BUSINESS LIVE: Ocado boss faces revolt; Hipgnosis agrees Blackstone takeover; Entain reprices debts

Tesla boss Elon Musk has made a surprise visit to Beijing as he looks to woo officials over self-driving cars.

In a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang last night, Musk said the electric car maker was willing to cooperate to ‘achieve more win-win results’.

It comes as the Tesla chief aims to launch its self-driving cars in China and convince officials to transfer data collected in the country abroad to train algorithms.

Gambling group Entain has negotiated the reepricing of two of its existing loans, as it seeks to reassure markets over its debt pile.

The group’s shares have struggled over the last year as investors fret Entain’s high leverage, as well as regulatory concerns.

Entain said it had shaved the margin on a $1.74billion dollar-denominated loan maturing in October 2029 by 75 basis points to 275bps. USD term loan maturing October 2029. The credit adjustment spread of 10bps was also removed

Meanwhile a euro-denominated €1billion loan maturing in June 2028 has seen its margin trimmed by 50bps to 325bps.

Entain said: ‘These refinancing actions are net debt neutral, improve the Group’s liquidity by c£295m, and extend the maturity date of the Group’s debt (replacing the bank loan due 2026 with term loans due 2028/2029).

‘The net impact of the re-pricing and add-on does not change the previously guided cash interest costs for the current financial year. However, with economic forecasts indicating a slower rate of interest rate reduction, we are taking a more conservative view of interest costs for the balance of the year.

‘As a result, our revised guidance for cash interest for FY24 is now c£265m5. The P&< interest charge, adjusting for IFRS16 interest and fee amortisation6, is expected to be c£285m.’

Britain must scrap the ‘double taxation’ blighting popular stock market investments to help revive the City of London.

Investment trusts – such as Scottish Mortgage and Polar Capital Technology – are companies listed on the stock market and are therefore subject to the UK’s ‘pernicious’ stamp duty regime.

Blackstone has agreed to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund for about $1.6billion, after the private equity giant outbid rival suitor Concord in the takeover battle for the music owner of artists such as Shakira and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Blackstone’s formal offer valued the music rights investor at $1.30 per share, higher than Concord’s $1.25 per share offer last Wednesday.

Hipgnosis’ board plans to back Blackstone’s offer and withdrew its recommendation for Nashville-based music firm Concord.

Ocado boss Tim Steiner faces a shareholder revolt over his pay today.

Investors have been urged to vote against the £15m pay policy by advisory groups Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). They say a new scheme may cause ‘excessive pay’.

ISS said its concerns were ‘exacerbated by… no dividend and a general decline in share price.’