Ashland To Buy Personal Care Business Of Schülke & Mayr GmbH – Quick Facts

Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (ASH) announced Tuesday that Ashland has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the personal care business from Schülke & Mayr GmbH, a portfolio company of the global investment organization EQT, for 262.5 million euros n an all-cash transaction.

The transaction enhances Ashland’s specialty additives position in personal care, expands biotechnology and microbiology technical competencies and advances environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda for personal care and household applications.

The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed before the end of the June quarter. The transaction will be funded with bank financing and available cash and become immediately accretive to Ashland’s earnings per share.

Trump’s Close Aide Hope Hicks Will Depart White House Next Week

One of President Donald Trump’s closest and longest-serving aides, Hope Hicks, will leave the White House next week, according to two people familiar with the matter.

While Hicks is resigning a week before Trump’s term ends, she has told colleagues that it is not because of the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by the president’s supporters on Wednesday.

Two cabinet members and scores of lower-level officials have departed the administration, citing Trump’s incitement of large protests that led to the storming of the Capitol.

United Airlines Q4 Loss Wider Than Wall Street View

United Airlines (UAL) Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter loss that was wider than Wall Street analysts’ estimates, as the airline industry continues to bear the brunt of Covid-19 pandemic.

Fourth-quarter net loss was $1.90 billion or $6.39 per share, compared to net income of $641 million or $2.53 per share last year.

Adjusted net income for the fourth quarter was $2.08 billion or $7.00 per share, compared to net income of $676 million or $2.67 per share last year.

Total operating revenues plunged 68.7% to $3.41 billion from $10.89 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated a loss of $6.60 per share on revenues of $3.44 billion.

Looking forward, the company said it expects first quarter operating revenues to be down 65 percent to 70 percent versus the first quarter 2019. Analysts currently expects revenues to drop 49.10%.

Twitter Shares Fall 6% Following Permanent Trump Ban

Twitter Inc. shares fell 6.1% in pre-market trading after the social media platform permanently banned outgoing President Donald Trump.

The San Francisco-based company confirmed its decision in a blog post on Friday, saying Trump’s tweets breached policies by risking incitement to violence. It cited Trump’s posts referring to riots in the U.S. capital last week.

Mirabaud analyst Neil Campling said the ban shows the social media platform is making editorial decisions, and opens the door to regulation.

“In the U.S., it’s about how are these companies being regulated, are they regulated, should they be regulated?” Campling said by phone.

What’s more, Trump is “the most popular character” on the platform, he added.

Stock Alert: Summit Midstream Jumps 29% On FERC Approval For Double E Pipeline Project

Shares of Summit Midstream Partners, LP (SMLP), a Houston, Texas-based owner of midstream energy infrastructure assets, are surging more than 29 percent or $4.03 in Wednesday’s morning trade at $17.75.

Tuesday, Summit Midstream said that Double E Pipeline LLC, a joint venture in which the company owns a 70 percent equity interest and serves as the pipeline’s operator and construction manager, received its Notice to Proceed or NTP with construction, as well as approval of its Implementation Plan, from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC.

In addition, Double E was granted the necessary rights-of-way on federal lands from the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. The joint venture has entered into Memorandums of Agreement regarding treatment and mitigation measures at certain cultural resource sites with the FERC and the State Historic Preservation Officers of New Mexico and Texas.

Summit Midstream Partners has traded in a range of $7.50 to $55.05 in the past 52 weeks.

Man Photographed Carrying Nancy Pelosi’s Lectern At Riot Arrested

(Reuters) – A Florida man photographed carrying U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern from the House of Representative chambers during the riot at the U.S. Capitol was arrested late Friday, according to jail records.

Adam Christian Johnson was arrested on a federal warrant and booked into the Pinellas County jail Friday night, the records said.

 Johnson, 36, was quickly identified on social media and was identified by the Bradenton Herald as being from Parrish, a community about 25 miles (40 km) south of Tampa.

Five people died in the riot on Wednesday, including a Capitol Hill police officer.

Epic Widens Fortnite Dispute With Apple, Google in U.K.

Epic Games Inc. widened its dispute with Apple Inc. over access to its popular Fortnite video game as it submitted a complaint to the U.K.’s antitrust tribunal.

The company said Apple’s decision to remove the game from the iPhone maker’s App Store was unlawful. The move came after the games maker sought to offer in-app purchases without using Apple’s digital payments service. The complaint, alongside a similar one against Alphabet Inc.’s Google, was made public by the Competition Appeal Tribunal Thursday.

Apple has abused its “dominant position,” Epic said, according to the filing. Apple and Epic didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The move marks the first step by the company to get Apple to reinstate the battle royale video game in the British App Store. Epic offered a payment system that circumvented the App Store, meaning Apple didn’t get a cut.

Read more about this legal fight here.

— With assistance by Mark Gurman