COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

SA approves Sinopharm vaccineSouth Africa's health regulator said on Monday it had approved a Covid-19 vaccine from China's Sinopharm, although a senior health official said the government was not planning to procure doses for now.South Africa, the country worst-hit by the pandemic in Africa in terms of reported Covid-19 infections and deaths, has used the Pfizer-BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shots in its vaccination campaign. The government delayed some vaccine deliveries late last year because of oversupply as hesitancy slowed the uptake. Drugs regulator SAHPRA said in a statement the Sinopharm approval was based on "acceptable safety, quality and efficacy data submitted by MC Pharma," referring to a local regulatory pharmaceutical company that has partnered with Sinopharm.It said the vaccine was indicated for those aged 18 and over, subject to conditions including that it was administered in line with the national vaccination programme and periodic safety updates were submitted. -ReutersNigeria doses of J&J vaccineNigeria has received 2 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine from Finland, Greece and Slovenia, with more EU donations set to arrive in the coming weeks, government officials said on Monday.The delivery is part of a donation pledge by the European Union to African countries via the COVAX initiative launched by the World Health Organization in 2020 to distribute vaccines to some of the world's poorest people.Samuela Isopi, the EU ambassador to Nigeria, said the doses were "part of a global donation of almost 20 million J&J doses from EU member states to Nigeria" and more would arrive in the coming weeks.The vaccines are currently in a cold room at the airport of the Nigerian capital Abuja."This batch of vaccines will expire in August 2023. So, we have that ample time to administer before that time," Faisal Shuaib, executive director of Nigeria's National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), told a news conference at the airport. -ReutersFrontier to buy Spirit AirlinesBudget carriers Frontier Group Holdings and Spirit Airlines Inc on Monday unveiled plans to create the fifth-largest US airline in a US$2.9 billion tie-up likely to tighten competition against traditional carriers.The proposal to form a new no-frills carrier controlled by Frontier Airlines pushed up shares of Spirit as much as 18.7%, though several analysts pressed the airlines over possible difficulties in obtaining regulatory approval."In a competitive industry like ours, the lowest costs always win," Frontier Chief Executive Barry Biffle told analysts. "These low costs will, in turn, enable us to keep our fares low for customers."The move comes at a time when the US airline industry is grappling with volatility in travel demand due to new Covid-19 variants. At the same time, costs are soaring on a combination of rises in wages, fuel prices and airport charges.Spirit's wage expense as a percentage of revenue shot up by more than 10 points last year versus 2019. Higher fees prompted Frontier to exit airports such as Los Angeles and San Jose in California, and stop serving Washington-Dulles and Newark. -ReutersSoftBank drops sale of Arm to NvidiaSoftBank Group Corp shelved the sale of Arm Ltd to US chipmaker Nvidia Corp due to regulatory hurdles, the companies said, and Arm named a new CEO who it said would help the British firm seek a public listing before March 2023.The cash-and-stock deal was announced in 2020 and would have been worth as much as US$80 billion. But the US Federal Trade Commission sued to block it in December, arguing that competition in the nascent markets for chips in self-driving cars and a new category of networking chips could be hurt if Nvidia carried out the purchase.The buyout also faced scrutiny in Britain and the European Union amid concerns that it could push up prices and reduce choice and innovation. It had yet to receive approval in China, which has previously withheld approval of cross-border chip acquisitions.The sale would have marked an early exit from Arm for SoftBank, which acquired it for US$32 billion, and the collapse of the deal marks a major setback to the Japanese conglomerate's efforts to generate funds at time when valuations across its portfolio are under pressure.Arm said in a separate statement that had appointed Rene Haas as its chief executive officer and member of the board, effective immediately. -ReutersTesla receives subpoena from USTesla Inc said on Monday it received a subpoena from the US securities regulator related to a settlement that required Chief Executive Elon Musk's tweets on material information about the company to be vetted.The subpoena by the US Securities and Exchange Commission was issued on Nov. 16, some 10 days after Musk asked his Twitter followers if he should sell 10% of his stake in the company, triggering a stock selloff.As of last close, the electric-car maker's shares had fallen by nearly a quarter since the tweet. The shares were down 1.4% at US$909.98 on Monday morning.The SEC's latest action, which was disclosed in a securities filing by the automaker, adds to pressure on Tesla from federal auto safety regulators regarding vehicle recalls and investigations related to its driver-assistance software. The SEC declined to comment.In 2018, Musk settled a lawsuit by the SEC over his tweet on taking the company private, agreeing to have the company's lawyers pre-approve tweets with material information about the company. -Reuters

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