Backed by decades of European and international aviation experience, he will lead ACI World’s strategic direction until 2027
Montreal, 12 January 2026 – Airports Council International (ACI) World welcomes Jost Lammers, CEO of Munich Airport, as Chair of the ACI World Governing Board (WGB) for the 2026–2027 term.
Lammers succeeds Candace McGraw, retired CEO of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), who completes her tenure as ACI World’s first woman Chair, after guiding the organization through a period of strong global advocacy and strategic advancement.
The ACI World Governing Board is composed of 28 airport CEOs nominated by ACI’s five regions. The Board provides strategic direction on airport policy, operational priorities, sustainability, and innovation on behalf of airports worldwide.
A global aviation leader with extensive international experience
Lammers has been an active member of the ACI World Governing Board since 2019—serving as Vice Chair from 2024–2025—and served on the Board of ACI EUROPE from 2017–2023. Elected President of ACI EUROPE in 2019, he led the ACI Region through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 crisis, strengthening collaboration among airports across Europe and championing recovery.
Since January 2020, Lammers has served as CEO of Munich Airport, one of Europe’s leading international hubs known for service quality, innovation, and sustainable airport development. Prior to this role, he was CEO of Budapest Liszt Ferenc Airport from 2008, overseeing significant modernization and growth.
He served two years as President of the German Aviation Association (BDL), representing the entire air transport sector in Germany: airlines, airports, air traffic control, ground handling service providers and retail companies.
Lammers began his aviation career in 1998 at HOCHTIEF AirPort GmbH, where he worked on projects in Düsseldorf and Athens, including the commissioning and opening of the new Athens International Airport. He studied business administration and economics in Bayreuth, Witten-Herdecke, and San Diego. Lammers brings more than 25 years of global aviation and airport leadership experience to his new role as Chair.
Industry leaders speak
ACI World Director General Justin Erbacci said: “We are proud to welcome Jost Lammers as Chair of the ACI World Governing Board. His global experience, proven leadership, and deep understanding of airport operations and policy come at a pivotal moment for our industry. As airports accelerate innovation, strengthen operational resilience, and advance sustainability, Jost’s ability to build consensus and drive strategic progress will be instrumental.
I would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to Candace McGraw for her exceptional leadership as ACI World’s first woman Chair. Her commitment to sustainability, advocacy, and workforce transformation has helped position airports for long-term success.”
Munich Airport CEO Jost Lammers said: “It is an honor for me to serve as the Chair of the ACI World Governing Board. My dedication is focused on strengthening ACI’s leadership role on the global stage. By uniting strong advocacy, effective governance, and collaboration with global partners, we can ensure airports evolve as innovative, sustainable, and people-focused organizations, enhancing their role as vital hubs of mobility and economic growth.”
About ACI
Airports Council International (ACI), the trade association of the world’s airports, is a federated organization comprising ACI World, ACI Africa, ACI Asia-Pacific and Middle East, ACI EUROPE, ACI Latin America and the Caribbean and ACI North America. In representing the best interests of airports during key phases of policy development, ACI makes a significant contribution toward ensuring a global air transport system that is safe, secure, efficient, and environmentally sustainable. As of January 2025, ACI serves 830 members, operating 2,181 airports in 170 countries.
Editor notes
1. Learn more tabout thte ACI World Governing Board.
The move in Tesco’s fair value estimate from £4.84 to £4.80 per share looks small on the surface, but it reflects a careful rebalancing of risk and growth in the valuation work. A slightly higher discount rate of 8.13% sits alongside a revenue growth assumption of 2.95%, which keeps the long run earnings narrative intact while acknowledging a more cautious backdrop. As you read on, keep an eye on how these subtle shifts feed into the broader story so you can stay tuned on practical ways to track future changes in the narrative around Tesco.
Analyst Price Targets don’t always capture the full story. Head over to our Company Report to find new ways to value Tesco.
Recent analyst commentary on TSCO, which refers to Tractor Supply rather than Tesco, still gives you a useful playbook for thinking about how the street can reward or penalise a retail name when it reassesses fair value. The same themes that show up in these TSCO notes, such as execution on growth plans, clarity on medium term margins and discipline on costs, are often the ones that shape sentiment around Tesco as well.
🐂 Bullish Takeaways
Several firms, including Jefferies and Baird, have highlighted what they see as supportive customer behaviour and “needle moving growth initiatives,” and have raised or set price targets between US$64 and US$67 when they gain confidence that execution and growth plans are on track. For Tesco, similar attention tends to fall on how consistently it delivers against its revenue and margin ambitions.
Analysts at Mizuho and Wells Fargo have pointed to easing concerns around sales trends and more encouraging management commentary on the medium term, including references to 2026 margin potential. When Tesco provides comparable clarity on its multi year margin or cost efficiency goals, that kind of visibility can be a positive input into valuation work.
Jefferies has flagged that, even when a retailer screens as a “hedge” to consumer uncertainty, a discount to its own historical valuation range can be viewed as puzzling. When you look at Tesco, a similar question often comes up, which is how its current share price lines up with its own history and with the quality of its execution and balance sheet.
🐻 Bearish Takeaways
Gordon Haskett, through analyst Chuck Grom, moved from an Accumulate stance to Hold on TSCO with a US$50 price target after trimming same store sales expectations from 3.0% to 1.0% and flagging a lack of near term catalysts. This is a reminder that for a retailer like Tesco, any reset in growth assumptions or perceived lull in upcoming triggers can pull fair value estimates a little lower, even if the long run story feels unchanged.
Across these TSCO updates, a recurring reservation is that upside can look “priced in” when there is limited visibility on achieving stated growth ranges such as 3% to 5% same store sales. For Tesco, that kind of caution typically shows up when analysts see execution risk around planned earnings growth, or when they feel recent share price moves already reflect much of the expected improvement in margins or cash generation.
Do your thoughts align with the Bull or Bear Analysts? Perhaps you think there’s more to the story. Head to the Simply Wall St Community to discover more perspectives or begin writing your own Narrative!
LSE:TSCO 1-Year Stock Price Chart
Solution International Nordics AB is rolling out a “one stop shop” bathtime product display in Tesco stores within the baby aisle as part of a joint 2026/27 promotional plan. The initiative is aimed at driving incremental sales and highlighting Tesco’s role in bringing new baby ranges to market across UK and Ireland warehouses and stores.
A new Pacvue partnership with Tesco Media, integrated via Epsilon Retail Media, gives brands the ability to run, optimise and measure sponsored product campaigns on Tesco alongside other retailers. This uses a custom “Sales at Checkout” metric that reflects Tesco’s fulfilment based attribution model and is standardised within Pacvue for cross retailer reporting.
Pacvue is extending its full suite of reporting, automation and optimisation tools to Tesco Media campaigns. This includes Share of Voice analytics, custom dashboards and automated bidding and budget pacing, which allows advertisers to manage Tesco and other major marketplaces in a single workflow.
Solution International is expanding its “Grow with Peppa” character merchandise range in Tesco, with six SKUs in two colour formats for early independent eating available in up to 510 stores across the UK and Ireland and on Tesco’s eCommerce platform. This is alongside projected annual revenue of over SEK 3m and plans for a further baby focused initiative in 2026/27.
Fair value was trimmed slightly from £4.84 to £4.80 per share. This is a small adjustment in the model output and suggests that the core thesis remains broadly intact.
The discount rate was nudged higher from 7.96% to 8.13%. This indicates a modestly higher risk input in the valuation work and places a bit more weight on uncertainty in the cash flow outlook.
The revenue growth assumption was lifted from 2.86% to 2.95%. This is a very small step up in the projected top line trend used in the model and leans gently toward a steadier sales profile.
The profit margin was eased from 2.79% to 2.76%. This reflects a minor tweak to long run profitability assumptions and a slightly more cautious stance on how much earnings the business can retain from each pound of sales.
The future P/E was kept effectively steady, moving fractionally from 16.84x to 16.86x. The earnings multiple input is largely unchanged, so the main story sits in the cash flow and margin adjustments rather than in what investors might pay per pound of earnings.
Narratives on Simply Wall St let you connect Tesco’s story to the numbers by linking your view on its future revenue, earnings and margins to a fair value estimate. Instead of just looking at ratios, you see how a clear, written thesis translates into a forecast and then into a valuation. Narratives live on the Community page, update automatically when fresh news or earnings arrive, and help you decide what to do by comparing Fair Value to today’s Price.
Head over to the Simply Wall St Community and follow the Tesco Narrative to stay on top of how the story and the numbers fit together:
How investments in quality, digital expansion and customer experience are tied to forecasts for revenue growth, margins and earnings per share up to about 2028.
Why higher risk assumptions, stable margin expectations and a future P/E of around 16.8x are used to bridge from Tesco’s earnings outlook to an estimated fair value near £4.80.
What could challenge the thesis, including competition, household budget pressure, higher wage and supplier costs, and how these risks might affect the gap between Fair Value and the current share price.
Read the full Tesco Narrative on Simply Wall St to see the complete earnings, margin and valuation story in one place.
Curious how numbers become stories that shape markets? Explore Community Narratives
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Companies discussed in this article include TSCO.L.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
The inclusion of no-mow areas in landscaping was mentioned by a board member. If this type of landscaping can save money and labor, why was this not taken into consideration earlier in the landscaping award process?
This meeting involved significant discussion about rail operations but very little about bus operations. Is this reflective of a shift of priorities and/or funds away from bus route operations?
Notes
This was a series of committee meetings for the Board of Trustees of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA). Three committees met during this meeting with separate roll calls and discussions. Committees participating during this meeting were the Organizational, Services & Performance Monitoring Committee, the Operational Planning & Infrastructure Committee Meeting, and the Ad-Hoc Compensation Committee.
The attached committee package includes the meeting notice, agendas for each committee, minutes of past meetings, and additional relevant material such as summaries of proposed awards.
Public comment is not taken during committee meetings, but public comments can generally be made in-person or by phone during designated portions of regular board meetings or via web form in advance of those meetings.
Scene setting: This was an in-person meeting open to the public with the option to view live online. A recording of this meeting is available. Past meeting recordings can be found here. While the meeting was separated into individual committees and only those on the committee took roll call and voted on items, other board members not part of the committees were active participants in discussion and question periods.
Meeting start: The meeting started at 9:02 a.m. with a roll call for the Organizational, Services & Performance Monitoring Committee.
Board members present, those on the committee in bold:
Leadership present seated with board members:
India Birdsong Terry (General Manager and CEO)
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Landscape Maintenance and Parking Lot Snow Removal (Shaker Heights Maintenance Agreement)
James Reed, RTA property manager for Programming and Planning, presented. Since 1982, RTA has entered into a series of three-year agreements with the City of Shaker Heights for landscaping and snow removal along approximately seven miles of property lining the Blue and Green Lines within the City of Shaker Heights.
Last year, the board approved a one-year agreement due to Shaker’s pending labor agreement with service personnel. This proposed two-year agreement will allow the return to a three-year agreement.
The benefits to RTA include Shaker having the staff, equipment and management in place for the work, comparable rates to other landscaping contractors, complaint calls going to the Shaker Public Works department — saving RTA time and expense to respond to calls — and Shaker bearing the risk of any contingencies that may increase the cost during the contract.
The cost is about $595,000 total for 2026 and 2027. The committee voted to advance the proposal to the full board for future consideration.
Non-Rail and HealthLine Landscaping
Dawn Svancara, a contract administrator with RTA, said a recommendation was made to award the Non-Rail and HealthLine landscaping services agreement to ESK Landscaping, LLC, based on their experience with municipal, government and other organizations, their use of digital work orders and GPS-verified tracking. They have the staff, fleet and equipment to support multi-state operations.
There was discussion to clarify the scope of this work, and staff confirmed that this is for landscaping services and does not include snow removal. Snow removal for these areas is handled in-house by RTA.
Whigham expressed appreciation for the efforts negotiating this contract. A board member asked if low or no-mow zones or pollinator habitats had been taken under consideration from a cost savings and environmental standpoint. Jason Rosenlieb, RTA manager of rail facilities, said that they have green roofs for cost savings and have looked at putting in natural grass but haven’t gotten too far into that yet.
Title VI – 2026 Program Update to the Federal Transit Administration
Title VI, Civil Rights Act of 1964, states that “No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Robert Jefferson, RTA’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Americans with Disabilities Act Program Administrator, explained that RTA is required to prepare a Title VI program update every three years and submit it to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) following board approval. RTA aims to serve all customers regardless of protected class, equitably distribute benefits and services and provide sufficient services for equal access. Customers have the ability to participate in RTA planning, and remedial action is taken to prevent discriminatory treatment, Jefferson said.
The main requirements are that RTA maintain a Title VI program, provides Title VI notices to the public, has complaint procedures, has a Public Participation Plan and has a Language Assistance Plan.
More information about one element of the Public Participation Plan — the Community Advisory Committee — can be found in past Documenters coverage.
RTA translates vital documents into Spanish as part of the Language Assistance Plan. Spanish speakers are the highest portion of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) individuals in the service area, according to Maribeth Feke, director of programming and planning.
Elder asked if the FTA implemented changes to prompt this update. Jefferson said this is a regular three-year update unrelated to FTA changes. Pacetti asked about feedback from this report. Joel Freilich, director of service management, said there is no formal approval of this report on the federal end.
The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
Update from India Birdsong Terry:Terry said that due to the upcoming Browns stadium changes, lots of public meetings will be happening that may not appear to be headed by or include the RTA. That does not mean that they aren’t in the room and part of those meetings. Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) will be having a meeting on Jan. 14 at Brook Park Elementary that is open to the public to discuss traffic impact and connection to the Brook Park station.
Operational Planning & Infrastructure Committee Meeting (Committee Members Sleasman, Pacetti and Love were present)
RFP Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement process for a consultant to update our Strategic Plan.
Feke said an outside consultant will offer a broader, global view and insight into what others in the industry are doing.
Feke said revision of the plan would include updates on implementation of activities, establish goals for 2026 and beyond, prioritize Transit Oriented Development (TOD) efforts and reflect on market-driven dynamics, address paratransit funding strategies, consider employee retention and create external engagement.
AECOM Technical Services, Inc. is the recommended firm, at a cost of $465,000. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
IFB Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement for the reconstruction of the transfer table at Track 3 at Central Rail Maintenance Facility (CRMF).
Derek Meinke, RTA engineer project manager, presented. The transfer table brings rail cars from different tracks for various maintenance needs. Currently, the transfer table cannot provide service to Track 3, where internal cleaning occurs, because it becomes stuck at the intersection of the transfer table and Track 3. This project would replace the intersections. Staff recommended Delta Railroad Construction, Inc., for the work, at a cost of about $1 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
Proposed Change Order – a presentation of a negotiated change order to authorize additional construction services under Contract No. 2025-007 with RL Hill/Platform Joint Venture and to reinstate the General Manager’s change order signing authority.
This work will result in boarding ADA customers at the first train car instead of the last at the E. 79th St. Blue and Green Line Station, according to Brian Temming, manager of quality assurance. In the past, a conductor in a rear car would assist the customers. This change, which involves moving ramp platforms, will allow ADA customers to board the front car with the train operator. The additional work bumps the total cost by $67,550 for a total of about $10.5 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
FB Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement to make the necessary modifications to the Red Line platforms to support the new railcars.
Don Tereba, project manager for facilities, presented. This contract will involve modification of 22 platforms on the Red Line. The new railcars are a different size than the current railcars. This will increase the gap between the cars and the platform. This project will build extensions onto existing platforms to close this gap. It will also replace damaged tactile warning surfaces and replace guardrails. During the installation of the platform extensions, there will be a planned two-week downtime. RTA plans to do dry runs to test the timeline of the installation to ensure this plan works and will then have a better idea of how long the shutdowns will need to be.
A staff member reminded those present that the first new railcar is still being built. The conversion on the Red Line is targeted to start in August 2027 and on the light rail in August 2028. Terry asked for a schedule update to be prepared.
Schirmer Construction LLC is the recommended vendor, at a cost of about $11 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
IFB Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement to make the necessary modifications to CRMF to support the new railcars.
Tereba presented. The existing railcars receive maintenance from underneath. The new railcars will require maintenance from above. RTA needs to build infrastructure to access the top of the railcars. This project will build four new service balconies with fall protection and safety gates.
Standard Contracting & Engineering, Inc., received the staff’s recommendation at a cost of about $9.5 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
Ad-Hoc Compensation Committee:
This committee called the roll and then moved into executive session at 11:01 a.m.
Members returned from executive session. The meeting was adjourned at 11:56 a.m.
Coming Up: Future board meeting dates can be found here.
These notes are by Documenter Jamie Harman.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcleveland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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Telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi has relaunched the sale of his 50 per cent stake in German superfast broadband network OXG Glasfaser, as the French-Israeli billionaire continues to explore ways to cut his debt pile.
Drahi, whose Altice unit partnered with Vodafone’s German operation to launch the network in 2023, sent teaser documents to buyers in recent weeks, according to three people familiar with the matter. OXG is valued at about €2bn, according to estimates from New Street Research.
The attempted sale, which follows an earlier effort to find a buyer last year, comes as Drahi explores options to relieve a debt pile of more than $50bn. The tycoon is considering a sale of his €7bn French fibre network XpFibre and in October rejected a €17bn bid for French mobile operator SFR.
OXG committed to spending €7bn to roll out fibre broadband to more than 7mn homes in Germany over a six-year period following its launch in March 2023. However, progress has been slow, with the network reaching just 500,000 homes by the end of 2025. The speed of the network rollout is expected to accelerate this year.
Infrastructure funds such as Antin Infrastructure Partners, which lost out to Drahi when the network was launched, could be interested in a renewed offer, according to a person familiar with the matter. Antin declined to comment.
However, any agreement to sell his stake will require Drahi to gain approval from Vodafone, which may complicate an attempt at a quick sale process. Vodafone declined to comment.
Drahi, who built a telecoms empire including operations in France, Portugal and the US via a $60bn debt-fuelled acquisition spree a decade ago, has come under increasing pressure to refinance and restructure his debts due to rising interest rates.
Last year he finalised a deal with creditors to Altice France to cut the company’s debt burden from €24bn to €15.5bn, while a similar deal could be struck to reduce the €8bn of debt held against his Altice International operation.
In November the billionaire infuriated Altice International’s creditors by moving the bulk of the group’s assets — including those in Portugal and the Dominican Republic — out of their group of collateral, meaning they could not call on them should the debt not be repaid.
The move was seen by analysts as a threat to creditors ahead of a potential restructuring, in order to generate a more favourable deal for Drahi.
James Ratzer, analyst at New Street Research, said that although investors had been “sceptical” about other German fibre investments, OXG was a more attractive opportunity.
“We are more optimistic of better returns [from OXG] given the potential to build a longer-term monopoly,” he added.
Altice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the Zycubo (copper histidinate) injection as the first treatment for Menkes disease in pediatric patients.
“With today’s action, children with this devastating, degenerative disease will have an FDA-approved treatment option and the potential to live longer,” said Christine Nguyen, M.D., Deputy Director of the Office of Rare Diseases, Pediatrics, Urologic and Reproductive Medicine in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “The FDA will continue to work with the rare disease community to advance drug development for patients with Menkes disease and other rare conditions.”
Menkes disease is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a genetic defect that impairs a child’s ability to absorb copper. The disease is characterized by seizures, failure to gain weight and grow, developmental delays, and intellectual disability. It leads to abnormalities of the vascular system, bladder, bowel, bones, muscles, and nervous system. Children with classical Menkes (90% of those with the disease) begin to develop symptoms in infancy and typically do not live past three years. It affects approximately one in every 100,000-250,000 live births worldwide and is more common in boys.
Zycubo is a copper replacement therapy given by subcutaneous injection. It delivers copper in a form that bypasses the genetic defect in intestinal absorption, allowing the body to better use the mineral.
The FDA evaluated Zycubo in two open-label, single-arm clinical trials in pediatric patients treated for up to three years. Overall survival was assessed by comparing treated patients to untreated patients from contemporaneous external control groups. The analysis included 66 treated patients and 17 untreated patients, most of whom were from the United States.
Children who began treatment within four weeks of birth had a 78% reduction in the risk of death compared with untreated patients. Nearly half of early-treated patients survived beyond six years, and some survived more than 12 years. No patients in the untreated control group survived beyond six years. Children who started treatment later than four weeks after birth also experienced a substantial survival benefit.
The most common side effects reported with Zycubo included infections, respiratory problems, seizures, vomiting, fever, anemia and injection site reactions. Because copper can accumulate in the body, patients receiving Zycubo should be closely monitored for potential toxicity.
“This approval marks an unprecedented advance for children with Menkes disease,” said Tracy Beth Hoeg, M.D., Ph.D., Acting Director of CDER. “The company demonstrated a large improvement in overall survival compared with untreated patients, using an innovative trial design that addressed the challenges of studying an ultra-rare disease.”
This application received Priority Review, Fast Track Designation, Breakthrough Therapy Designation, and Orphan Drug Designation. The FDA approved Zycubo for Sentynl Therapeutics.
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The UK Competition and Markets Authority did not block any deals last year after the agency came under government pressure to be more business-friendly.
The CMA reviewed and cleared 36 mergers in 2025, blocking no deals for the first time since 2017, according to data compiled by US law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and shared with the FT.
The antitrust agency stopped one deal in 2024 and has previously prevented as many as four deals in a year, according to the report.
The lack of prohibitions comes after the UK government decided to oust former chair, Marcus Bokkerink, in January 2025, over concerns the regulator was hampering its pro-growth agenda. Bokkerink was replaced on an interim basis by former Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr, who is still in post.
In February, shortly after Bokkerink’s departure, the CMA cleared the $570mn purchase by American Express Global Business Travel of rival CWT in an unusual reversal of an earlier decision.
The CMA, which investigates where there is a risk a transaction could reduce competition, has sought to appease the government over the past year by simplifying its merger review process and stepping back from looking at global deals where the UK is less relevant.
The number of interventions — when the CMA demands changes for a deal to proceed — was also lower last year. Six deals were cleared subject to conditions, compared with 7 in 2024, when 33 mergers were concluded, and 12 in 2023, when 36 were reviewed.
“The UK government’s shift towards a pro‑growth agenda had an immediate and unmistakable influence on the CMA’s merger control work in 2025,” said Antonio Bavasso, head of European antitrust at Simpson Thacher and the lead author of the report.
Bavasso added: “We now have a full year of data to show how the government’s pressure on the CMA has played out and the data really confirms what we knew was going to happen — that a correction has taken place.”
In a statement, the CMA said: “This data depends on the number of strategic M&A deals taking place which meet our threshold and whether those deals raise competition concerns.
“Every deal that is capable of being cleared, either unconditionally or with effective remedies, should be. But we will block anti-competitive deals where no effective remedy can be found.”
The government is looking at further overhauling how the CMA reviews mergers in 2026, moving away from the use of independent panels of experts and instead using a committee of the CMA board. A consultation on the change is expected to start in the coming weeks.
A lighter touch UK competition approach comes amid a wider politicisation of antitrust enforcement globally following changes in government and agency leadership.
The Simpson Thacher report also found that the number of merger settlements — deals agreed with conditions rather than litigated — in the US increased significantly last year for the first time since 2021.
Under the current administration of US President Donald Trump, merger interference from antitrust authorities has slowed significantly, with 14 enforcement decisions in 2025 compared with more than 20 annually in recent years, the report found.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The writer is chair of Rockefeller International. His latest book is ‘What Went Wrong With Capitalism’
India is still reporting world-beating economic growth but no longer getting any love for it. Flows of foreign money into the country have dried up, suggesting outsiders believe that the reported GDP growth rate of over 8 per cent masks underlying weaknesses.
Most strikingly, corporate revenue normally grows (or shrinks) with the economy — in any country. But last year corporate revenue growth for listed companies in India decelerated to barely half the GDP growth rate. Rather than taking comfort in the headline real GDP figures, which are likely to be boosted by technical factors related to adjustments for inflation, policymakers would be wise to address some key faultlines.
Among the leading signs of weakness: India is losing more people and attracting a lot less money than it used to. This decade, a net total of 675,000 people emigrated each year, up from 325,000 in the 2010s. Only Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ukraine have seen a larger exodus while China is haemorrhaging people at the same pace as it did in the last decade, 300,000 a year. A chunk of this outflow from India is “brain drain” — a loss of exactly the skilled workers it needs to compete in advanced fields. As a result, one-third of Silicon Valley’s tech workforce is now Indian.
Employment growth continues to be weak; even at the famed Indian Institutes of Technology, 38 per cent graduated without a single job offer from a campus recruiter in 2024. Many Indians are leaving to find work in the few countries still friendly to immigrants, such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, drawn in by the region’s construction boom.
A sense of limits is reshaping capital flows as well. India has long attracted only modest capital from abroad, thanks in large measure to the lingering “Licence Raj”, which can make it prohibitively expensive to acquire land or hire and fire workers. Asian economies that have sustained rapid growth — such as China and Vietnam more recently — saw net foreign direct investment surge above 4 per cent of GDP during their boom phases.
That figure never surpassed 1.5 per cent in India, and it is now just 0.1 per cent. Over the past decade, India dropped in the rankings for net FDI/GDP, from 12th to 19th among the 25 largest emerging countries. While the net numbers have been depressed recently by foreigners repatriating past profits, gross flows are low too, with India ranking below most emerging markets last year.
In addition to India’s long-standing reputation as a difficult place to do business, new risks have been holding back foreign investors including New Delhi’s deteriorating relations with its neighbours, the tariff battle with Washington and doubts about its tech potential. China and South Korea spend more than 2.5 per cent of GDP on research and development; India’s outlays last year were just 0.65 per cent of GDP. It is no surprise then that it has no serious players in AI.
These shortcomings are souring financial markets. After a long drought, stock markets in the emerging world finally saw net inflows last year. India, however, experienced record net outflows of $19bn. The intense foreign selling was countered by domestic buyers, with households keen to increase their historically low exposure to equities. Nonetheless, the Indian stock market significantly lagged behind its peers last year.
India needs much more foreign capital to grow rapidly because its domestic savings pool is not enough. Unlike the east Asian economic miracles, India has a weak manufacturing sector, so it never became an export powerhouse and has almost always run a current-account deficit. Among other beneficial side effects of foreign capital — particularly of direct investment — is that it brings greater access to new technology.
India’s basic weaknesses point the way forward. Over the past year, New Delhi took significant steps to streamline the labour code, simplify bankruptcy rules and launched an agency devoted to further cuts in red tape. The hope is that these reforms will finally spur new investment.
It is no coincidence that domestic private investment in India has also been anaemic over the past decade, held back by the same regulatory maze and overzealous bureaucracy that foreigners complain about. And boosting investment, both domestic and foreign, is the key to creating jobs and stemming the exodus.
India’s real growth rate will be revealed over time, as the technical factors distorting the economic data wash out. Regardless of what that number is, the tell-tale sign that India is on the miracle path will appear when it starts to import more capital and export fewer workers.
Commonwealth Bank will provide its Emergency Assistance to customers and businesses in areas affected by significant weather events in Queensland.
Retail Banking Services Group Executive, Angus Sullivan, stated “We are continuing to assess the impacts of flooding and severe weather across parts of Queensland. Our focus is on supporting our customers, communities and employees, with a range of measures in place to help customers navigate their recovery and access support if needed. We also recognise and thank emergency services personnel and volunteers for their work to assist and support impacted communities.”
CBA understands each customer will have different needs and we encourage them to discuss their individual circumstances by either contacting the bank in the CommBank app or phoning 1800 314 695. Business customers can also call 1800 314 695 or speak with their dedicated CommBank relationship manager.
For more information on the support we’re providing to impacted communities, visit: commbank.com.au/support/emergency-assistance.
CBA Emergency Assistance includes a range of options for eligible customers, including:
Customised payment arrangements for home loans, business loans, personal loans and credit cards.
Waiving fees and charges, including waiving fees for temporary and damaged merchant EFTPOS terminals, as well as support with merchant terminal rental fees.
Temporary overdrafts, additional loans or emergency credit limit increases (subject to credit approval).
Waiving fees and notice periods for early access to Term Deposits (including Farm Management Term Deposits).
Temporary accommodation may be available for customers who have taken out Home Insurance provided by Hollard, distributed by CommBank, subject to making a claim and policy terms and conditions.
Helping direct claims enquiries for customers seeking support through their Home Insurance provided by Hollard, distributed by CommBank.
To access this support, customers should contact the bank through the CommBank app. Alternatively, they can call 1800 314 695. Branch availability and further information about CBA’s Emergency Assistance is available online at commbank.com.au/support/emergency-assistance.
For emergency help call the State Emergency Service on 132 500 or visit your State Emergency Service Website
In a life-threatening emergency call 000 (triple zero).
Be alert to scams
During this time customers should also remain vigilant and be extra cautious of unexpected calls or messages claiming to be from well-known organisations including banks, telecommunications companies and government agencies.
CommBank will never send customers links in text messages directing them to sites that ask for passwords, and customers should never click on any of these they receive.
If customers receive an unexpected call claiming to be from CommBank, they should ask the caller to verify the legitimacy of the call by using CallerCheck which triggers a security message in the CommBank App.
How customers can better protect themselves from scams:
Stop: Does a call, email or text seem off? The best thing to do is stop. Take a breath. Real organisations won’t put you under pressure to act instantly.
Check: Ask someone you trust or contact the organisation the message claims to be from.
Reject: If you’re unsure, hang up on the caller, delete the email, block the phone number.
From 1 January 2026, Australia will become a mandatory and suspensory merger control regime. Businesses must notify the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) of acquisitions that meet specified thresholds and cannot complete these acquisitions without approval. To streamline approval for low-risk deals, a waiver notification process has been established.
What is a notification waiver?
A notification waiver is an ACCC decision that an acquisition does not need to be reported, even if it meets the notification thresholds established under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA) and the Competition and Consumer (Notification of Acquisitions) Determination (Determination). This process provides a quick and inexpensive way for acquisitions unlikely to affect competition or harm consumers to proceed without being in breach of notification obligations.
Importantly, the waiver process is not an alternative for all transactions, particularly those that raise competition issues. It should also not be considered a first step in the clearance process where there are overlaps that will require more detailed consideration. Waivers are appropriate for straightforward acquisitions that can be assessed quickly based on upfront information, without further investigation or third-party consultation.
When might a waiver be appropriate?
The ACCC has indicated that a waiver may be considered where there is:
no or minimal competitive overlap, combined with very low market share (e.g., ~5%) and many alternative suppliers
no vertical or conglomerate concerns, or both parties have very low market shares
No complex scenarios, such as:
potential loss of future competition (nascent competitors or likely entrants)
high market concentration or vigorous competitor status
failing firm situations
complicated multi-segment markets
no risk of consumer harm
no need for third-party inquiries
asset acquisitions where assets are not scarce and rivals can easily obtain similar assets
Waiver information requirements
The information requirements for a waiver application are still substantial and include details of:
the Parties to the acquisition and the goods, services and industries involved
acquisition and transaction information, including type of acquisition (horizontal, vertical, conglomerate, business input), commercial rationale, consideration, transaction value, related filings in other jurisdictions
the threshold met and any exemptions
the effect on competition, including for each relevant good/service with horizontal or vertical overlap, description and geographic supply areas, key suppliers in Australia, relevant market definitions and reasons, market share estimates for each party and key competitors (based on revenue for the last 12 months and including any underlying data in machine-readable format).
Final or most recent transaction documents, a list of related agreements, and a declaration by an authorised person confirming the accuracy and completeness of the application must also be included for the application to be valid.
Process and timelines
Waiver applications will be assessed from 12 January 2026 with an application fee of AUD$8,300 per acquisition. Applications are submitted online and the process is public with determinations published on the acquisitions register.
The ACCC is required to make its decision within 25 business days. If a decision is not made, the ACCC must not grant the waiver. Where the parties meet the notification thresholds, the principal party will be required to re-notify the transaction under a Phase 1 review.
Importantly, waivers do not provide statutory protection, cannot cure stale acquisitions (previously notified but not completed within 12 months) and are not available for transactions outside the definition of “acquisition” under the CCA.
Key takeaways
Whether the new merger control regime applies should be assessed early. Taking the correct approach will be critical in meeting deal timelines. If thresholds are met, an assessment will need to be made as to whether the transaction is truly low risk from a competition law perspective to determine if a waiver is appropriate.
Information is still required to be robust and insufficient information may lead to refusal. It will be important to plan for contingencies in deal completion timing and assess the extent to which statutory notification is required by the parties as conditions to completion.
The waiver process will assist with streamlining truly no risk transactions. Any acquisition that raises any element of competition assessment will need to be considered carefully to ensure that a waiver is the most appropriate avenue under the mandatory merger control regime.
White & Case means the international legal practice comprising White & Case LLP, a New York State registered limited liability partnership, White & Case LLP, a limited liability partnership incorporated under English law and all other affiliated partnerships, companies and entities.
This article is prepared for the general information of interested persons. It is not, and does not attempt to be, comprehensive in nature. Due to the general nature of its content, it should not be regarded as legal advice.
SHANGHAI, Jan. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Clover Biopharmaceuticals, Ltd. (Clover; HKEX: 02197), a global commercial-stage biotechnology company committed to unleashing the power of innovative vaccines to save lives and improve health around the world, today announced that enrollment of the first participants has been completed in a Phase 2 clinical trial in Australia evaluating SCB-1022 (RSV + hMPV) and SCB-1033 (RSV + hMPV + PIV3) protein-based vaccine candidates based on prefusion-stabilized F (PreF)-Trimer subunit vaccine antigens utilizing Clover’s validated Trimer-Tag vaccine technology platform.
“The initiation of this Phase 2 trial for our respiratory combination vaccine candidates SCB-1022 (RSV + hMPV) and SCB-1033 (RSV + hMPV + PIV3) further strengthens our global first-in-class potential,” said Joshua Liang, Chief Executive Officer & Board Director of Clover. “This milestone builds upon our recent Phase 1 data indicating potential best-in-class RSV+hMPV±PIV3 combination vaccines with the potential ability to re-vaccinate individuals previously receiving approved RSV vaccines to restore and broaden protection, addressing multiple significant unmet needs globally.”
The ongoing Phase 2 trial for Clover’s combination vaccine candidates is a randomized, observer-blinded, multi-center study enrolling up to 420 older adults (60-85 years) in Australia, and the participants will be randomized to receive either SCB-1022 (RSV + hMPV), SCB-1033 (RSV + hMPV + PIV3) or placebo. The study will assess safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity.
About Clover
Clover Biopharmaceuticals is a global commercial-stage biotechnology company committed to unleashing the power of innovative vaccines to save lives and improve health around the world. With integrated research and development, manufacturing and commercial capabilities as well as strong partnerships with organizations globally, Clover has a diverse pipeline of candidates that have the potential to meaningfully reduce the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases—and to make more diseases preventable.
Clover Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements and information relating to us and our subsidiaries that are based on the beliefs of our management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to our management. When used, the words “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “going forward,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “ought to,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would” and the negative of these words and other similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions. We give no assurance that these expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are participant to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. We caution you therefore against placing undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this document speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time.
