Latest News Kodak scores major loan to make generic pharmaceuticals Eastman Kodak shares reached some impressive heights a few days ago: it skyrocketed about 1200 percent in 2 days, boos ng its market capitaliza on to $2,6 billion from under $150 million. At this point, Kodak stock was trading at $60, compared to last month’s $2,77. The main reason behind these numbers was the fact that Kodak announced that it won a $765 million government loan to launch Kodak Pharmaceu cals, which will produce generic active pharmaceutical ingredients to reduce America’s dependency on foreign drug makers. The company will hire 359 workers, most in New York state, and create approximately 1200 indirect jobs. This is not Kodak’s first me ge ng involved in the drug sector: back in 1990, Kodak was engaged in the produc on of drug ingredients, and consumers are familiar with Kodak because of aspirin. Since announcing the news, cri cs have started ques oning why the Trump administra on awarded the loan to Kodak, which is s ll primarily a technology company, rather than giving it to a pharmaceu cal company. However, at that point, Kodak’s whirlwind wasn’t over just yet: the company’s shares recorded a big drop on the very last day of July, leaving everyone wondering what comes next. Shares went down about 20 percent to $23,95 in midday trading, cu ng the week-to-date gain to more than 1000 percent. Many investors believe that Kodak’s shares went too far too fast, and it looks like the company’s stock is in its own universe for now.
Microsoft confirms plans to buy TikTok The US tech giant Microso has confirmed that it is not only in talks to buy US operaons for the video social media pla orm TikTok, but also in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The company discussed its plan with President Trump, as the White House threatened to blacklist the hugely popular Chinese-owned app, as he believes that the app poses a na onal security risk because it could be used to collect American’s personal data. In a blog post, Microso noted that the company is exploring a preliminary proposal to purchase TikTok service in those countries with the pla orm’s owner ByteDance, which “would result in Microso owning and opera ng TikTok in these markets.“ It added that Microso “may invite other American investors to par cipate on a minority basis in this purchase.“ Microso emphasized that it would ensure that “all private data of TikTok’s American users“ was transferred to and remained in the US. What is more, it would ensure that any data currently stored or backed up outside the country would be deleted from servers a er it was transferred to US datacenters. It also said that Microso “appreciates the US Government’s and President Trump’s personal involvement as it con nues to develop strong security protec ons for the country.“ Short-form video app TikTok is thought to have about half a billion ac ve users worldwide, and about 80 million in the US, with a huge propor on of these in their teens or early 20s. The discussions should be completed no later than 15 September this year. 8 europeanbusinessmagazine.com
