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Blackstone’s $3.45 Billion Deal For Lab Space Shows Boom in Life Sciences

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Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg

The pandemic has sent shock waves through the commercial real estate market as malls, restaurants, and retail outlets struggle to survive, but spaces devoted to labs and life sciences are thriving.

Lab personnel continue to operate across the U.S., especially those helping to create vaccines and treatments to fight Covid-19. And investors are there to encourage them.

The

Blackstone Group

(ticker: BX), the commercial real estate and private equity giant, announced on Monday a $3.45 billion deal for a group of life sciences buildings in Cambridge, Mass.–a hotbed of lab activity.

The complex, which Blackstone is buying from

Brookfield Asset Management

(BAM), includes 2.3 million square feet of space near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“This transaction illustrates Blackstone’s continued conviction in the life sciences space both broadly, and within real estate, investing in best-in-class assets located adjacent to top-tier research and education institutions,” Nadeem Meghji,

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FOREX-Dollar falls, sterling jumps as Brexit deal hopes lift risk appetite

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By Suzanne Barlyn

Dec 14 (Reuters) – The dollar hovered near two-year lows on Monday as riskier currencies got a boost from progress on COVID-19 vaccines and the possibility of a U.S. coronavirus relief plan.

The greenback last traded little changed to 90.7040, down 0.07%, as an intensive care unit nurse became the first person in the United States to receive the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc PFE.N and German partner BioNTech SE BNTX.O on Monday.

Its arrival provided some relief as the country passed the grim milestone of 300,000 lives lost on Monday.

“It’s one of those days where we are settling down and understanding just how successful we may be in distributing these vaccines,” said Juan Perez, senior foreign exchange trader and strategist at Tempus, Inc. “That has created a very strong risk-on sentiment.”

The vaccine comes as negotiators in the U.S. Congress were nearing agreement

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Huntington Bancshares to buy Detroit-based TCF National Bank in $6 billion stock deal

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Huntington Bancshares of Columbus is buying the Detroit-based parent of TCF National Bank in all-stock, $6 billion deal that will extend Huntington’s footprint into new markets as far west as Colorado.



a large tower in a city: Huntington Bancshares of Columbus is acquiring TCF National Bank, based in Detroit.

© Dispatch file photo
Huntington Bancshares of Columbus is acquiring TCF National Bank, based in Detroit.

The acquisition announced Sunday night will be the biggest in Huntington’s 154-year-old history and nearly twice the size of Huntington’s last big acquisition, the $3.4 billion purchase of Akron-based FirstMerit in 2016.

With a market value of $13.1 billion, Huntington is more than twice the size of TCF, which had a market capitalization of $5.4 billion as of Friday. The deal calls for TCF Financial shareholders to get about three Huntington shares for each of their TCF shares, worth about $38.83 for each of their TCF shares, which closed at $34.78 on Friday.



a man wearing a suit and tie: Huntington Bancshares CEO and Chairman Steve Steinour

© Huntington Bancshares
Huntington Bancshares CEO and Chairman Steve

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Dollar falls; sterling up 1.5% as Brexit deal hopes lift risk appetite

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LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar fell close to two-year lows on Monday as renewed hopes for a Brexit deal and fiscal stimulus in the United States, as well as progress on Covid-19 vaccines, lifted riskier currencies.

FILE PHOTO: Pound and U.S. dollar bills are seen in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

The pound gained after the UK and European Union agreed on Sunday to continue Brexit talks and the EU’s chief negotiator said a deal was still possible.

At 1220 GMT, the pound was up 1.5% versus the dollar, at $1.3423 – a jump from its low point of $1.3135 on Friday. Versus the euro, it was up around 1.1% at 90.535 pence.

“Despite being a very close call at this stage, we still think a deal is the most likely scenario and therefore expect a GBP rally to materialise in the next two weeks,” ING strategists

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AstraZeneca shares fall on ‘hefty’ $39-billion Alexion deal

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By Pushkala Aripaka



graphical user interface, website: FILE PHOTO: The logo of AstraZeneca is seen on medication packages in a pharmacy in London

© Reuters/Stefan Wermuth
FILE PHOTO: The logo of AstraZeneca is seen on medication packages in a pharmacy in London

(Reuters) – AstraZeneca shares fell as much as 9% on Monday, as investors moved to price in the costs of a $39 billion deal for U.S. biotech company Alexion Pharmaceuticals that would be the British drugmaker’s biggest ever corporate acquisition.

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The deal, announced over the weekend, is also one of the biggest in an already bumper year for mergers and acquisitions and at current market prices will be almost two-thirds funded with AstraZeneca shares.

The terms of the deal give Alexion shareholders $60 in cash and about $115 worth of equity per share, working out at a premium of more than $50 per share according to Reuters calculations.

Analysts from two brokerages, Cowen and Liberum, called the price respectively “considerable” and “hefty”, while praising the quality

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British pound sees a pop as U.K. and EU set to go ‘the extra mile’ on Brexit deal

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Financial markets were set to parse news that U.K. and EU leaders agreed that they should go “the extra mile” to try to find a compromise on a trade deal, following a Sunday phone conversation.

In a joint statement, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, acknowledged that “deadlines have been missed over and over” during protracted negotiations extending over the past 10 months on their future trade relationship.

Sunday had been viewed as a firm date for an agreement to occur or for a signal that a no-deal Brexit would be at hand with the Dec. 31 deadline for a pact to be struck looming.

The British pound appeared to react favorably, rising against the euro and the U.S. dollar in trade, on reports of an extension of talks.

In recent action on Sunday in New York, the pound
GBPUSD,

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Sterling rises on hope for Brexit deal, dollar swoons before Fed

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By Stanley White



a group of people posing for a photo: Pound and U.S. dollar bills are seen in this illustration

© Reuters/Dado Ruvic
Pound and U.S. dollar bills are seen in this illustration

TOKYO (Reuters) – The British pound rose against the dollar and the euro on hopes that Britain and the European Union will secure a free trade agreement after their decision to extend negotiations beyond the Sunday deadline.

The dollar eased slightly ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting ending Wednesday where policymakers are expected to increase purchases of longer-dated Treasuries to contain a rise in yields.

The rally in sterling may not last, some analysts warn, because Britain and the EU have repeatedly struggled to narrow their differences and there is still a risk that trade and business will be thrown into chaos without an agreement.

“This is a temporary move higher in the pound, but it is still not clear that a no-deal scenario can be avoided,” said Junichi Ishikawa, senior foreign exchange

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Britain say Australia trade deal talks ‘advancing well’

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By William James



Elizabeth Truss wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera: British trade minister Liz Truss speaks to Reuters after signing a free trade agreement with Singapore, in Singapore

© Reuters/STAFF
British trade minister Liz Truss speaks to Reuters after signing a free trade agreement with Singapore, in Singapore

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s trade talks with Australia are advancing well, Trade Minister Liz Truss said on Sunday, speaking after the latest round of negotiations and with both sides having made initial offers on goods market access.

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Britain stands on the brink of a disruptive break with the European Union, its largest trading partner, as talks to secure a long term trade deal grind into their final days ahead of Jan. 1, when transition arrangements that have kept it in the EU single market and customs union since formally leaving the bloc in January run out.

Regardless of that outcome, Britain wants to find new deals around the world, using its new-found freedom from collective EU trade policy to try to carve out fresh markets

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Brexit trade deal talks deadline extended after ‘constructive’ call between Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen

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a person wearing a suit and tie: Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen. Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Images

© Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen. Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty Images
  • Brexit trade talks will be extended following a call between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
  • Both sides had insisted that the deadline for a breakthrough in talks was Sunday, with Johnson insisting a no-deal Brexit was “very likely.”
  • The extension comes as UK shops have been told to stockpile food and other essential items ahead of a possible no-deal outcome.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Brexit trade deal talks will continue into the coming week following a call between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday.

Ursula von der Leyen told reporters that talks with Johnson had been “constructive and useful” and so talks could continue.

“Despite the exhaustion after almost a

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Ireland working on support scheme for Irish firms in case of UK-EU no deal – report

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FILE PHOTO: Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney and his German counterpart Heiko Maas (not pictured) attend a news conference in Berlin, Germany, December 11, 2020. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/Pool/File Photo

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland is working on a financial support scheme to help food exporters maintain their share in the British market in the event of a ‘no deal’ exit for Britain from the European Union, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Ireland would be the European Union country most impacted if the two sides fail to agree a trade deal before Britain’s status quo transition period with the trading bloc ends on Dec. 31.

“In my view, the focus of that support should be on maintaining market share. At some point in the future we will hopefully be trading again in Britain, and we certainly don’t want to be losing market share for a really important market,”

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