FB Roundup: Dyson, Dalian Wanda, and JAB Holdings
James Dyson engineers new university
Sir James Dyson, founder of the eponymous British technology company, is to open his own institute to train engineers as part of a drive to ensure UK companies remain competitive.
The Dyson Institute of Technology, opening this autumn, will offer students free education and a guaranteed job on completion. Dyson said the starting salary was expected to be about £15,000 ($18,700) in the first year.
“We have an insatiable appetite for good engineers and our course will teach them while they are working on real live projects, rather than just learning abstract engineering principles in academia,” Dyson said in a statement.
The entrepreneur—who is estimated to be worth £3 billion—will spend £15 million setting up the institute and will accept 25 students in the first year.
In 2013, Dyson posted profits of £382 million on turnover of £1.3 billion. The 67-year-old owns the entire company.
Dalian Wanda Group buys Dick Clark Productions
Billionaire Wang Jianlin's Dalian Wanda Group has signed a $1 billion deal for Golden Globe Awards producer Dick Clark Productions.
The purchase will be Wanda's first entry into television production.
Assuming regulatory approval is granted, the deal will grant Wanda control of Dick Clark Productions' movie award programme and the Miss America pageant.
Dick Clark Productions is the latest acquisition by Hong Kong-based Dalian Wanda, which reported revenues of revenues of ¥290 billion ($43.2 billion) in 2015.
Wang Jianlin founded real estate conglomerate Dalian Wanda in 1988. The 62-year-old recently won backing for a $4.4 billion delisting of Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties, according to shareholders.
JAB Holdings offers $1 billion for Super Group
JAB Holding, the investment vehicle of the Reimann family, has made a $1 billion takeover offer to the Singaporean instant coffee producer Super Group.
The offer marked the first time JAB Holdings has attempted to enter the booming Asian market as it looks to consolidate the global coffee industry and take on industry leaders Starbucks and Nestle SA.
The Luxembourg-based business in July acquired US-based doughnut and coffee company Krispy Kreme for $1.3 billiondeal as part of its strategy.
Super Group is Asia's second-largest instant-coffee company, after the global giant Nestle.
JAB Holdings is controlled by the second generation of Germany's Reimann family: Renate Reimann-Haas, Wolfgang Reimann, Stefan Reimann-Andersen, and Matthias Reimann-Andersen.
The holding company has orchestrated a string of acquisitions in the coffee sector, totalling more than $30 billion.
