15/08/2025

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | AUG 15, 2025

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Shares of Bullish soar in NYSE debut

Trump orders space regulations eased in win for Musk WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday easing regulations for the private space industry, including eliminating some environmental reviews, in a move likely to please his erstwhile adviser Elon Musk. The executive order, which said it aimed to “substantially” increase the number of space launches in the United States, was described by an environmental group as “reckless”. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has talked up several space missions including sending humans to the Moon and Mars. The Moon and Mars missions are planned to get a ride on the Starship rocket of Musk’s private firm SpaceX. SpaceX dominates the global launch market, with its various-sized rockets blasting off more than 130 times last year – and that number looks set to rise after Trump’s executive order. “It is the policy of the United States to enhance American greatness in space by enabling a competitive launch marketplace and substantially increasing commercial space launch cadence” by 2030, the order read. The change could well benefit Musk, who has long advocated for deregulation of the space industry. The executive order also called on Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy “to eliminate or expedite the Department of Transportation’s environmental reviews” for launches. SpaceX has been criticised over the environmental impact at the sites where Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket in history, blasts off. “This reckless order puts people and wildlife at risk from private companies launching giant rockets that often explode and wreak devastation on surrounding areas,” the Centre for Biological Diversity’s Jared Margolis said in a statement. – AFP Carlsberg misses H1 forecasts, warns of difficult year COPENHAGEN: Carlsberg missed half-year profit and volume forecasts yesterday, with the Danish brewer warning it does not expect any improvement in the consumer environment for the rest of 2025. The world’s third largest brewer behind Anheuser-Busch InBev and Heineken nevertheless raised its full-year profit guidance, breaking with those rivals who opted to keep their forecasts unchanged as US tariffs drive uncertainties. Volume growth or forecasts at all three brewers have disappointed in recent weeks as the sector battles with weak demand, tariff impacts and poor weather. Carlsberg said it had grown first-half organic operating profit by 2.3%, while organic volumes slipped 1.7% – putting it just behind analyst expectations on both measures. CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said the group had “delivered solid results in a difficult half year”. “We don’t expect the consumer environment to improve over the remainder of the year.” – Reuters

to convert a significant portion of the IPO proceeds to stablecoins – a slice of the crypto space that has boomed since US President Donald Trump signed the Genius Act, creating a regulatory regime for the dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies. Bullish’s debut marks a rare US listing by a crypto exchange, joining larger retail-focused rival Coinbase, which became the first crypto player to be included in the benchmark S&P 500 index in May. Founded in 2020, Bullish targets institutional clients, whose crypto holdings are expected to rise as a new White House order aims to allow alternative investments in 401(k) retirement plans. “A pure institutional strategy positions Bullish for more stable, recurring revenue than exchanges reliant on retail volumes, which tend to be cyclical and sentiment driven,” said Michael Hall, co-chief investment officer and founding partner at Nickel Digital Asset Management. Bullish CEO Tom Farley was previously the president of NYSE. “For a sector still overcoming reputational headwinds, that kind of leadership experience can be a differentiator in securing institutional mandates,” Hall said. – Reuters

Exchange operator Gemini and asset manager Grayscale are also among the crypto firms that have confidentially filed to go public. “We’ve gone public today, and there’s a slew of others that are going to follow us, and I think that is net beneficial, because it gives people more options in terms of how they access this asset class,” Bullish president Chris Tyrer told Reuters in an interview. Bullish is close to concluding a two-year process to obtain a virtual currency licence known as a “BitLicense” in New York, which would allow the company to operate in the state, Tyrer said. The BitLicense requires firms to comply with requirements related to know-your-customer, anti-money laundering and capital. Peter Thiel-backed Bullish plans

o Market reaction reflects positively for other crypto firms looking to list

NEW Cryptocurrency exchange operator Bullish was valued at US$13.16 billion (RM55.44 billion) after its shares more than doubled in their NYSE debut on Wednesday, underscoring investor confidence in the sector and lifting prospects for future US listings by other digital asset firms. The parent of crypto news website CoinDesk raised US$1.11 billion in its IPO, valuing the company at US$5.4 billion – another sign of mainstream adoption in a market that recently topped US$4 trillion. “Bullish came out with an attractive initial valuation, and YORK:

investors responded by aggressively bidding it up during the pre-IPO process,” said Jeff Zell, senior research analyst at IPO Boutique. The stock opened at US$90 and was trading over 150% its IPO price of US$37 in afternoon trading. It went as high as US$118, before paring gains slightly to trade at US$92.60. A string of regulatory wins under a pro-crypto White House, corporate treasury adoption and ETF inflows have prompted investors to embrace the once-scorned digital asset class, driving bellwether bitcoin to record highs.

Bullish chairman Brendan Blumer and Farley posing with staff during the company’s IPO at the New York Stock Exchange. – REUTERSPIC

NGOs urge UK to probe ‘Telegraph’ newspaper sale

LONDON: The UK government must investigate The Telegraph newspaper’s sale to US investment group RedBird Capital and the risks of China’s influence, human rights and freedom of expression groups demanded on Wednesday. An open letter addressed to UK Media Minister Lisa Nandy, signed by nine organisations including Human Rights in China and Hong Kong Watch, alleged “RedBird Capital’s ties to China ... threaten media pluralism, transparency, and information integrity in the UK”.

Telegraph acquisition by RedBird Capital raises both public interest and potential foreign media influence concerns,” it added. RedBird Capital Partners rejected accusations of China’s influence. “There is no Chinese involvement or influence in RedBird Capital’s proposed acquisition of The Telegraph ,” a spokesperson said in a statement emailed to AFP. “After two years of regulatory limbo, it is now time to close this acquisition and finally position The Telegraph for growth.” – AFP

US-Emirati consortium RedBird IMI, comprising Redbird Capital, struck a deal for TMG in late 2023. However, the previous UK government triggered a swift resale amid concern over the potential impact on freedom of speech given Abu Dhabi’s press censorship record. “Pending robust investigations, the (new) planned merger should be placed on hold,” NGOs, including also Article 19 and Free Tibet, stated in Wednesday’s letter. “We believe that there is reasonable ground to suspect the

RedBird Capital chairman John Thornton sits on the advisory council of the China Investment Corporation, the country’s largest sovereign wealth fund, the letter noted. In May, RedBird agreed to buy the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), comprising the 170-year-old paper’s print and online operations, for £500 million (RM2.9 billion). Wednesday’s letter provides a new twist to The Telegraph takeover saga, already marked by UK government intervention over foreign press influence.