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SAN FRANCISCO/MILAN/LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) - Corona Capital is a column updated throughout the day by Breakingviews columnists around the world with short, sharp pandemic-related insights.
Vials with a sticker reading, COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only are seen in front of a displayed U.S. dollar banknote with George Washington and a printed mask in this illustration taken October 31, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
LATEST
- Vaccination decisions
MAKING THE CUT. An advisory committee for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made the tough call on recommendations for those who will receive the next round of Covid-19 vaccines. At a meeting Sunday, the panel decided that 30 million frontline essential workers like first responders, teachers and grocery store workers, should be in the next tranche, along with people at least 75 years old.
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- Working from home
OUT OF ROAD. Supercar maker McLaren is trying to find a SPAC-signposted escape route. The Surrey-based manufacturer, whose sales have been slammed by the pandemic, told the Financial Times it was in talks to raise up to 500 million pounds in fresh equity, potentially through a special purpose acquisition company. That would come on top of a 300 million pound capital injection earlier this year by existing investors, including Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund.
Given investors’ thirst for SPACs – the shares of Paris-listed 2MX Organic bounced 30% after it listed this week – that seems like a great idea. But pitching McLaren as a Ferrari-style luxury investment may be tricky: its revenue has fallen 61% and it generated negative EBITDA in the year to September, making it more akin to high-octane jalopy Aston Martin Lagonda. Even for the freewheeling world of SPACs, McLaren may be a bumpy ride. (By Christopher Thompson)
- Working from home
OUT OF ROAD. Supercar maker McLaren is trying to find a SPAC-signposted escape route. The Surrey-based manufacturer, whose sales have been slammed by the pandemic, told the Financial Times it was in talks to raise up to 500 million pounds in fresh equity, potentially through a special purpose acquisition company. That would come on top of a 300 million pound capital injection earlier this year by existing investors, including Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund.
Given investors’ thirst for SPACs – the shares of Paris-listed 2MX Organic bounced 30% after it listed this week – that seems like a great idea. But pitching McLaren as a Ferrari-style luxury investment may be tricky: its revenue has fallen 61% and it generated negative EBITDA in the year to September, making it more akin to high-octane jalopy Aston Martin Lagonda. Even for the freewheeling world of SPACs, McLaren may be a bumpy ride. (By Christopher Thompson)