Plus, Liz Truss becomes Britain's 56th Prime Minister.
| Part of  Network | |
 |
Sitio Royalties and Brigham Minerals have agreed to merge in a deal valued at around $4B. The merger is one of the largest in the oil industry this year and would allow the companies to reach economies of scale. According to Sitio CEO Chris Conoscenti, the mineral and royalty space benefits from scale unlike any other business in the energy value chain. More: - Mineral owners usually take a 12.5% to 20% cut of the value of the oil and gas pumped on their land in royalty payments.
- The all-stock deal is expected to close in Q1 of 2023.
- Noam Lockshin, a partner at private-equity firm Kimmeridge Energy Management, will serve as the chairman of the new entity, which will retain the name Sitio.
- Kimmeridge Energy Management owns about 43.2% of Sitio’s outstanding shares.
- Current Sitio CEO Chris Conoscenti will serve as the CEO of the new combined company.
- The new company will be based in Denver.
- Following news of the deal, Sitio shares fell ~2% to $24.71, and Brigham shares fell ~3.5% to around $28.36 during morning trading.
| |
Shares of SPAC Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) fell more than 20% Tuesday morning after executives deferred a shareholder vote to get an extension to complete the merger with Trump’s media company. DWAC had planned to take former President Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), and its Truth Social platform public. The deadline to complete the deal is this Thursday, Sept. 8. More: - If executives of DWAC are unable to secure enough shareholder votes for a Sept. 2023 extension, DWAC would be forced to liquidate.
- DWAC initially announced the deal in Oct. 2021.
- The SPAC merger had been halted due to ongoing civil and criminal investigations into the circumstances surrounding the deal.
- DWAC needs about 65% of its shareholders to vote in favor of a one-year extension
- According to sources, much less than the required 65% of investors had voted in favor of the extension.
| |
According to a study published by Appsumer, Apple’s online advertising is accelerating, while Facebook’s and Google’s appear to trend downward. The study found that Apple’s ad business benefited from the company’s 2021 iOS privacy update, which made it difficult for companies like Facebook, Snapchat, and others to track users across the Internet. More: - The study was based on analyzing online ad budgets of over 100 consumer app companies.
- The study found that Apple’s advertiser adoption rate for Q2 rose ~4% YoY to 94.8%, while Facebook’s advertiser adoption rate declined 3% to 82.8%.
- Google’s rate fell 2% to 94.8%.
- According to Appsumer, Apple’s rise in digital advertising is similar to the rise of Amazon’s advertising business for retailers.
- Appsumer is owned by InMobi, an Indian multinational mobile advertising technology company.
| |
Juul Labs has agreed to pay $438.5M to settle claims that the e-cigarette maker marketed its products to underage users. The settlement, which includes 33 states and Puerto Rico, also prohibits Juul from portraying persons under 35 years old in its marketing, product placements in film and television, as well as on billboard ads and social media. More: - Juul is also banned from selling branded merchandise and funding education programs in schools.
- Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said the total settlement amount Juul pays could increase depending on how long it takes the company to make the payments.
- Tong added that Juul engaged in predatory marketing and highlighted the impact underage vaping has had on families.
- Last year, Juul agreed to pay an $87M settlement with the states of Arizona, Louisiana, Washington, and North Carolina.
| |
Volkswagen AG plans to offer shares of its Porsche brand in an IPO scheduled for the end of this month. The automaker plans to sell 25% of Porsche’s stock, split between 12.5% ordinary voting shares and 12.5% nonvoting preferred stock. VW will retain the remaining 75% of Porsche. More: - The offering could value Porsche between €60B and €85B ($59.8B and $84.6B).
- Following news of the IPO, VW shares rose more than 3% in early trading on Tuesday in Frankfurt.
- Porsche accounts for less than 3% of VW’s total passenger vehicle sales but contributed about 50% of VW’s pretax profit from its passenger vehicle business.
- According to sources, the Qatar Investment Authority has signaled its plans to acquire about 5% of Porsche’s preferred stock.
| |
The leaders at Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young are expected to approve the split of the firm’s auditing and consulting businesses. According to sources, the firm’s global executive committee met on Labor Day to finalize the company’s breakup plan. The committee is expected to approve the proposal this week. More: - Once approved, the plan would need to be voted on by EY’s 13,000 global partners.
- Partners stand to make about $1M each from the plan.
- The split is expected to be completed in late 2023.
- It would separate EY’s accounting and auditing business from its fast-growing consulting arm.
- According to sources, EY is considering a 60-40 split between its consulting business and its audit partnership.
- The audit arm will retain the EY brand.
| |
Quick Hits - Origin Investments' IncomePlus Fund has seen its 27th consecutive month of positive returns, generating 18.7% over the past 12 months.*
- Bed Bath & Beyond has named Laura Crossen as its interim CFO following the death of Gustavo Arnal. In June, Crossen was promoted to chief accounting officer in the company. Arnal jumped to his death from the 18th floor of his New York City apartment building on Friday.
- Liz Truss is officially Britain's 56th Prime Minister following her meeting with Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral castle in Scotland on Tuesday. Truss plans to finalize a £100B package to address the U.K.'s energy crisis.
- California state officials have warned residents to cut their energy usage amid the ongoing heat wave to avoid rolling blackouts. The California Independent System Operator told residents to conserve two to three times more energy than they already have been doing to keep the power on.
- Encrypted messaging app Signal has hired former Google Manager Meredith Whittaker as its first president. Whittaker will help guide strategy, communications, and policy at the Signal.
- According to U.S. intelligence, Russia is purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea amid western sanctions. According to an independent Russian military analyst, Russia could face a significant shell shortage by the end of 2022 if the war continues.
*This is sponsored content.
| |
Upcoming Events - September 07 - AMA with Andrew Gazdecki (Founder of MicroAcquire) (Register Here)
- September 09 - AMA with Jay Ryan (U.S. Federal Government Program Manager at Security Compass) (Register Here)
- September 14 - What Do Developers Think of Threat Modeling? (feat. security experts from Security Compass, Dell, and Tricentis) (Register Here) *
- September 14 - AMA with Brian Dean (Founder of Backlinko) (Register Here)
- September 21 - AMA with Kristen Ruby (Founder of Ruby Media Group) (Register Here)
- September 28 - AMA with Leigh-Ann Buchanan (Founder of aīre ventures) (Register Here)
- October 05 - AMA with Ram Bartov (Chief Accounting Officer at TripActions)* (Register Here)
- October 12 - AMA with Bill Glenn (Executive Chairman at Crenshaw Associates) (Register Here)
- October 19 - AMA with Zecca Lehn (Responsibly VC) (Register Here)
- October 25 - Meet Our Fund 4, an Inside.com Summit (Register Here)
*This is a sponsored listing.
| |
 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a Freelance Writer for Inside.com. She writes the Inside Business and Inside Cloud newsletters. Her interests include finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending concerts and music festivals, exploring cities, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or on LinkedIn. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
| 767 Bryant St. #203, San Francisco, CA 94107
Copyright © 2022 Inside.com | |
| |
