Thursday newspaper round-up: Matchesfashion, Burberry, Boeing
The UK competition watchdog has stepped up its scrutiny of big tech involvement in artificial intelligence startups, asking for comment on three deals by Microsoft and Amazon. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it was examining Microsoft’s investment in the French firm Mistral and the hiring of the DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman as head of the US company’s new AI division. The watchdog is also scrutinising Amazon’s $4bn (£3.2bn) investment in the US AI firm Anthropic. – Guardian
Designer brands including Gucci and Anya Hindmarch have been left millions of pounds out of pocket and some customers will not get refunds after online fashion site Matchesfashion collapsed owing more than £210m last month. Customers who bought designer items prior to the administration are not able to return items or get a refund, according to a report by administrators published on Wednesday. – Guardian
Burberry is at risk of a takeover, City analysts have warned, after losing a fifth of its value since the start of the year. A profit warning from Burberry’s Paris-listed rival Kering, which owns Gucci, triggered a slump in the British fashion brand’s shares on Wednesday. The 2.5pc drop means Burberry has lost almost 20pc of its value since the start of the year, leaving the business worth £4bn. – Telegraph
Some of London’s largest listed companies could see their valuations as much as double by moving to New York, according to a new analysis, underscoring the appeal for companies considering switching their listings away from the UK. Shell, Diageo and British American Tobacco could see their market capitalisations jump if their shares were priced based on the same earnings multiples as their New York-listed peers, AJ Bell, the funds platform, has found. – The Times
Boeing is burning through cash at an unprecedented rate — $3.9 billion in the first quarter or nearly $2 million an hour, as it counts the cost of the Boeing 737 Max crisis. Dave Calhoun, the company’s chief executive who is leaving later this year following the Alaska Airlines door panel blow-out, told employees that Boeing found itself in a “tough moment”. The latest set of production and safety problems and the intervention again of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ascertain whether Boeing is fit for purpose, has ripped into its financial performance. – The Times