EMEA Morning Briefing : Stocks to Open Higher as -2-

Saudi Aramco Sells Stake in Natural-Gas Pipeline Business

Saudi Aramco agreed to sell a 49% stake in its natural-gas pipeline business to a consortium led by BlackRock Inc. and Saudi-backed Hassana Investment Co. for $15.5 billion-the state-owned oil giant's latest move to pull cash out of its vast energy infrastructure.

The deal follows a pattern used when Aramco agreed to sell a similar sized stake in its oil pipeline network in April for $12.4 billion to a group led by EIG Global Energy Partners. Aramco, officially called the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said Monday it had formed a new subsidiary, Aramco Gas Pipelines Co., that will lease usage rights in Aramco's gas-pipelines network. It agreed to sell 49% of the new company to the consortium led by BlackRock unit BlackRock Real Assets and Hassana. Hassana is the asset-management arm of Saudi Arabia's General Organization for Social Insurance.

U.K. Retail Sales Rose in November on Black Friday Boost

Retail sales in the U.K. rose in November compared with the year before, according to the latest report by KPMG and the British Retail Consortium.

British retail sales between Oct. 31 and Nov. 27 rose 5.0% compared with the same period a year before, the report found. This was well above growth of 0.9% noted in November 2020, and exceeds the three-month average growth rate of 2.2%.

CIA Chief Says Intelligence Agencies Haven't Concluded Russia Will Invade Ukraine

WASHINGTON-U. S. intelligence agencies haven't concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin will invade Ukraine, but he has assembled military forces that "could act in a very sweeping way" and may see an opportunity to move this winter, CIA Director William Burns said Monday.

"I would never underestimate President Putin's risk appetite on Ukraine, " Mr. Burns said at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Summit. He noted remarks Mr. Putin has made that Moscow should have significant influence over Ukraine, a neighbor.

VW's CEO Likely to Survive Latest Clash With Labor

BERLIN-Volkswagen AG CEO Herbert Diess is likely to survive his latest clash with labor representatives over the pace of the company's transformation to an electric-vehicle maker after weeks of negotiations produced a compromise that would strip the outspoken executive of some of his duties, people familiar with the talks said Monday.

Mr. Diess has been under fire for weeks since warning the company's board of directors in the fall that unless VW greatly accelerated its shift to electric vehicles it could lose up to 30,000 jobs at its main operations in Wolfsburg, Germany, around half of the workforce at the plant.

Budweiser Tries to Make Beer Stocks Fashionable Again

Budweiser's new boss thinks beer has as bright a future as liquor. Shareholders aren't swallowing it yet.

Michel Doukeris, who took over as chief executive of Anheuser Busch InBev in July, set out his strategy for the world's biggest brewer at an investor day Monday. He plans to grow earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by 4% to 8% a year "over the medium term."

MTIP, a Swiss Healthtech Investor, Raises $250 Million for Its Second Fund

Swiss healthtech private-equity firm MTIP AG has collected $250 million for its second investment fund, with the goal of backing companies at the nexus of two expanding industry sectors.

Based in Basel, the firm said it closed the fund above its $225 million target. The first fund-a "proof of concept" vehicle-collected $65 million in 2016, according to Christoph Kausch, managing partner of the firm.

Biden to Warn Putin Off Invasion of Ukraine

WASHINGTON-President Biden spoke Monday with European allies ahead of a call with Vladimir Putin in which he will warn the Russian president not to invade Ukraine, officials said.

Mr. Biden "will make clear that there will be very real costs should Russia choose to proceed, but he will also make clear that there is an effective way forward with respect to diplomacy," a senior administration official said about the call with Mr. Putin scheduled for Tuesday.

Elon Musk Comes Out Against Federal Electric-Vehicle Spending

Elon Musk took aim at a signature Biden administration legislative proposal and said China is adjusting to its growing position as a dominant world power in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The Tesla Inc. chief executive criticized federal efforts meant to spur electric-vehicle adoption, including a bill that would boost incentives for buying battery-powered cars.

Samsung Replaces CEOs, Merges Mobile and Consumer Electronics Businesses

SEOUL-Samsung Electronics Co., in a surprise move, replaced the heads of its three major business units and merged the company's mobile and consumer electronics businesses into a single unit.

The shake-up leaves two co-CEOs atop the world's largest maker of smartphones, televisions and semiconductors. Samsung has ambitious investment plans to compete against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on advanced chipmaking, while striving to fend off Chinese rivals with phones and other gadgets.

Intel to List Shares in Mobileye Unit

Intel Corp. is planning to publicly list shares in its Mobileye self-driving-car unit, the latest move by Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger to revive the semiconductor giant's fortunes.

Intel said it would take the unit public in the U.S. in mid-2022 through an initial public offering of new Mobileye stock. The move, earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal, could value Mobileye at north of $50 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

SEC Opens Probe Into Tesla Involving Solar-Cell Activity

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Tesla Inc. that touches at least in part on the company's solar-cell activity.

The SEC acknowledged the probe in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by a former Tesla employee who previously filed a complaint with the SEC, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The person alleged in the complaint to the regulator back in 2019 that Tesla and SolarCity, the solar-cell business it acquired, failed to properly notify shareholders and the public of fire risks associated with its equipment, according to one of the documents.

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Expected Major Events for Tuesday

00:01/UK: Nov BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor

05:30/NED: Nov CPI

06:45/SWI: Nov Unemployment

07:00/GER: Oct Industrial Production Index

07:00/DEN: Oct Industrial production & new orders

07:00/NOR: Oct Industrial Production Index

07:00/ROM: 3Q GDP

07:00/UK: Nov Halifax House Price Index

07:45/FRA: Oct Foreign trade

07:45/FRA: Oct Balance of Payments

08:00/HUN: Oct Preliminary Industrial Production

08:00/SWI: Nov SNB foreign currency reserves

08:00/CZE: Oct Industry, Construction

08:00/CZE: Oct External trade

08:00/AUT: Sep Foreign Trade

08:30/SWE: Oct New orders & deliveries in industry

08:30/SWE: Oct Industrial Production Index

09:00/BUL: 3Q GDP - preliminary data

09:00/ICE: Nov External trade, preliminary figures

10:00/EU: 3Q GDP and Main Aggregates Estimate

10:00/EU: 3Q Employment

10:00/GER: Dec ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment

All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-07-21 0026ET