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First Tranche of US-India Trade Deal Is Near Closure: Commerce Secretary

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First Tranche of US-India Trade Deal Is Near Closure: Commerce Secretary

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Africa tech: The Egyptian firm looking to cut energy bills

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Africa tech: The Egyptian firm looking to cut energy bills


Egypt’s Saving System says its technology can result in big savings on corporate electrical bills.

At the heart of its product are special capacitors – devices which store electrical energy. Saving System says that, when wired up, the capacitors can make electricity use more efficient, saving the customer’s money and carbon emissions.

With decades of work behind the tech, Saving System’s chief executive Ahmed Alwakil says that launching new tech products requires “patience”.

This is the fourth of a five-part series on technology in Africa.



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Resale of tickets above face value set to be outlawed under crackdown on touts

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Resale of tickets above face value set to be outlawed under crackdown on touts



Reselling tickets for live events for profit is set to be banned by the Government.

Ministers are expected to announce the plan to tackle touts and resale sites which offer tickets at several times’ their face value.

The Labour manifesto promised stronger protections to stop consumers being scammed or priced out of events by touts, who frequently use bots to buy tickets in bulk the moment they go on sale, which they can then sell on for huge mark-ups on secondary ticketing websites.

A consultation on the changes had canvassed views on capping costs at up to 30% above the face value of a ticket.

But reports in the Guardian and Financial Times revealed ministers were expected to set the limit at the face value, although fees could still be charged on top of that price.

The Government declined to comment on the reports.

The move, which could be announced on Wednesday, follows a campaign by some of the biggest names in music to cut costs for fans.

Coldplay, Dua Lipa and Radiohead were last week among artists urging the Government to honour the pledge to cap resale prices.

The Cure’s Robert Smith, New Order, Mark Knopfler, Iron Maiden, PJ Harvey and Mercury Prize-winner Sam Fender joined them in signing a statement calling for a cap to “restore faith in the ticketing system” and “help democratise public access to the arts”.

Other signatories included the watchdog Which?, FanFair Alliance, O2, the Football Supporters’ Association and organisations representing the music and theatre industries, venues, managers and ticket retailers.

Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said: “This is great news for music and sports fans.

“A price cap set at the ticket’s original face value plus fees will rein in professional touts and put tickets back in the hands of real fans.

“For far too long, music and sports fans who missed out on tickets in the initial sales have been ripped off by touts on secondary ticketing sites and forced to pay over the odds to see their favourite artist perform or watch their team play.

“The Government must listen to our coalition of performers, fans, consumer groups and the UK music industry and show that the price cap is a priority by including the necessary legislation in the King’s Speech.”

Ticketmaster’s parent company Live Nation Entertainment backed the move.

In a statement the firm said: “Live Nation fully supports the UK Government’s plan to ban ticket resale above face value.

Ticketmaster already limits all resale in the UK to face value prices and this is another major step forward for fans, cracking down on exploitative touting to help keep live events accessible. We encourage others around the world to adopt similar fan-first policies.”

But resale firm StubHub warned the move could fuel the black market in tickets.

A spokesman for StubHub International said: “The Government’s intention to implement a price cap on the resale of live event tickets will condemn fans to take risks to see their favourite live events.

“With a price cap on regulated marketplaces, ticket transactions will move to black markets.

“When a regulated market becomes a black market, only bad things happen for consumers. Fraud, fear and zero recourse.”



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E.W. Scripps stock surges 40% after Sinclair takes stake, pushes for a merger

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E.W. Scripps stock surges 40% after Sinclair takes stake, pushes for a merger


Signage is displayed outside the Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. headquarters in Cockeysville, Maryland, U.S.

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Sinclair disclosed a stake in fellow broadcast station owner E.W. Scripps on Monday, in a move to push toward a merger of the companies.

Sinclair, which acquired a roughly 8% position in Scripps per the filing, recently launched a strategic review of its own business that could result in a tie-up. Scripps, for its part, has seen its struggles mount in the competitive industry and is among the smallest of its peers.

In the filing, Sinclair said it has been engaged in “constructive” discussions regarding a deal and believes that, if it were to reach an agreement, a transaction could be completed within nine to 12 months.

Sinclair said in the filing that based on trading multiples, there would be an expected $300 million in synergies if a merger were to take place.

Scripps’ stock rose more than 40% on Monday while Sinclair’s stock was up 7%.

Sinclair, which acquired the stake for about $15.6 million, declined to comment beyond the SEC filing.

In a statement on Monday, Scripps said its board “will take all steps appropriate to protect the company and the company’s shareholders from the opportunistic actions of Sinclair or anyone else.”

“Scripps’ board of directors and management are focused on driving value for all of the company’s shareholders through the continued execution of its strategic plan,” the company said in its statement. “The board and management are aligned on doing only what is in the best interest of all of the company’s shareholders as well as its employees and the many communities and audiences it serves across the United States.”

The statement added that the board continues to evaluate “any transactions and other alternatives that would enhance the value of the company and would be in the best interest of all company shareholders.”

Broadcast TV station group owners have suffered like the rest of media companies in recent years due to the shift away from the traditional pay-TV bundles and toward streaming. These broadcast stations, for the most part, make the majority of their money from so-called retransmission fees, which are paid on a per-subscriber rate by traditional TV distributors.

Broadcast station owners like Sinclair have been eager to do mergers as they push for deregulation under the Trump administration.

In August, Nexstar Media Group, the biggest owner of these stations, agreed to acquire Tegna for $3.54 billion.

Sinclair, meanwhile, is also considering spinning off or splitting its ventures unit, which includes pay-TV network The Tennis Channel and marketing technology business Compulse, which was recently rebranded to Digital Remedy.

Sinclair and its advisors held discussions with potential merger partners earlier this year, CNBC previously reported.



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