COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Exxon appoints former GM executiveExxon Mobil Corp on Tuesday appointed Dan Ammann, former president of automaker General Motors, to lead the oil company’s energy transition business effective May 1.

The appointment signals a shift in Exxon to hire outsiders for senior roles after activist investors won three seats last year on the U.S. producer’s board. Exxon last year hired Kathryn Mikells from drinks maker Diageo Plc as its finance chief.

Ammann replaces Joe Blommaert as chief of its Low Carbon Solutions unit, Exxon said on Tuesday. Blommaert will retire after 35 years at the oil producer.

In December, Ammann abruptly left the Detroit automaker where he was chief executive of its self-driving car subsidiary Cruise. Prior to running Cruise, Ammann served as the Detroit company’s president and chief financial officer, and was a Wall Street banker with Morgan Stanley before that.

People familiar with the matter said he was dismissed after disagreeing with GM over when to take Cruise public. GM Chief Executive Mary Barra has downplayed the need for a quick Cruise public offering, and the carmaker has repeatedly stressed the importance of that business to its overall operations. - Reuters

Cresco nears purchase of Columbia CareUS cannabis producer Cresco Labs Inc is in advanced talks to buy rival Columbia Care Inc for around US$2 billion, three people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

If a deal is finalised it would be one of the largest in the US cannabis industry to date. The industry, still in its infancy, continues to operate in a regulatory environment defined by a patchwork of laws that vary from state to state.

A deal could be announced as soon as Wednesday, the sources said. Exact terms of the deal could not be learnt.

The people cautioned that talks could still fall apart and highlighted that the companies have overlapping footprints in multiple states, including in the key New York market, and could require significant divestitures - a possible hurdle in reaching an agreement.

The sources requested anonymity as the discussions were confidential. Cresco Labs and Columbia Care did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Cannabis sales in the United States have been booming and are forecast to reach US$46 billion by 2026, according to industry research firm BDSA, as states like New York and New Jersey open up. - Reuters

Uber to service Mexico’s new airport

Uber is working with Mexican authorities to bring service to and from the capital’s newest airport, which formally opened Monday with just a few flights and lacking key transportation to the infamously traffic-plagued megacity.

The ride-hailing giant’s Mexican unit said in a statement to Reuters that it hopes to offer service “in the near future” to the Felipe Angeles International Airport, approximately 45 km (28 miles) north of Mexico City’s long-standing international hub.

The airport is the first of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s signature infrastructure projects to be completed, three years after he scrapped a $13-billion, partially built airport that he argued was riddled with the previous administration’s corruption.

The president has said that the new site will ease congestion at the existing airport, though only a handful of daily flights are operating and a promised train connection has yet to be completed.

Lopez Obrador set off for the airport’s inauguration around 5 a.m. Monday, local outlets reported, after saying he would arrive from the city’s densely packed downtown in just 40 minutes. - Reuters

Toshiba to solicit buyout offers

Hong Kong-based activist fund Oasis Management has voted in favour of a shareholder proposal demanding Toshiba Corp solicit buyout offers from private equity firms, a source with direct knowledge told Reuters on Wednesday.

Oasis joined a chorus of other hedge fund investors who have opposed the Japanese conglomerate’s plan to break itself up and called on the company to look at alternatives ahead of an extraordinary meeting on Thursday.

The fund voted against the Japanese industrial conglomerate’s plan to break itself up, said the source, who declined to be identified because the matter is private. Oasis declined to comment.

Toshiba said it would continue to make every effort to gain shareholder support for the break-up plan. - Reuters

Workers at Postbank clinch pay deal

A pay increase for 15 000 workers at Deutsche Bank’s retail unit Postbank has been agreed with management, a union said on Wednesday, brightening prospects for a wage deal for the broader industry after months of wrangling and strikes.

The deal, sealed on Tuesday evening, comes as inflation in Germany hovers above 5% and after Deutsche paid its chief executive officer 20% more in 2021 to reward him for the bank’s most profitable year in a decade.

Under the deal’s terms, workers get a 3.1% pay increase from June 1 and a further increase of 2.1% from February 2023, the Verdi union said. The deal also includes 750-euro payments in May and January.

The union had asked for a 6% wage increase and other benefits.

Workers went on a strike on Friday, the latest volley in the ongoing pay negotiations ahead of Tuesday’s third round of talks.

Attention now turns to wage talks for 60 000 workers at Germany’s public-sector banks and 140 000 workers at private banks. - Reuters