Latest news with #JaiveerSinghShekhawat
Zawya
04-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Capital One's $35bln deal for Discover clears US DOJ hurdle, NYT reports
Capital One Financial Corp got the greenlight from the Justice Department for its proposed $35 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services, the New York Times reported on Thursday. The approval came after the DOJ told other regulators looking into the acquisition that it does not see sufficient competition concerns to block the deal, the report said. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve will review the merger with input from the DOJ. The DOJ sent a letter to the Federal Reserve and the OCC saying it had concluded its investigation and did not believe there were concerns that warranted blocking the deal, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. "Our deal with Discover Financial complies with the Bank Merger Act's legal requirements and we remain well-positioned to gain approval," a Capital One spokesperson told Reuters, but the company declined to comment further on the approval. Unveiled in February 2024, the deal would create the biggest U.S. credit card issuer by balances, the sixth-largest bank by assets, and would also give Capital One control of Discover's card payment network — the fourth major payment network operator. A spokesperson for the DOJ declined to comment, while Discover Financial did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The deal still faces additional antitrust scrutiny from state attorneys general in New York and California. "We are concerned that the Capital One/Discover merger could most affect those consumers who can afford it the least. No one is above the law and we're taking a close look at this proposed merger," said a spokesperson for the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat. (Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
USA Today
05-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Morgan Stanley to increase sale of loans tied to Musk's X, Bloomberg News reports
Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat Reuters A group of Morgan Stanley-led MS.N banks is set to increase a sale of loans tied to Elon Musk's social media platform X after receiving stronger-than-expected demand from investors, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. The banks had initially planned to sell about $3 billion worth of loans, Reuters reported last month. However, they are now aiming to sell as much as $5.5 billion of the debt sitting on their books, the Bloomberg report said, citing people familiar with the matter. In November, Reuters also reported that Musk's political ascendancy and proximity to President Donald Trump had banks pondering over the improved prospects of the social media platform, helping them selling the debt without having to take a massive loss on the deal. Morgan Stanley and others, such as Bank of America BAC.N and Barclays BARC.L, lent Musk money in 2022 to complete his $44 billion buyout of X, then known as Twitter. Banks typically sell such loans to investors soon after a deal is done, but lenders have faced difficulties in offloading the debt in the case of X. Capitalize on high interest rates: Best current CD rates Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona
Zawya
31-01-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Visa profit beats estimates as discounts fuel holiday shopping splurge
Visa's first-quarter profit beat Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as easing concerns about an economic slowdown and discounts encouraged customers to splurge during the holiday shopping season. Retailers offered deep discounts on everything from apparel to toys and luxury products to lure cost-conscious consumers while online sales remained strong thanks to a boom in mobile shopping. Payments volume — a gauge of overall consumer and business spending on Visa's network — jumped 9%, while revenue rose 10% to $9.5 billion in the quarter. Shares of the world's largest payments processor were up 1.8% after the bell. Visa also benefited from strong domestic and international travel demand, driven by improved pricing and the absence of severe weather-related disruptions. Cross-border volume excluding intra-Europe, a measure of international travel demand, jumped 16%. Processed transactions rose 11% in the quarter. The San Francisco, California-based company posted an adjusted profit of $2.75 per share in the three months ended Dec. 31. Analysts, on average, had expected $2.66 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. SPENDING OUTLOOK Although higher-for-longer interest rates were expected to be a dampener, consumer spending continues to be underpinned by a solid labor market and continued wage growth. "Consumer spending in the U.S. and around the globe is quite resilient and strong," said Chief Financial Officer Chris Suh in an interview with Reuters. The trend bodes well for Visa and rival Mastercard as they pocket a small fee off each transaction on their networks. Mastercard earlier in the day reported a fourth-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates as consumers ramped up spending during the holiday season. Shares of both companies had underperformed the broader markets in 2024 on worries that a slowdown in major global economies could hurt the sector. (Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Maju Samuel and Alan Barona)
