2019年5月23日

Theresa May is expected to resign after losing the support of her Cabinet

Allies of Theresa May expect her to announce her resignation as prime minister by the end of the week after losing the support of senior members of her Cabinet. The prime minister had intended for her government to bring forward her Withdrawal Agreement Bill on Thursday, as voters went to the polls in the European Parliament elections.

May infuriated Conservative MPs on Tuesday evening by announcing that the Houses of Commons would be given a vote on whether to hold a new Brexit referendum if they voted for her Withdrawal Agreement Bill. Around 100 Conservative MPs gathered in a committee room inside the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday evening to discuss May’s future.

Conservative MPs emerged from the meeting exasperated at May’s refusal to stand down, with one declaring the committee’s executive to be “jellyfish” for refusing to move decisively against her.

Wesfarmers set to enter EV market as $776 million takeover bid

Wesfarmers has taken a step closer to its intended takeover of Kidman Resources, an ASX-listed lithium miner and supplier to electric vehicle pioneer Tesla. Wesfarmers has announced it has entered into a formal agreement with Kidman, confirming its proposal to acquire 100% of the shares in the mining company.

The statement said the proposal has the approval of Kidman’s board and major shareholder. Now, it is up to the retail investors in Kidman and the courts to have their say, with a shareholder meeting planned for August. 

The takeover would see Wesfarmers venturing into the electric vehicle space — the Mt Holland lithium mine in Western Australia — is a major supplier of lithium batteries to Tesla. Wesfarmers has also entered into an agreement with SQM to ensure the Mt Holland joint venture will go ahead if the takeover is approved by shareholders and the courts.

This is an important milestone in advancing a transaction that provides Wesfarmers with an attractive investment and delivers Kidman shareholders with a compelling premium and certain cash return. Wesfarmers has been seeking entry into the natural resources sector for some time, pursuing a takeover of Malaysian rare earths miner Lynas Corporation.

A millennial entrepreneur wants to change the way you discover and buy original art

For Everette Taylor, a 29-year-old serial entrepreneur who has built a tech and marketing empire over the better part of a decade, his latest business endeavour is more than just a career pivot. He wants to redefine the world of fine art.

After having spent nearly a decade immersed in tech, marketing, and data, Taylor has turned his attention to the art world. His new company, called ArtX, is built to elevate artists; showcasing their work, helping build their audiences, and offering them the software and tools they need to run their own businesses and grow their careers.

As a successful entrepreneur looking for tangible ways to invest his money, he decided to start collecting artwork. The practice is a long-held tradition among the wealthy who acquire creative works that appreciate in value over time. But Taylor discovered sourcing and buying original art is not easy, either. 

ArtX wants to accomplish that by first showcasing artists of all stripes – including those who are underrepresented in the traditional art-gallery world – highlighting their work and their stories. A lot of the stuff you read about is very academic, so they want to create stuff that’s easily consumable for the average person.

9% of millennials surveyed said they bought art online more than once in the last 12 months. And perhaps most notably, 23% of those millennials said they had “never bought an artwork in a physical space (e.g. gallery, auction or art fair) prior to buying art online.”