Jan. 27 at 1:34 AM
$META $SPOT $DEC $DEO $BMDPF
TOP 5 WEEKEND STORIES:
1. U.S. President Donald Trump said he is in talks with multiple people over buying TikTok and will likely have a decision on the app's future within 30 days, Nandita Bose, Dawn Chmielewski, Milana Vinn and Kanishka Singh of Reuters reports. "I have spoken to many people about TikTok and there is great interest in TikTok," Trump told reporters. Companies in the social media space that compete with TikTok include Meta (META), Alphabet's YouTube (GOOGL), Pinterest (PINS), Reddit (RDDT) and Snap (SNAP).
2. Universal Music Group (UMGNF) and Spotify (SPOT) announced new, multi-year agreements for Recorded Music and Music Publishing focused on growth, innovation, and the advancement of artists' and songwriters' success. Under the new agreements, UMG and Spotify will collaborate closely to advance the next era of streaming.
3. Diversified Energy (DEC) is in advanced talks to buy Maverick Natural Resources, Lauren Thomas and Ben Glickman of The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal would value Maverick at roughly
$1.3B, including debt, and could be announced as early as Monday, the people said. The combined company would be worth
$3.8B, including debt, Bloomberg's sources added.
4. Diageo (DEO) released a statement saying, "We note the recent media speculation around the Guinness brand and our stake in Moet Hennessy (LVMUY) and we can confirm that we have no intention to sell either. We will next update the market with Interim results on 4 February 2025 and we look forward to hosting our Guinness investor and analyst day on 19/20 May 2025."
5. Italy will support Banca Monte dei Paschi Siena's (BMDPF) bid to take over Mediobanca (MDIBY), believing a successful move would benefit the country's economy, Jerrold Colten and Sonia Sirletti of Bloomberg reports.
