Verizon to Buy Back Shares in Verizon Wireless
On September 2, 2013, Verizon Communications agreed to buy back the 45 percent shares it didn't own from UK-based Vodafone Group for $130 billion, ending a nearly 14-year partnership in the wireless business. As part of the transaction, Vodafone Group shareholders will get $60 billion in Verizon shares and $24 billion in cash--which Vittorio Colao, the CEO of the British company, will use to either reward the shareholders with higher dividends or acquire more niche companies--out of a total of nearly $130 billion in transaction: $60.2 billion in Verizon shares and $58.9 billion in cash component. In a several of small side deals, Verizon will hand over 23 percent of its current stake in Vodafone Italy for $3.5 billion.
U.S. Slaps Avocado Import Ban on Mexico
Mexican authorities confirmed on late February 12, 2022 that the U.S. had imposed ban on avocado import after one American plant inspector in Michoacan state had been sent a threatening message. In the run-up to January 13, 2022, Super Bowl, Mexican avocado growers are readying to run ad for an industry that brings $3 billion additional revenue from abroad.
Avocado Exports to Resume
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico on February 18, 2022 announced that an agreement had been reached for U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service to resume inspection of processing plants in the Mexican state of Michoacan, the only Mexican province certified as pest-free, allowing it to export avocados directly to the United States. The $3 billion avocado export pipeline is frozen since the United States has imposed a ban on avocado import from Mexico after one of the inspectors with the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service has received a threatening text. There is a growing suspicion that many of the avocados processed in the Michoacan may be from non-certified states instead of being grown in the state itself which is certified pest-free. The exact provisions of February 18, 2022, agreement are yet to be known.
