Goldman Sachs Group brought back Mark Schwartz to run its Asian business from Beijing, after an 11-year hiatus during which he ran George Soros?s hedge-fund group and started an investment firm with Raj Rajaratnam. Schwartz, 57, will also be vice chairman of the firm, New York-based Goldman Sachs said in a statement on Tuesday. He fills a role left by J Michael Evans, who served as chairman of the region since 2004 and is now based in New York as vice chairman and global head of growth markets. The new Asia chief will be Goldman Sachs?s first regional chairman to be based in Beijing, signaling the growing importance of the world?s second-largest economy as the Wall Street bank targets emerging markets to bolster revenue. Rival JPMorgan Chase & Co. in April said Jeff Urwin, global head of investment banking, would move to Hong Kong and take on the additional role of Asia CEO.
GSK unit to buy Basilea eczema drug for $227 m
GlaxoSmithKline is to buy Basilea’s new eczema drug Toctino for an initial 146 million pounds ($227 million) to boost its Stiefel dermatology business, the two companies said on Tuesday. The Swiss biotech company is also entitled to further payments of up to 50 million pounds if the drug is approved in the United States, as well as double-digit percentage payments on US sales beginning three years after launch. Basilea shares gained 10% by 03.45 am EDT on news of the cash injection, although analysts at Jefferies said a good chunk of the money would likely be spent developing experimental antibiotic ceftobiprole and other earlier-stage products.
Toctino, already on sale in 14 countries and in final stage Phase III clinical trials in the United States, had sales last year of 22 million pounds. Jefferies puts peak annual sales at $250 million.
Gordon Brown contradicts Murdoch claim to inquiry
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown flatly contradicted media tycoon Rupert Murdoch at a judicial hearing on Monday, suggesting the News Corp chief had misled the government-sponsored inquiry into press ethics under oath. Murdoch told the inquiry earlier this year that the then Labour prime minister telephoned him in September 2009 after The Sun newspaper switched its allegiance to the Conservative Party and threatened to unleash war on Murdoch’s company in revenge. “This conversation never took place,” Brown, who served as prime minister from 2007 to 2010, told the Leveson inquiry into media ethics at the Royal Courts of Justice. “I am shocked and surprised that it should be suggested.”
Alibaba discounts TVs to woo Chinese online
Alibaba Group Holding is taking a new approach to boosting sales online: paying its customers to cut their prices. China?s biggest e-commerce company plans to spend 300 million yuan ($47 million) on summer promotions for goods ranging from iPhones to televisions to air-conditioners sold through its Tmall. The website, which operates a marketplace similar to EBay ?s, is subsidising its vendors? deals for their customers. The program steps up Alibaba?s battle with online rivals 360Buy.com and Tencent Holdings for China?s Internet shoppers, estimated at 193 million by Boston Consulting Group.
Cos reluctant to add jobs: Manpower survey
Hiring prospects have improved slightly in the United States and other major economies but companies are only adding workers when they have to, according to a survey by Manpower Group , the global employment services giant. Manpower in a quarterly survey describes a vicious circle in which stronger consumer spending is being reined in by weak hiring, and vice versa. Spooked by Europe’s ongoing debt crisis and a slowdown in China, hiring managers in large economies are reluctant to invest in staff until they see a rebound in demand for their goods and services. “Companies are in tune with their demand and surroundings,” Manpower chief executive Jeff Joerres said. “Hiring has been put into only-if-necessary mode.
