Toyota invests in China; BT names new CEO; Yellow closes operations

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End of the road for Yellow

After 99 years, US trucking giant Yellow [YELL] is closing down. The company emailed staff and customers on Sunday to say it was closing down operations, having been saddled with debt following a series of mergers and locked in a stalemate with the Teamsters union. 30,000 jobs, including 22,000 Teamster members, are under threat from Yellow’s closure.

Tiger flips stake in Indian ecommerce firm

Walmart’s [WMT] dominance of the Indian ecommerce market was consolidated as it agreed to purchase the remaining Flipkart shares owned by Tiger Global for $1.4bn. The purchase values the company at $35bn, below the $38bn valuation at which Walmart bought shares in 2021. Tiger’s $1.2bn investment into Flipkart between 2010 and 2015 has yielded $3.5bn in gains, according to an investor letter seen by the Wall Street Journal.

Toyota to boost Chinese EV technology

In a bid to boost its competitiveness in the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, Toyota [7203.T] has committed to boosting its development of EV technology in China. Chinese EV battery makers are increasing investments in South Korea, hoping to benefit from US and EU tariff policies. French subsidies based on EV production emissions could help European producers withstand an influx of cheap Chinese models, says France’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire

BT announces incoming CEO

Allison Kirkby, CEO of Sweden's Telia Company [TELIA.ST], will replace Philip Jansen as CEO of BT Group [BT-A.L] no later than January 2024. Kirkby is already familiar with BT, having been a non-executive director of the company since 2019. Jansen’s resignation was announced earlier in July, with Kirkby said to be supportive of his strategy of cutting jobs and making the company leaner.

Digital demand prompts TDF fibre sale

French telecoms firm TDF is exploring a sale of its fibre unit that could value the division as high as €1.6bn. The proposed sale, which will be facilitated by BNP Paribas [BNP.PA], seeks to capitalise on a wave of demand for digital services; the fibre unit grew its revenue 42.8% to €52m, according to TDF’s latest annual results.