((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Adds Universal Music Group, Italy, ByteDance, Nippon Steel; updates Macy’s, Enauta)
The following deals, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures were reported at 2000 GMT on Wednesday:
** Universal Music Group UMG.AS said its Greater China unit has entered into a global digital distribution partnership with Chinese entertainment company TF Entertainment.
** The chairman of the US Senate Commerce Committee said lawmakers could extend by a year the proposed deadline to force TikTok’s parent company, China’s ByteDance, to divest the short-video app used by 170 million Americans.
**Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he hoped discussions on Nippon Steel 5401.T’s proposed acquisition of US Steel XN would proceed in a positive manner for the parties, while US President Joe Biden said he was sticking to his commitments to American workers and the U.S.-Japan alliance.
** Italy plans asset sales valued at nearly 1% of GDP to bring its fragile public finances under control, the Treasury said, indicating it may have diluted previously announced plans.
** Macy’s MN has ended a nearly two-month proxy fight with Arkhouse Management by adding two of the activist investor’s nominees to its board, the U.S. department store chain said.
** Brazilian energy company Enauta ENAT3.SA hopes to sign a deal by the end of the first half of 2024 to merge with oil company 3R Petroleum RRRP3.SA , its chief executive told Reuters.
** German distributor Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof will be taken over by a consortium made up of American investor Richard Baker and German businessman Bernd Beetz, the distributor said.
** U.S. oil and gas producer SilverBow Resources SBOW.N said in a filing it had requested additional information about Kimmeridge Energy Management’s assets as part of ongoing takeover negotiations.
** Spanish drugmaker Grifols GRLS.MC plans to meet its debt payments in 2025 with proceeds from new senior secured bonds and the sale of its 20% stake in Shanghai RAAS
002252.SZ to Haier Group, he said.
** Italy’s Italgas IG.MI, Europe’s largest gas distributor, made a preliminary offer of 4-5 billion euros ($4.3-5.4 billion) for its main domestic rival 2i Rete Gas, daily Corriere della Sera reported.
** U.S. rare earths producer MP Materials MP.N said Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart’s mining company had taken a 5.3% stake in the company, expanding its investments in the minerals sector.