Weekly Market Update - 3 July 2023

French Unrest

French President Emmanuel Macron is counting on law enforcement to restore order after almost a week of nationwide riots touched off by a police officer’s fatal shooting of a teenager. Macron met with key cabinet ministers on Sunday to craft a response to the violence, which is testing his authority and ability to carry out reforms. He’s keeping some 45,000 police, special forces and armored vehicles deployed to contain clashes. Tensions have abated slightly compared with the initial upsurge in unrest.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian Drugmakers

US Food and Drug Administration officials found multiple faults at a plant run by one of India’s biggest drugmakers as the watchdog continues to unearth wide-ranging lapses across the country’s factories. Auditors uncovered “deficient” equipment cleaning and storage controls during a visit to an Aurobindo Pharma facility in Anakapalli, eastern India. Sampling tools weren’t cleaned and maintained to prevent contamination at the plant, which produces certain active pharmaceutical ingredients — the raw materials core to making drugs. The US largely depends on supplies of cheap generic drugs from the South Asian nation.

Source: Bloomberg

Asset Sale In Hong Kong

Swire Pacific became the second notable Hong Kong company to announce plans to offload assets in as many days, in an effort to reduce debt in the face of rising borrowing costs. The conglomerate announced it will sell its US beverages business Swire Coca-Cola, USA, which produces, sells and distributes Coca-Cola and other drinks in 13 states across the western US, to a wholly-owned subsidiary of John Swire & Sons for $3.9 billion. The deal came a day after the billionaire Cheng family announced a similarly structured $4.5 billion deal, with an offer to buy the NWS Holdings shares it doesn’t own — effectively shifting cash from the family’s investment holding company to its indebted builder New World Development.

Source: Bloomberg