Here are five things you need to know this morning:
Expedia stock jumps on rumoured Uber interest: Shares in Expedia are rallying premarket this morning after a report in the Financial Times suggested ride-hailing giant Uber has explored a takeover offer for the travel company. Citing three unnamed sources, The FT says Uber has been meeting with advisors to discuss whether a takeover would be feasible. Expedia is worth about US$20 billion, while Uber is currently worth about eight times that much. Uber shares are down about three per cent premarket as investors digest the news. It’s hard to understate the significance of Uber getting deeper into travel services, since Expedia owns not only its eponymous travel booking website but also Hotels.com and Vrbo, which is the biggest competitor to fellow “sharing economy” giant Airbnb. Worth noting: Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi ran Expedia from 2005 until 2017.
FTC finalizes new rule making it easier to cancel subscriptions: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has put the finishing touches on new regulations that are designed to make it just as easy to cancel recurring subscriptions as it is to sign up for them in the first place. The so called “click-to-cancel” rule will go into force later this year after the regulator voted 3-2 in favour of the rule mandating that companies that allow online sign-ups also offer online cancellation options in just a few steps, rather than forcing customers to quit in person or over the phone. Companies would also have to send reminders before automatic renewals are billed. “Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription,” said chair Lina Khan. “The FTC’s rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want.”
Couche-Tard confident in 7-Eleven deal: Couche-Tard is interested in buying all of 7-Eleven owner Seven & i Holdings Co. and would keep the domestic retail operations intact, the CEO of the TSX-listed convenience store chain says. In an interview with Bloomberg, founder Alain Bouchard says he is confident that the company will be able to solve any regulatory hurdles to the deal, just as they have done in the past on their numerous acquisitions. The deal still sounds like anything but a sure thing, but a couple of developments this week are raising the odds of something happening, at least compared to where things stood this time last week.
BRP puts marine biz up for sale: Sea-doo and Ski-doo maker BRP says it plans to sell off most of its marine business, which has underperformed due to soft consumer demand for boats. The TSX-listed company says it has begun a sale process for lines like Alumacraft fishing boats, Manitou pontoons and Australian boat line Telwater. Interestingly, any sale will not include the iconic Sea-doo line of jetskis. The marine segment is a small part of BRP’s business as it is, and it’s getting smaller. Last quarter, revenue for the marine segment came in at just over $59 million. That figure was down by half from the same period a year ago, and a tiny slice of the company’s overall revenues of roughly $1.8 billion.
Lucid shares plunge on operating loss, share sale news: Shares in electric vehicle maker Lucid are down about 15 per cent premarket today after the company said it would issue new shares to shore up its finances and warned of a bigger than anticipated quarterly loss. Lucid plans to issue more than 260 million new shares and may then tap its biggest financial backer, the Saudi investment fund, for another 375 million. The company also warned that its upcoming quarterly loss may hit US$790 million. That’s bigger than the previously forecast $742 million.