Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Watershed moment

US President Joe Biden’s deep-pocketed program designed to finance futuristic energy businesses is issuing a conditional $9.2 billion loan to Ford Motor Co. for the construction of three battery factories. The enormous loan marks a watershed moment for the Democrat’s aggressive industrial policy aimed at helping American manufacturers catch up to China in green technologies. The new factories that will eventually supply Ford’s expansion into electric vehicles are already under construction in Kentucky and Tennessee through a joint venture called BlueOval SK, owned by the Michigan automaker and South Korean battery giant SK On Co. Ford plans to make as many as 2 million EVs by 2026, a massive increase from the roughly 132,000 it produced last year. The rush of incentives, government lending and private-sector investment has led to a manufacturing boom in the wake of the IRA. More than 100 battery and electric-vehicle production projects have been announced or are already under construction in the US, representing about $200 billion in total investments. Gary Silberg, KPMG’s global automotive sector leader, remarked that “not since the advent of the auto industry 100 years ago have we seen an investment like that.” —David E. Rovella

US office buildings are unlikely to regain their peak pre-pandemic values until at least 2040 as demand for desk space weakens. Values are expected to plunge 35% from the peak by the end of 2025 and take an additional 15 years or more to recover as hybrid and remote work reshape real estate. It’s a trend that mirrors the collapse of shopping malls as e-commerce grew. “Demolitions and conversions of the worst assets may partially counteract the impact,” writes economist Kiran Raichura. “But ultimately landlords will have to bear those costs, so the road ahead for office owners is set to be an arduous one.”

Secondary markets—where backers of closely held startups can sell their stakes to other investors—are drawing increasing interest from venture capital funds and other money managers seeking to snap up chunks of private companies on the cheap. Cash-strapped founders, employees and investors are under pressure to sell their stakes amid a wave of tech job cuts, a tepid IPO market and rising interest rates. That’s helped to drive down prices.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi broadly defended Indian democracy when pressed on religious intolerance and freedom of speech in a rare instance of taking questions from reporters. Modi, following a meeting with Biden at the White House on Thursday, said he was “really surprised” to hear India’s commitment to democratic values questioned.

Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, center, and US President Joe Biden at an arrival ceremony during a state visit on the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday.  Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

Federal prosecutors in New York are looking into what representations India-based Adani Group made to its American investors following a scathing short seller’s report that accused the company of using offshore companies to secretly manipulate its share prices. The US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn is said to have sent inquiries in recent months to institutional investors with large holdings in the conglomerate. The requests for information were focused on what Adani Group told those investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission also has a similar probe underway.

JPMorgan will pay a $4 million fine to settle SEC allegations that the bank mistakenly deleted millions of electronic records, leaving communications unavailable to regulators in a dozen investigations. 

Blue Owl Capital is re-branding its business units in a public show of unity amid brewing tensions among the firm’s senior executives. It’s renaming Dyal Capital, which takes stakes in private equity firms, to Blue Owl GP Strategic Capital, according to an investor letter seen by Bloomberg. Owl Rock, its direct lending arm, will become Blue Owl Credit, while its Oak Street real estate unit will be renamed Blue Owl Real Estate.  Blue Owl Capital was formed in 2021 after Owl Rock, founded by Marc Lipschultz and Doug Ostrover, merged with Dyal Capital, founded by Michael Rees, through a SPAC deal.

Marc Lipschultz Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg

San Francisco Mayor London Breed called on investors to redevelop the city’s struggling downtown core by converting or even demolishing empty buildings to make way for new growth. “I think we have to start re-imagining what the downtown can be,” Breed said at the Bloomberg Technology Summit in San Francisco on Thursday. 

• Bloomberg Opinion: Modi’s yoga shows Indian democracy just a pose.
• Bloomberg Opinion: Trudeau’s diversification of Canada’s economy.
• After $29 billion wipeout, star Invesco investor plots comeback.
• Private equity’s race to poach junior bankers finds its limit.
• A giant drilling machine moves Stockholm toward emissions-free future.
• Race-based affirmative action is over. Corporate diversity could be next.
• Titanic minisub crew presumed dead after catastrophic implosion.

It was a long time coming, but a shift back to normality after the three-year Covid-19 pandemic is reshaping the list of the most liveable cities in the world. As upended lives return to normal, education, health and cultural facilities are improving, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Global Liveability Index 2023, which compiles the list. This year, the global average score was the highest in 15 years.

Vienna, Austria.\ Photographer: Andrei Pungovschi/Bloomberg

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