$35bn Merger; $1.5bn Chip Grant; £2bn Cost-Cutting Commitment

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$35bn Deal to Create Payments Behemoth

In what is this year’s biggest merger announcement to date, Capital One [COF] is to buy Discover [DFS] in a $35bn all-stock deal. The merger will create the largest US credit card company by volume, surpassing the likes of JPMorgan Chase [JPM] and Citigroup [C]. The deal is a “singular opportunity”, according to Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank, and is expected to go through late this year or early next.

$1.5bn Subsidy for GlobalFoundries

Chipmaker GlobalFoundries [GFS] is to receive $1.5bn in grants from the US government to help it build and expand facilities in the country. This is the first major award granted under the CHIPS and Science Act, which aims to boost the domestic chip sector; other chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. [TSM] and Micron Technology [MU] have also applied for support. Meanwhile, the government of Spain is restructuring its own €12bn chip subsidy plan.

£2bn Barclays Cost-cutting Commitment

The UK bank [BCS] has said it is aiming to cut costs by some £2bn and change up its reporting structure. In addition, it will return some £10bn to shareholders. Its share price jumped nearly 12% by mid-morning following the news. The announcement came following Tuesday’s report of a Q4 net loss of £111m, with net attributable profit for the full year at £4.3bn, down from the previous year’s £5bn.

Nvidia Passes Tesla

The chipmaker [NVDA] is now Wall Street’s most-traded stock, having overtaken the electric vehicle maker [TSLA]: some $30bn of Nvidia shares were traded on average over each of the past 30 sessions, ahead of Tesla’s daily average of $22bn. Having recently become the US’ third most-valuable company, anticipation is high ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday.

Is Zee + Sony Back On?

Zee Entertainment [ZEEL:NS] is making one last attempt to salvage its $10bn merger with Sony [SONY], reported India’s Economic Times. The deal was nixed at the end of January over unresolved “closing conditions”, as well as disagreements over leadership and regulation. Zee would have to notify Sony within the next 48 hours if it is willing to accept its terms and go ahead with the deal.