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| Hey Insiders, Are you heading to Europe this summer? Get ready to pay a lot, as airfare and hotel pricing are at their highest in the past few years. Plus, Diageo has ended its 15-year partnership with Diddy after his racial discrimination lawsuit. ALSO: we want to hear from you! Tell us what you think the most important stories of 2023 have been so far, and vote here! Christopher
p/chris951156 | |
| 1 | | Ford is expected to lay off 1,000 salaried and contract workers, people familiar with the situation have said. It is the latest proposal to try to counterbalance the high costs of creating electric vehicles. More: - The cuts will mostly come in North America, as Ford began alerting salaried workers on Monday.
- The planned layoffs are going to be from the engineering sector of the company. Ford is targeting costs across the business units to save money.
- Ford has made several rounds of global layoffs over the last year, including a 3,000-person reduction last summer in the U.S. and a large layoff in Europe earlier this year.
- Ford has around 28,000 salaried employees in North America.
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What the numbers say: The average cost of airfare from the U.S. to Europe this summer is the highest it's been in six years. European flights have skyrocketed in price since 2021, when airlines were begging travelers to get back on planes. But COVID-19 restrictions limited a lot of the travel. Now that they are lifted, an average flight to Europe is just shy of $1,200. Relevance: Many Americans have listed Europe as their top summer vacation destination, and airlines and accommodations are charging a premium price. According to a study done by Hopper, airline tickets from the U.S. to Europe are averaging 12% higher than last summer. Sicily is seeing a huge jump because of the popularity of HBO's hit show, "The White Lotus." Attractions like Paris's Louvre Museum and the Vatican in Rome are expected to have near-record wait times. Hotel data: Hotel rates have risen since last year for much of Europe. Hotels in Rome are seeing a 63% jump in pricing, and Madrid is seeing a 41% increase. On average, it will cost travelers $246 to spend a night in a London hotel this summer. | | | |
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| 3 | | Canadian-based private capital manager Brookfield has offered to purchase American Equity Investment Life for $4.3B. American Equity Investment Life lifted a standstill provision that allows Brookfield to purchase more company shares than the 20% it already owns. More: - A definitive deal could be signed by the end of next week, according to sources.
- AEL, which is based in Des Moines, Iowa, is one of the few independent annuities operators remaining, as many private equity companies have been buying up similar businesses.
- Under terms of the proposed transaction, Brookfield's listed insurance affiliate, Brookfield Reinsurance, would acquire AEL shares for cash and stock for $55 each, boosting a premium 35% to what Friday's closing price was.
- Almost $40 of the per-share consideration is said to be in cash.
Zoom Out: - This deal would end a public dispute between the two companies, as a former Brookfield executive resigned from the AEL board a year ago amidst criticisms of the change of strategy of the company.
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| 4 | | In retaliation for workers striking, Starbucks filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board over Starbucks Workers United's allegations that multiple cafes were instructed not to display Pride decorations in June. Starbucks has claimed that the union's actions have "ignited and inflamed workplace tension and division." More: - Starbucks Workers United has alleged that managers of stores in at least 22 states told baristas they weren't allowed to put up Pride decorations.
- Other cafes have said that Pride flags were taken down after they were put up.
- Employees at some Starbucks locations began picketing last Friday, and more than 150 stores have pledged to join the strike around the country.
- That would represent roughly 3,500 employees.
- Starbucks also filed a second NLRB charge responding to the union's depiction of benefits for LGBTQ+ workers.
- "Starbucks continues to provide its partners with industry‐leading gender-affirming care benefits. The union has knowingly and falsely stated that Starbucks eliminated or changed the benefits coverage for its LGBTQIA2+ partners," the company said.
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| 5 | | Diageo has ended its 15-year working relationship with Sean "Diddy" Combs following the racial discrimination lawsuit he filed against the company. Diageo has called his claims "baseless" and said his bad-faith actions "clearly breached his contracts." More: - Diddy claimed that Diageo neglected and underpromoted his DeLeĆ³n tequila, branding it as an "urban" product in its marketing.
- He accused Diageo of failing to market his spirits, which includes Ciroc vodka, in the same way that it promoted Casamigos and Don Julio.
- In the lawsuit, Diddy claimed that Diageo "kneecapped DeLeon's sales growth for nearly a decade" because it considered it a "Black" brand.
- Diageo has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit while stating that he "repeatedly undermined our partnerships and threatened to publicly defame Diageo if we did not meet his unreasonable financial demands."
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| 6 | | Walgreens saw its stock sink on Tuesday after the company warned that its profits are expected to be lower this year amid dwindling demand for COVID-19 vaccines. It also cited a weaker consumer spending environment as a reason for adjusting its earning projections. More: - Walgreens cited in its third-quarter earnings call that it administered 800,000 COVID-19 booster shots, an 83% decrease YoY.
- Walgreens cut its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance to a range of $4.00-$4.05 from a range of $4.45-$4.65.
- Shares in the company, Walgreens Boots Alliance, dropped nearly 10% after the earnings call.
- It did slightly beat estimates for revenue, coming in at $35.42B in the quarter, more than the projected $34.21B.
- But the company's gross margins came in at 18.8%, which was below the Street consensus of 20.6%.
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 | Freelance Editor | | Christopher Hachey is a freelance writer and editor based in the New York City area. He has spent most of the past 15 years in newsrooms covering all kinds of topics like sports, tech, business, finance, and commerce. He's now returning to his broadcast journalism roots by diving into podcasting news. Reach out to him at chris@inside.com | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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