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| Here’s your daily business briefing. - 💼 Blackstone's $10B deal amid property lows
- 🔍 Deep Dive: Wealth required to enter global top 1%
- 🏀 Iowa-SC NCAA women's final: 18.7M viewers
Thanks for reading! Shriram
p/Shriram | |
| 1 | | Blackstone Inc. ($BX) has struck an all-cash deal worth around $10B to acquire Apartment Income REIT (AIR Communities), valuing it at $39.12 per share, a 25% premium over its April 5 closing price of $31.35. Blackstone intends to inject over $400M into enhancing and managing AIR Communities' apartment portfolio as part of the agreement. More: - The acquisition aligns with Blackstone's strategy to leverage declining prices in commercial property markets.
- Blackstone Real Estate Partners X, a fund that has raised over $30B, will acquire AIR Communities' shares.
- AIR Communities specializes in high-end rentals in cities like Miami and Washington, with 76 apartment communities in its portfolio.
- The apartment market has encountered obstacles such as increased borrowing expenses and reduced valuations, with prices decreasing by 8% over the last year until March, as reported by Green Street.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: Entering the top 1% in the U.S. now requires at least $5.8M, a 15% increase from the previous year. Monaco holds the highest threshold globally at $12.8M, followed by Luxembourg and Switzerland, where one needs over $8M to join the top 1%. Relevance: The rising wealth requirement for the top 1% in the U.S. underscores the widening wealth gap in the West, propelled by recovering markets. Monaco's lofty wealth threshold exemplifies this gap compared to the GDP per capita of less affluent nations such as Burundi in East Africa. More data: Global economic turmoil, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has driven up energy and food prices, hitting poorer countries hardest. However, amidst these challenges, the world's wealthiest 500 individuals saw their combined fortunes grow by $1.5T over the past year, spearheaded by Elon Musk's wealth surge. | | | |
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| 3 | | The NCAA Women's Championship game between Iowa and South Carolina garnered a record-breaking 18.7 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, with viewership peaking at 24 million. This marked the highest viewership for a women's college basketball game since 1992, according to ESPN, which reported an 89% increase compared to last year's championship and a 285% increase from 2022. More: - The championship game marked the highest viewership for a basketball game since 2019, encompassing both men's and women's college and professional basketball.
- Record numbers watched the semifinals, with a peak audience of 17 million watching Iowa play the University of Connecticut.
- Like legendary players, Caitlin Clark's standout performance fueled a surge in interest in women's basketball.
- The increase in viewership mirrors the overall expansion of women's sports, with revenue from elite women's sports projected to exceed $1B in 2024, marking a 300% rise from three years earlier, according to Deloitte.
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| 4 | | Kraft-Heinz and Conagra are adapting their products and strategies as budget-conscious Americans reduce spending, leading to a drop in packaged food and beverage sales. Decreased spending on food, exacerbated by reductions in SNAP benefits, is affecting retailers such as Dollar Tree and Circle K. More: - Low-income households make up about one-third of black American homes and 21% of white American households.
- Value is the top priority for low-income shoppers, who are increasingly purchasing reasonably priced, shelf-stable goods to support their families.
- Conagra is launching new Banquet chicken patties, priced at $6.99 for six, to appeal to people on a tight budget.
- Food firms are changing their pandemic-era strategy of focusing on premium items and instead emphasizing pricing and reductions to draw value-conscious consumers back.
- Executives observe that low-income customers are buying more proteins and substantial foods, such as peanut butter, canned meats, and corn-based snacks.
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| 5 | | Dollarama Inc.'s stock soared to 7.8% after the company unveiled its fourth-quarter earnings, reaching an all-time peak and propelling its market value above $22.23B (C$30B). The quarterly earnings of $0.85 (C$1.15) per share exceeded analysts' projections by $0.08 (11 Canadian cents). More: - The gain in same-store sales was 62% more than average analyst predictions, exceeding expectations.
- The Canada's biggest retailer intends to open 60 to 70 additional stores annually to maintain current sales growth.
- Dollarama's CEO Neil Rossy stated that the company reached its goal of opening 65 new stores in fiscal 2024, marking seven consecutive years of expanding its store network.
- Dollarama plans to increase its presence in Canada to 2,000 stores by 2031, with 1,551 Canadian stores as of the end of 2023.
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| 6 | | To enhance recruitment efforts, the U.S. Army has partnered with the United Football League (UFL), securing prominent branding on player jerseys, the 50-yard line, and televised sideline discussions featuring Army personnel and veterans. The sponsorship, valued at nearly $10M for a year, includes an option for renewal for an additional year. More: - The UFL focuses on offering chances to players not selected for the NFL, emphasizing second chances and fresh opportunities.
- Despite increased brand recall from a recent campaign, the Army faces recruitment challenges, prompting efforts to enhance marketing strategies and advertising effectiveness.
- Events like the SXSW festival offer the Army chances to interact with potential recruits and enhance its reputation.
- The Army seeks to establish positive long-term impressions in addition to recruiting to develop relationships with those contemplating military service.
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- Varda secures $90M to initiate space-based factories, deploying unmanned capsules to explore microgravity for pharmaceutical research purposes.
- Tesla Inc. settled its high-profile trial over an Autopilot crash on the eve of proceedings, with undisclosed terms revealed in court filings in San Jose, California.
- Ferrari NV announced a partnership with the University of Bologna to launch a lithium battery research lab for its upcoming fully electric supercar, prioritizing areas such as solid-state technology, fast charging, thermal management, and cell safety.
- Searches for Tyler's song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" surged nearly 50% in the U.S. over the past week, with the track gaining traction on Spotify charts ahead of the eclipse.
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10 | | Ask email experts from Google and Yahoo your most important questions at SocketLabs' interactive webinar on April 10. | | | | | | * This is a sponsored event | | | |
 | Freelance Writer | | Shriram is pursuing Master’s in Business with Marketing at Warwick Business School. He worked as a Senior Consultant in Tech and Political Consultancies before his Masters. He is passionate about Tech, Marketing, Strategy, Anthropology and Politics. He is also the Postgraduate Ambassador for Warwick Business School. | | This newsletter was edited by Shriram Jeevakumar | |
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