Two Major Tech Deals Come Under UK Government Scrutiny

• The U.K. will review Altice USA Inc’s (NYSE: ATUS) increased stake in BT Group (LON:BT) plc (OTC: BTGOF) after Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng exercised new takeover powers focusing on national security.
• The company announced that the U.K. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is “calling in” its deal with Altice, which telecom magnate Patrick Drahi owns.
• BT Group said it would fully cooperate with this review.

Reuters

Britain Competition Watchdog Launches Second Probe On Google

• Britain’s competition regulator launched its second probe into the advertising practices of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google for allegedly fudging competition and illegally favoring its services.
• The CMA studied three critical parts of the ad tech stack chain, services that mediate ad tech since Google owned the largest provider in each of those components.
• The CMA’s latest probe follows its probe into Google and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) owner-Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: FB) “Jedi Blue” agreement.

Canada’s Telus Withdraws Its $830M Bid For Australia’s Appen

• Telus International (TSX:TIXT) (NYSE: TIXT) made and then unexpectedly withdrew a A$1.2 billion ($830 million) acquisition offer for Australian rival Appen Ltd (OTC: APPEF).
• “Telus informed us that they were revoking their Indicative Proposal. No reasons were given,” the Australian software seller stated.
• On Thursday, trading in Appen’s shares was halted after they surged more than 29 percent to A$8.27, well below the indicative offer price of A$9.50 per share.

Wall Street Journal

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Gives 10% Hike To Store Workers Amid Hot Inflation, Unionization Drive

• Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has reportedly followed up on its February pay increases for its store employees with another.
• Cupertino is raising salaries for store employees in the U.S. by 10% or more, to at least $22 per hour, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an email from the company to workers.
• “This year as part of our annual performance review process, we’re increasing our overall compensation budget,” the report said, citing an Apple spokesperson.
• The latest move is on top of the 2-10% upward revision the company announced in February.

Boeing’s Starliner Spacecraft Returns To Earth

• After undocking from the International Space Station, Boeing Co . (NYSE: NYSE:BA) spacecraft landed in the desert on Wednesday, marking the end of a test mission that was first attempted more than two years ago, reported WSJ.
• The ship had successfully connected with the space station on Friday night, nearly a day after being launched into orbit by a rocket from a Florida launchpad.
• The Starliner carried out several maneuvers during the mission to demonstrate its capacity to fly and make adjustments in orbit to reach the station.
• A report by leading cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin reveals that 27% of U.S adults are now invested or have traded cryptocurrencies in the last six months.