Spark New Zealand Agrees to Sell Data Center Stake to Trim Debt
Australian private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners has agreed to buy the stake for NZ$486 million ($288 million), with as much as NZ$98 million extra payable if performance objectives are met by the end of 2027, Auckland-based Spark said Tuesday. Proceeds will be used to reduce debt.
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Workers do not need private equity in their 401(k) plans
The president just issued an executive order to encourage adding private equity and private credit — as well as other alternative investments — as options to 401(k) plans. The Department of Labor (DOL) is tasked with accomplishing this goal. Some suggest the expansion could be limited to 10% to 20% of target-date funds, the default investment option in most 401(k) plans, but the goal may be broader. stock is sinking. Here's the biggest problem from earnings. 'I'm tired of corporate America': My wife and I have $1.65 million. I'm 61. Can I retire already? My view is: Why bother? As far as I can see, the only party pushing for private equity in 401(k) plans is the private-equity industry. Moreover, private equity comes with numerous negatives, and our studies on the performance of state and local pension plans show that the addition of private equity has not increased the return or reduced the volatility in these plans. Read: Trump's order greenlights crypto in 401(k)s, so why isn't my job on board yet? To date, the DOL has issued two letters that cautioned fiduciaries but did not preclude anyone from introducing private equity into 401(k)s. The first, in June 2020, was in response to an application on behalf of Pantheon Ventures and Partners Group soliciting DOL's views. After repeating — uncritically — all the applicants' arguments in favor of private equity, the agency did note that private-equity investments tend to be more complicated, have longer time horizons, are less liquid, and have higher fees than traditional investments. Nevertheless, it concluded that fiduciaries would not violate their duties under ERISA solely by offering an asset fund with a private-equity component. Read: Trump wants private assets in 401(k)s. How do everyday investors value them? 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SoftBank Shares Surge on AI Hope and Sign of Stargate Progress
SoftBank Group Corp. 's shares jumped as much as 8% on Tuesday on bets that the tech investor would be able to capitalize on its years-long focus on artificial intelligence. The Tokyo-based company is the unnamed buyer of Foxconn Technology Group's EV plant in Ohio and plans to incorporate the facility into SoftBank's $500 billion Stargate data center project with OpenAI and Oracle Corp., Bloomberg reported on Friday.
