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Top Midday Stories: Moderna Working on Hantavirus Vaccine, Shares Rise; Blackstone, Halliburton to Invest Combined $1 Billion in VoltaGrid
The three major US stock indexes were up slightly in late-morning trading Monday after President Donald Trump said Sunday on Truth Social that he has rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war.In company news, Moderna (MRNA) said it has been working on early-stage vaccines targeting hantaviruses, Bloomberg reported. The research began before recent infections were reported aboard the Dutch-flagged Hondius, the report said, citing the company. Moderna shares were up 4.9% around midday.Blackstone (BX) and Halliburton (HAL) will invest a combined $1 billion into energy startup VoltaGrid in a deal that values the company at over $10 billion, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Separately, Blackstone agreed to acquire a majority stake in Greek online marketplace Skroutz from CVC Capital Partners, Bloomberg reported Monday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though people familiar with the matter reportedly told Bloomberg it values Skroutz at 635 million euros. Lastly, Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies has launched a lending platform to provide capital and flexibility to US homebuilders, the company said Monday. Blackstone shares were down 1.0%, while Halliburton shares were up 0.6%.Cerebras Systems is planning to increase the size and price of its initial public offering, the company said in a regulatory filing. Cerebras plans to raise its IPO price to a range of $150 to $160 per share from $115 to $125 per share and increase the number of shares marketed to 30 million from 28 million.Apollo Global Management (APO) said Monday its managed funds signed definitive agreements to buy Emerald Holding (EEX) and Questex to form a combined business events platform. The company will pay $5.03 per share to acquire Emerald, assigning the target company an expected value of about $1.50 billion, the company said. Separately, Apollo is in talks to sell its MidCap Financial Investment (MFIC) business development company, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. Apollo values the business at around $3 billion, the report said, citing the sources. Apollo shares were down 0.8%, while Emerald shares were up 9.3% and MidCap shares were down 2.6%.FS KKR Capital (FSK) reported a Q1 loss Monday of $1.57 per diluted share. Total Q1 investment income was $304 million down from $400 million a year ago and below the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of $316.8 million. The company said Monday that KKR's (KKR) KKR Alternative Assets unit will launch a tender offer to buy up to $150 million of FS KKR Capital's shares at $11 each. The offering will begin Tuesday and is expected to expire on June 9, the company said. KKR Alternative Assets agreed to buy $150 million in newly issued shares of cumulative convertible perpetual preferred stock, FS KKR Capital said Sunday. FS KKR shares were up 0.5%, while KKR shares were down 2.8%.Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) on Monday filed a preliminary prospectus supplement with the SEC for a multi-tranche yen-denominated bond offering targeting qualified institutional investors in Japan. The offering consists of five series of notes with varying maturities and interest rates, with all payments to be made in Japanese yen, the filing said. Alphabet's Class C and Class A shares were down 1.8% and 1.9%, respectively.Walt Disney's (DIS) ABC network has been the victim of "sustained, coordinated" censorship by the Trump administration, Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez said in a letter to Disney Chief Executive Josh D'Amaro, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing the letter, which it viewed. Disney shares were down 2.0%.Price: $54.87, Change: $+0.52, Percent Change: +0.95%
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