Spiga says goodbye to Steinenvorstadt
The Italian fast-food chain Spiga will close its branch at Steinenvorstadt at the end of the month. It means only one branch, in Eisengasse, remains in Basel.
A piece of paper on the front door of the restaurant gives a hint that customers will only be able to eat Italian food at Steinenvorstadt 30 for a few more weeks.
The restaurant concept, by the SV Group, opened its first branch in summer 2013 at Eisengasse, which will remain open. The operator of the restaurant chain was not available for a comment on Friday afternoon.
Syngenta purchaser ChemChina apparently facing big merger
The Chinese chemical companies Sinochem and ChemChina are allegedly pondering a merger in order to become a new world leading company.
Three sources which are familiar with the plans told the Reuters news agency that the merger between the two companies, which have a combined annual turnover of almost a hundred billion dollars, is driven by the Chinese government. The government apparently wants to create a state-owned company which is globally more competitive.
In addition, the merged companies would increase their capability to make large purchases such as the 43-billion-dollar purchasing deal by ChemChina for the Swiss agrochemical company, Syngenta.
The merger is also part of a strategy to shrink the cumbersome and debt-ridden state owned sector, in order to stimulate the economy. The managements of both companies held talks at the start of the week and allowed for their bookkeeping to be examined, the insiders said. However, they added that the talks were in an early phase.
Fewer state-owned concerns
A spokesperson for ChemChina has denied plans for a merger, saying there was "no such thing". A Sinochem-spokesperson said on Friday that he knew nothing about it. The administrative departments for the state-owned concerns did not give a statement.
However, the insiders said that the background of the government's alleged plans is for a consolidation of industry. The number of companies should be decreased in order to lower over-capacities, to sort out debt-ridden and unprofitable companies, and become globally more competitive.
New number one
Last year, ChemChina and Sinochem, which focus on the chemical, fertiliser and oil industries, had a combined annual turnover of 90 billion Euros. If they merged, they would outshine their German competitor,
BASF, which has an annual turnover of 70.5 billion Euros.
Additionally, the profits of the companies have decreased due to the separation of the gas trade and storage business. However, regarding annual earnings, the Germans were ahead. While the Chinese earned 454 million Euros all in all, BASF earned 4.5 billion Euros.
Both companies would benefit from the merger, according to the insiders: Sinochem is stronger in the business with raw material, while ChemChina deals with processing. Sinochem could deliver its oil and gas production to the refineries owned by ChemChina, and stimulate their tyre business with rubber production.
The merger would also be a stronger competitor for Bayer, which is on the brink of taking over the American agrochemical company, Monsanto, for 66 billion dollars.
Consequences for Syngenta deal unclear
Any consequences the merger plans may have on the takeover of Syngenta remain unclear. According to the insiders, the merger could give better conditions for ChemChina to finance the deal.
As not all authorities were in favour of the deal, the Chinese had to prolong their offer several times. A Syngenta spokesperson declined to give a statement on this. Nevertheless, ChemChina would still be obliged, after a merger, to process the takeover.
An insider in Beijing said it was "unlikely" that China would dishonour the transaction with the Swiss company, since the long-term securing of food security was a strategic goal of the government. Additionally, it would be more difficult for Chinese companies in the future to buy other foreign companies if they were to reveal themselves as unreliable partners.
Syngenta would be the biggest foreign purchase by a Chinese company. However, the stock market has estimated that the possibility of a takeover of Syngenta in the event of the Chinese merger going ahead was "unlikely". The exchange loss of 1.6 per cent has been deemed "reasonable". In case the takeover failed, merchants count on a massive decrease in the value of Syngenta shares.