New Zealand Financial News

State Antony Blinken on Thursday pressed African leaders attending a summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin to demand answers about a grain crisis that has propelled poorer nations towards crisis. Speaking ahead of a Russia-Africa sitdown in Putin's hometown of Saint Petersburg, Blinken insisted African leaders knew rising food costs, grain and fertiliser shortages were a direct result of Putin's war in Ukraine. Several African leaders including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are expected to attend the Konstantinovsky Palace summit.

TA Associates has quietly taken bids for its 80 per cent stake in Australia and New Zealand insurance broking roll-up Honan Insurance.

The United Kingdom’s asylum seeker crisis has kept buoyant Corporate Travel Management’s earnings, as the travel agent banked “significantly larger” revenue from its European division to offset weakness back home.

Nick Stone has been named head of Bupa Asia Pacific, succeeding long-serving chief executive Hisham El-Ansary who stepped down last year after 15 years with the healthcare group.

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed

The month-long tournament commenced on Thursday, July 20, with the final scheduled for Sunday, August 20. The grand finale will take place at Stadium Australia in Sydney, a venue with an impressive capacity of 83,500 spectators, and known for hosting the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2000 Olympic Games. The USWNT has the opportunity to make history by becoming the first team to win three consecutive Women's World Cups. They have been drawn into Group E, alongside formidable opponents such as the Netherlands, Portugal, and Vietnam. The team's group stage schedule includes matches against the Netherlands on Wednesday, July 26 (9:00 pm ET) and Portugal on Tuesday, August 1 (3:00 am ET). For soccer fans in the US eager to watch the action unfold live, the tournament will be broadcast on TV channels such as Telemundo, Universo, and Peacock, while live streaming will be available through Peacock. Fox holds the English-language media rights in the United States for the Women's World Cup. The United States started its bid for an unprecedented three-peat at the Women's World Cup with a 3-0 win over Vietnam. Winning a third straight title won't be easy for the No. 1 team in the world. Co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the quadrennial tournament for international soccer's most coveted trophy kicked off July 20 and features an expanded field of 32 teams, up from 24. There are 64 matches during the tournament. That means more competition for the two-time defending World Cup champion US, which won the 2015 event in Canada and the 2019 tournament in France.

IFM Investors’ growth private equity team has found a new target it likes in the utilities-focused software business Tally Group.

By Rae Wee

Investment banks are settling for leaner fees from smaller transactions thanks to a dearth of billion-dollar, headline-grabbing mergers and acquisitions.

New Zealand-founded investment bank Jarden and Japanese giant Nomura have hashed out terms to extend their strategic alliance signed in May 2021.

Auckland-headquartered waste management business Smart Environmental has tapped UBS to try different dealmaking structures for a fit, as Downer’s sale of Repurpose It reignites M&A activity in the sector.

China's top leaders signaled they will ease property policies and adopt a plan to resolve local debt risks to help boost the economy as the recovery falters. The Communist Party's 24-member Politburo its top decision-making body led by President Xi Jinping vowed at a key economic policy meeting to optimize and adjust policies for the property sector.

This is important because the British government has said that stepping in to host the commonwealth games is ‘slightly ahead of time’. Which Commonwealth nation has come forward? New Zealand and another Australian state have said that they are not ready to host the multisports event. The Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago are hosting the Commonwealth Youth Games from August 4 to August 11. More than one thousand athletes between the age of 14 and 18 are expected to participate in the youth games. As they have the infrastructure ready and have invested a lot, they may be ready to host the event, but the Caribbean islands are yet to make an offer. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has shown interest in hosting the match considering the fact that GBP 500 is less than what it may cost in other countries to host such a massive event. He has said that London ‘stands ready’ to host the games, but he added that it is up to the government to submit the bid. But the government wants Australia to take the responsibility.Indian Olympic General Secretary Rajiv Mehta has said that India is interested in holding the 2026 Commonwealth Games. The Malaysian state of Selangor has also shown interest in hosting the games. The Malaysian city of Kuala Lumpur hosted the event in 1998. Sri Lanka was preparing in November 2020 to offer to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Hambantota. Similarly, the Canadian city of Victoria too has said that it can host the games. Canada hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1994.

New Zealand family of five purchased the tickets that took the sales total to 1.5 million for the Women's World Cup on Monday. Soccer's world governing body says the tournament being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand is on track to be the best attended in the competition's history.FIFA said the 1,500,000th ticket went to Auckland woman Maria Strong, who bought tickets for her husband and three children to attend Italy's Group G win over Argentina at Eden Park as part of a family celebration for her son's 12th birthday. In a statement, FIFA said the sales target had been surpassed within the first five days of the month-long tournament, setting the 2023 edition on course to surpass 2015 in Canada for the record attendance.

The chief executive of a Spanish pipe manufacturer has been appointed as the new boss of InfraBuild, the local steel business regarded by analysts as the best performing asset in Sanjeev Gupta’s global GFG Alliance.

By Tom Westbrook

Adelaide casino owner SkyCity Entertainment is at loggerheads with investment giant Macquarie over how many millions of dollars it must pay to buy back its fire-damaged carpark.

In a little over three years, EQT has gone from zero to some $8 billion in deals around the country. Now the Swedish private equity firm is growing again, launching its first private wealth fund in Australia.

inflation readings in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK came in short of forecast, which has given rise to a possibility of key central banks soon hitting a pause button in their rate hike mission aimed at reining in inflation. Apart from inflation, the somewhat weaker-than-expected US nonfarm payroll report for June has also played a key role in reinforcing peak rate possibility. The narrative of the peak rate pushed the US yields sharply lower.

flight allegedly forced the plane to return to the airport gate just moments before takeoff because he had forgotten his bag at the terminal. A video of the chaos has gone viral, according to a report. The video footage shows the passenger engaged in a dispute with a flight attendant of the budget airline in the aisle while the Airbus A320, en route to Bangkok, was in the process of taxiing for departure from Chiang Mai International Airport in Thailand, the USA Today report said. Thai Smile Airways airline is yet to make an official statement in this regard. As reported by New Zealand-based publication Stuff, the flight crew presented the man with two options: either disembark from the plane immediately or wait until they reached Bangkok. In the video, a flight attendant was heard asking, «Do you want to go? Or do you want to wait until Bangkok?» The passenger insisted on leaving the plane immediately and sought approval from the captain, stating, «Yes, yes, I want to go now. Ask the captain.» Airport security personnel were then observed escorting the man and his two companions off the aircraft. It is alleged that the bag left behind by the passenger contained money and other valuable items. Following a brief delay, the flight landed safely at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, as per reports.

SYDNEY (Reuters) -The United States commissioned a warship in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday, the first time a U.S. Navy vessel joined active service at a foreign port, as the two close allies step up their military ties in response to China's expanding regional reach.