these two young girls," said Matthew Bergman, an attorney at the Social Media Victims Law Centre, which filed the suit.
"TikTok has invested billions of dollars to intentionally design products that push dangerous content that it knows are dangerous and can result in the deaths of its users."
TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit alleges that TikTok's algorithm promoted the Blackout Challenge to each of the girls, who died from self-strangulation — one using rope and the other a dog leash.
It additionally listed children in Italy, Australia and elsewhere whose deaths have been linked to the TikTok Blackout Challenge.-Fin24
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