Tag: Bill Gates

Blackstone, Bill Gates Plans $4.3b Bid for Signature Aviation

Bill Gates joined the battle for Signature Aviation Plc, allying with Blackstone Group Inc.’s $4.3 billion approach for the world’s biggest operator of private jet bases.

Gates’s Cascade Investment LLC, the No. 1 shareholder in Signature Aviation, and Blackstone are in advanced discussions with the London-based firm on a $5.17-a-share cash offer, they said Friday in a statement. Signature had said in December it would accept an approach from Blackstone if a firm offer were made at that level.

The involvement of Gates means Blackstone becomes the firm favorite to purchase Signature after Carlyle Group Inc. said Thursday it was also considering a potential offer. A third suitor, Global Infrastructure Partners, said in December that it was considering its options after its lower bid was rejected.

Shares of Signature were trading 4.8% lower as of 8:10 a.m. in London as prospects for a bidding war faded. The stock was priced at 397.90 pence, equivalent to $5.40, still above the offer mooted by Blackstone.

Private flying is one of the few travel sectors to have benefited from the coronavirus pandemic, offering the well-heeled the opportunity to continue traveling while minimizing potentially risky contact with other passengers.

Under the Blackstone plan, Microsoft Corp. founder Gates, who owns 19% of Signature, would contribute his shareholding and top it up with cash to become a 30% owner. Blackstone owns 70% of the bidding entity.

Signature, which changed its name from BBA Aviation last year, traces its origins to a Scottish industrial company founded in 1879. It’s had several names since and has focused on private aviation in recent years, selling parts distributor Ontic last year for $1.4 billion.

The company has also made several acquisitions, buying rival Landmark Aviation for $2.1 billion from Carlyle in 2016, and acquiring Epic Fuels for $88 million in 2018. Gates became an investor in 2009 and holds his stake through Cascade Investment LLC.

Signature had become a more likely takeover target since simplifying and selling its Ontic unit, according to Citi analyst Charles Mortimer.

Carlyle is working with Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley on its approach, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Signature confirmed the Carlyle approach and set Feb. 4 as a deadline for a firm offer. It set a Jan. 14 deadline for formal proposals from the Blackstone and GIP.

– Culled Bloomberg

Bill Gates is paying off Nigeria’s $76 million Polio debt

Bill and Melinda Gates

Billionaire philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates will pay off $76 million of Nigeria’s debt through their namesake foundation. The payments, which will be made over the course of 20 years, are due to begin this year.

In 2014, Nigeria borrowed the money from Japan to fund its fight against the preventable disease, Quartz reports. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has “agreed to repay the loan after Nigeria met the condition of achieving more than 80% vaccination coverage in at least one round each year in very high risk areas across 80% of the country’s local government areas,” according to Quartz.

No new cases of polio were reported in the country in 2017. That’s a drastic change from 2012, when Nigeria had over half of all polio cases worldwide, according to the publication.

In a recent blog post, Gates acknowledges the significant strides made towards wiping out the disease globally — 30 years ago, there were 350,000 cases of polio per year worldwide, while last year, that number dropped to just 21.

“The heroes who have made this progress possible are the millions of vaccinators who have gone door to door to immunize more than 2.5 billion children. Thanks to their work, 16 million people who would have been paralyzed are walking today,” Gates writes.

Polio is “a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease,” which, after invading the nervous system, can cause paralysis. Among those paralyzed, two to 10 percent die.

The Gates Foundation spent $3 billion in 2017 to help stop the spread of the disease, and names polio eradication one of its “top priorities.” The foundation says it has supported the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s efforts to wipe out the disease by contributing technical and financial resources to accelerate targeted vaccination campaigns, community mobilization and routine immunizations.

“Progress in fighting polio might be one of the world’s best-kept secrets in global health,” Gates previously acknowledged in the foundation’s 2017 annual letter. “If things stay stable in the conflicted areas, humanity could see its last case of polio this year.”

In 1988, the virus was present in over 125 countries, paralyzing about 1,000 children per day. Since then, cases of polio have decreased by over 99 percent.

The Gates’ donation is not out of character; in 2017, they gave $4.6 billion to their namesake organization. In addition to its work with polio, the foundation has also spent $1 billion in an effort to send over 20,000 kids to college and has committed millions more toward fighting Alzheimer’s and providing resources to women in developing countries.

Thanks in part to his massive philanthropic efforts, Gates is no longer the richest person in the world, a title that he had held for much of the last decade. Jeff Bezos is currently the richest person, with a net worth of more than $108 billion, according to Forbes. Gates is currently worth $92 billion.

However, Bloomberg notes that Gates would have a net worth of $150 billion if he had not been so generous. While Bezos is not known for being particularly philanthropic as billionaires go, in January he announced a $33 million donation toward TheDream.Us, an organization that provides scholarships to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, known as “dreamers.”

Gates also founded The Giving Pledge with Warren Buffett. Its billionaire signers have promised to give away at least half of their wealth.

“We have been blessed with good fortune beyond our wildest expectations, and we are profoundly grateful,” Bill and Melinda wrote in their Giving Pledge letter, CNBC Make It previously reported. “But just as these gifts are great, so we feel a great responsibility to use them well.”

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