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FRANCE’S billionaire Pinault family agreed to sell its 29% stake in Puma SE to China’s Anta Sports Products Ltd., paring back its holdings beyond the luxury-goods industry as it focuses on a turnaround at the key Gucci brand.

Anta agreed to spend €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) for a leading ownership position in the German sports company and expand its portfolio of Western athletic brands that already includes labels ranging from Salomon to Wilson. 

Puma shares jumped as much as 21% before paring some of those gains. The stock was still up about 7% as of 10:20 a.m. in Frankfurt trading.

The agreement will see Anta acquire roughly 43 million Puma shares from Artémis, the Pinault holding company, for €35 each, Anta said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday. That’s a 62% premium to Puma’s last close. 

The deal will help the Pinault family reduce debt at Artémis after it purchased a majority stake in Hollywood talent agency CAA, a move that raised concerns among some investors. Artemis is the majority shareholder of Kering SA, which is still struggling to turn around Gucci after demand waned in recent years. The luxury-goods company also owns brands including Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga. 

The Puma stake purchase could help Anta capitalize on the global growth in sports participation and demand for so-called athleisure products, including in China where it’s taken off since the Covid-19 pandemic. Anta’s stock rose as much as 3.4% on Tuesday, the most since November.

Anta is betting on Puma Chief Executive Officer Arthur Hoeld’s early turnaround plan, which calls for revamping marketing efforts in hopes of making the leaping-cat brand more desirable for consumers. The CEO pledged in October to return to growth by 2027 and reestablish Puma as a top-three sports brand globally after it’s faced collapsing demand for its sneakers and apparel products over the past year.

Anta is taking a gamble that Puma’s more than 75-year presence in sports matters at a time when the footwear world has seen an explosion of new brands stealing market share, from Switzerland’s On Holding AG to Hoka to Anta itself.

Read More: China’s Anta Sports Is Said to Weigh Potential Bid for Puma 

“Heritage does count for something after all,” said James Grzinic, a London-based analyst for Jefferies, in a note.

The fact that Anta already has such confidence in Puma’s earnings potential should be encouraging for peers, the analyst noted. Cross-town rival Adidas AG has also struggled in recent months, with investors increasingly questioning its growth and earning potential despite its strong track record in recent years. 

Anta’s stake purchase could pave the way for a full takeover of Puma, though Anta said it currently doesn’t have such a plan. Bloomberg News reported in November that Anta was among the companies exploring a potential acquisition of the German sportswear maker, saying the firm had been working with an adviser to evaluate a bid. 

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2026 and Anta plans to gain representation on Puma’s supervisory board, the statement said. 

Anta will probably be a more active partner for Puma than Artémis has been, allowing Hoeld to focus on improving the company’s performance, Deutsche Bank analysts led by Adam Cochrane said in a note. That could be good news for shareholders, too, since Anta might seek to buy the rest of the company down the line, though probably not before 2027, the analysts said.

The Puma investment will accelerate Anta’s globalization “and help drive the next chapter of growth for the global sports markets including China,” Anta Chairman Ding Shizhong said in the statement. “We believe Puma’s share price over the past few months does not fully reflect the long-term potential of the brand,” he added.

China’s biggest athletic apparel maker has been on a global brands-shopping spree, and also owns sportswear labels including Descente and Jack Wolfskin. In 2019, an Anta-led consortium paid $5.2 billion for Amer Sports, owner of premium names such as Salomon and Arc’teryx. Anta remains the largest shareholder in Amer, which is now a publicly listed company in New York. 

The acquisitions have helped Anta expand its global stature and capture China’s growing enthusiasm for outdoor sports to become one of the country’s fastest-growing sportswear and equipment companies. In recent years, a multi-brand strategy has also helped it post stronger sales than key mass market rivals — from international brands like Nike Inc. and Adidas AG to local peers like Li Ning Co. — despite China’s consumer weakness and fierce price wars among retailers.

Anta’s stock has lost about a quarter of its market value since August, in part because investors have factored in an acquisition of Puma, Citigroup analysts Xiaopo Wei and Vincent Young wrote in a note. However, they said Puma could see “significant upside” in its China business due to synergy in areas like branding, supply chain and distribution. –BLOOMBERG

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INDIA and the European Union concluded a long-awaited trade agreement, boosting prospects for Indian exporters while reshaping the competitive landscape for local manufacturers.

Indian makers of apparel and those in the gems and jewelry sector are set to benefit from the trade deal which will slash duties on these items in the EU to zero. Local food product firms will get preferential access to the EU market. Indian automakers and liquor companies, however, are likely to take a hit from the deal as it lowers import levies for European firms. 

The trade pact, announced after nearly two decades of negotiations, will cut duties on 99.5% of goods exported to the EU from India, including seafood and footwear. Meanwhile, India has reduced or eliminated tariffs on 96.6% of items imported from the bloc, including cutting duties for European carmakers.

India’s most ambitious trade pact to date will alter supply chains, pricing power and growth prospects across sectors. “Textiles, gems and jewelry, leather, pharma, and high-tech engineering” will benefit from the deal, said Munjal Almoula, managing partner for Tax & Regulatory Advisory at BDO India.

As companies await further details, here’s who will likely to benefit and lose out from the “mother of all deals”:

WINNERS 

Apparel Makers 

India got direct access to $263 billion of European textile market, with an immediate zero duty on textile imports, the Narendra Modi-led administration said in a post on X.

The agreement is “critical” to improve the competitiveness of Indian readymade garment exports to EU which is the world’s largest market for these items, CareEdge Ratings said in a note. India could “gradually increase” its market share to as much as 9% from 5% currently, with an incremental annual export opportunity of nearly $4.5 billion over the medium term, it said. 

Textile exporters jumped, with KPR Mill Ltd. gaining 6%. Welspun Living Ltd. rose 4.3% and Kitex Garments Ltd. surged 9.1%. 

Additionally, tariffs on leather and footwear have been slashed to 0% from 17% earlier, allowing India access to the $100 billion European market. 

Gems and Jewelry 

EU has given duty-free access to gems and jewelry exporters from India. This will help double bilateral trade between the two regions to 910 billion rupees ($9.9 billion) in the next three years, said Kirit Bhansali, chairman at the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council. 

“This timely pact will help Indian exporters salvage lost ground,” especially with exports to the US down by 44%, Bhansali said. The deal will also enhance industry margins, accelerate manufacturing and generate jobs, he added. 

Food Products

Indian seafood exporters will get preferential access to exports including shrimp, frozen fish, and value-added seafood products. Shrimp exporter Avanti Feeds Ltd. rose 2.1% on Tuesday.

Local producers of food items such as tea, coffee, spices and grapes will also get preferential access to the EU market while safeguards have been retained to protect Indian farmers in poultry and dairy. 

LOSERS 

Liquor

India cut tariffs on European wine to as low as 20% and spirits to 40% from as high as 150% previously. It also cut duties on beer to 50% from 110% earlier. 

This will expand the reach of European alcohol manufacturers including Budweiser-maker AB InBev, Heineken NV, Carlsberg and Remy Cointreau SA. 

It’s a “negative” for Indian liquormakers, as competitive intensity is expected to increase, especially in the fast-growing premium and luxury segment, said Karan Taurani of Elara Securities. Growth of local spirit makers such as Radico Khaitan Ltd. will be hurt, he said. Radico’s shares slipped on Tuesday.

Indian winemaker Sula Vineyards Ltd. fell 3.5% after the deal announcement while United Breweries Ltd., which makes popular Indian beer Kingfisher, fell 1.2%.

Indian Carmakers 

The pact will gradually allow up to 250,000 European-made vehicles to enter India at preferential duty rates, with tariffs gradually falling from 110% to as low as 10%. Levies on car parts will also be abolished after five to 10 years.

Read More: India Offers EU Auto Quota Six Times Larger Than UK Deal

Shares of local carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. dropped 4.2%, while that of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. slipped as much as 1.1%.  –BLOOMBERG

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CHINA’S Anta Sports Products Ltd. has agreed to buy a stake of about 29% in Puma SE for €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion), making it the German sports brand’s biggest shareholder.

The agreement will see Anta buy about 43 million Puma shares from Artémis, the holding compay of France’s billionaire Pinault family, for €35 each. Puma closed Monday at €21.63. Puma’s shares have fallen 32% over the past 12 months, giving the company a market capitalization of €3.2 billion.

Fujian-based Anta is down 7% in Hong Kong over the past 12 months and has a market value of $27.3 billion. The purchase is a key step in the company’s “single-focus, multi-brand, and globalization” strategy, Anta said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Bloomberg News reported in November that Anta was among the companies exploring a potential takeover of Puma, and said the firm had been working with an adviser to evaluate a bid. Puma shares jumped the most in years on the news. –BLOOMBERG

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PACIFIC Investment Management Co. is holding fast to its conviction in Japan’s 30-year government bonds after last week’s rout, joining a growing pool of investors who see value in the nation’s debt market.

Current yield levels present attractive investment opportunities, the money manager said. Last week, fears of fiscal excess by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration wiped out $41 billion from the bond market and triggered a selloff elsewhere. Higher yields offer the potential for capital gains if interest rates fall and serve as a hedge against economic shocks, volatility in equities or a sharp appreciation in the yen, Pimco added.

“We maintain a preference for the long-end of the curve, such as 30-year JGBs,” Tomoya Masanao, Pimco’s head of Asia-Pacific portfolio management, wrote in an outlook report. “While concerns about fiscal risks persist, the steepness of the yield curve and incentives for the Ministry of Finance to limit long-end issuance support this positioning.”

The call mirrors the view of investors including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and RBC BlueBay Asset Management, and suggests that investors have grown accustomed to gyrations in Japan’s bond market after years of accommodative policy kept yields pinned near zero. Traders are bracing for swings to pick up again after a period of calm, as the nation gears up for an election on Feb. 8 and talk of intervention buffets the yen.

Pimco, one of the world’s biggest bond houses, was similarly optimistic about JGBs after a chaotic selloff in mid-2025. Back then, the money manager argued that the possibility of more quantitative tightening by the Bank of Japan could be a good thing, since it would relieve pressure on the long-end of the curve, where the central bank is less active.

The money manager expects the BOJ to continue normalizing policy gradually and potentially raise the policy rate by a quarter to half a percentage point toward 1% to 1.25% over the coming year. The central bank kept interest rates on hold at 0.75% on Friday, with Governor Kazuo Ueda adding that authorities may conduct operations to smooth volatility in the bond market, if needed.

“The Bank of Japan may intervene with an unscheduled bond purchase operation in extreme circumstances to ensure market stability,” Masanao wrote in a separate email reply.

Pimco sees benchmark 10-year JGB yields trading “broadly around current levels,” which were near 2.235% on Monday. 

“For global investors, currency-hedging costs currently work in their favor, enhancing the relative appeal of Japanese bonds and offering additional yield compared with global peers,” the team wrote.

There are, however, several risks that could push yields outside this range. 

“A weaker yen or an unexpected acceleration of inflation could prompt faster or larger policy rate hikes,” the team wrote. “At the same time, the Takaichi administration’s more expansionary fiscal stance introduces additional uncertainty, though we expect financial market pressures to ultimately limit the scope for policy excesses.” –BLOOMBERG

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CANADA and India will pledge to expand trade in oil and gas as the countries reboot their relationship after a diplomatic chill. 

Ottawa will commit to ship more crude oil, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas to India, while New Delhi will send more refined petroleum products to Canada, following a meeting between Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson and Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, according to a joint statement seen by Bloomberg News. 

The ministers will meet at India Energy Week in Goa on Tuesday, using the event to relaunch a “ministerial energy dialogue.” The mechanism, once the main channel for energy cooperation between the two countries, fell dormant amid an explosive dispute over the killing of a Canadian Sikh activist. 

The renewed push marks one of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s major efforts to diversify Canada’s export markets at a time of escalating trade tensions with the US. It also reflects his government’s shift toward pragmatic, economy-first diplomacy with major Asian partners.

Hodgson and Puri will also commit to facilitating greater reciprocal investment in each other’s energy sectors and to exploring collaboration in areas including hydrogen, biofuels, battery storage, critical minerals, electricity systems and the use of artificial intelligence in the energy industry, according to the statement.

The relaunch of the dialogue signals that both governments see untapped potential — and strategic value — in tightening an energy relationship that had been left to drift. 

Carney is expected to visit India in the coming weeks as part of the reset. He and Prime Minister Narendra Modi restarted talks in November toward a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

Two‑way goods trade between Canada and India hit C$13.3 billion ($9.7 billion) in 2024, and Ottawa sees far more room to grow — especially in energy. India accounts for just 1% of Canada’s critical minerals exports, a gap the government says underscores the scale of the opportunity. Canada began exporting LNG to Asia as of June 2025, and its LPG terminals have relatively short shipping routes to India.

The expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline has opened a direct path for crude shipments to India, though most Canadian barrels headed there still move through the US Gulf Coast.

Carney’s India visit later this year will follow his recent trip to Beijing, where he and President Xi Jinping agreed to reduce tariff barriers — a move that spurred US President Donald Trump to threaten 100% tariffs on Canadian goods if Ottawa “makes a deal with China.” Carney has stressed Canada isn’t seeking a free trade agreement with the Asian giant. –BLOOMBERG

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CHINA’S struggling solar sector faces fresh turbulence as the planned removal of a key export-tax rebate threatens to disrupt demand patterns, according to Longi Green Energy Technology Co.

The tax change — which is due to kick in from April 1 and is meant to promote industry consolidation — could leave manufacturers scrambling to ship orders ahead of the shift, followed by a sharp drop-off once the rebate is withdrawn, Vice President Zhang Haimeng said in an interview. To cope with the near-term rush, companies may ask staff to work overtime during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, Zhang said.

The potential upheaval risks adding to the mounting challenges faced by Chinese solar manufacturers. The sector has reported deep losses over the past two years due to persistent oversupply, and is now also facing lower margins as the price of key input silver soars to record highs.

While the removal of the rebates on solar products has long been under consideration, the demand surge won’t be sustained, according to Zhang, who spoke on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“This is similar to the first quarter of last year,” said Zhang, referring to an earlier policy shift in renewable-power pricing. “That policy change resulted in a spike in demand, and then the demand came off quite a bit after that. My worry is the same thing may happen again.”

On the challenge posed by soaring silver prices, Longi and several domestic peers have announced a push to reduce usage of the precious metal in their products. A specific plan is still being finalized, according to Zhang.

“The technology is not fully commercialized,” Zhang said last week. “We’ll have more visibility in a few months in terms of the performance of the technology at scale, and the cost advantage.”

Longi has also expanded into energy storage to seek a new growth engine, in addition to its solar business. The company is currently in a market-testing phase, with Europe seen as a likely priority, and the US also of strong interest, according to Zhang.

On the Wire

China’s economy slumped after a brief rebound over the New Year holidays, according to Bloomberg Economics. Activity slipped in mid-January back below the average level in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to high-frequency indicators.

A Zijin Mining Group Co. subsidiary agreed to buy Allied Gold Corp., which owns gold mines in Africa, for C$5.5 billion ($4 billion) in the latest step in the Chinese company’s rapid growth.

Hong Kong’s government plans to launch a state-owned clearing system and futures contracts for gold as part of its efforts to advance the city’s ambition to become a hub for the precious metal. 

A cargo of iron ore subject to curbs by China’s state buyer is now en route to Malaysia after failing to find a buyer in its traditional market. –BLOOMBERG

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PRESIDENT Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on goods from South Korea to 25%, citing what he said was the failure of the country’s legislature to codify the trade deal the two nations reached last year.

Trump in a social media post on Monday said the new rate would apply to autos, lumber, pharmaceutical products and “all other Reciprocal TARIFFS.” Under the existing agreement, the president set a 15% levy on South Korean exports.

“South Korea’s Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States,” Trump said in his post. “In each of these Deals, we have acted swiftly to reduce our TARIFFS in line with the Transaction agreed to. We, of course, expect our Trading Partners to do the same.”

If implemented, the move could have wide-ranging effects on major South Korean companies that export to the US, such as Hyundai Motor Co., which sent 1.1 million vehicles to America in 2024. 

South Korea’s presidential Blue House said it hasn’t yet received any formal notification or detailed explanation from the US regarding Trump’s post on Truth Social. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, who’s currently in Canada, plans to travel to the US as soon as possible to discuss the matter with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the statement said. 

Separately, the Blue House plans to hold a meeting chaired by its policy chief involving relevant ministries on Tuesday.

The “special law on strategic investment with the US” is a domestic bill meant to give South Korea’s government the legal authority to manage and carry out the large-scale investments it pledged to the US under last year’s trade deal. The bill was introduced to parliament in late November, which under a bilateral memorandum triggered the retroactive cut in auto tariffs from 25% to 15%, effective from the start of that month.

When the bill was submitted in November, Huh Young, a lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Party, said the parliament is not considering putting the bill on a fast-track process and that no specific timetable has been set for its passage.

“The National Assembly will conduct a very careful and thorough review of the special law,” Huh, the senior policy floor leader of the ruling party, told reporters on Nov. 26. “If there are any provisions that could potentially undermine the national interest, we hope the ruling and opposition parties will put their heads together to ensure the bill passes as a more complete piece of legislation governing investment in the US.”

Trump’s announcement marks his latest move to ratchet up trade tensions with allies. In recent weeks, he has threatened to raise duties on Canadian products to 100% if Ottawa signed a trade deal with China and to slap new charges on European countries’ goods over his quest to seize control of Greenland.

In addition, the president has said he would place tariffs on exports from countries doing business with Iran in an effort to pressure Tehran over anti-government protests. 

The administration hasn’t issued formal notices to implement Trump’s threatened tariff changes.

Beyond the investment legislation, the US has also voiced concerns over South Korea’s handling of digital regulation, citing what they see as disproportionate scrutiny of US-linked technology firms following a high-profile data-breach incident at Coupang Inc. The issue has added to broader friction between Washington and Seoul over market access and regulatory treatment in the digital sector in recent months. 

Hanging over Trump’s latest round of trade brinkmanship is the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in a case challenging his global tariffs. If the justices rule against the president, it will likely constrain his ability to quickly raise and lower import taxes on his own. The court’s next scheduled courtroom session is Feb. 20. 

Trump has made a series of provocative moves at the start of the year, as polls show Americans souring on his leadership ahead of November’s midterm elections. 

Allies roundly rebuked Trump’s pressure campaign over Greenland, and a pair of deadly shootings by federal immigration agents in Minnesota has prompted Trump to shift course in his aggressive deportation campaign. The audacious US military raid that captured Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro also ruffled feathers on the world stage.  –BLOOMBERG

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PwC executives have asked teams to resume pitching for work with Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund, according to people familiar with matter, as the one-year ban on the consulting firm in an important market comes to an end.

Managers at PwC have been told internally that teams can now send proposals to the Public Investment Fund, the people said, declining to be identified as the information is confidential. That comes a year after the Saudi fund temporarily banned PwC from advisory and consulting services contracts.

Representatives for PwC and the PIF declined to comment.

Business from Saudi Arabia’s expansion drive has been a key driver of growth for consulting firms in the region, including McKinsey & Co. and Boston Consulting Group Inc. The Middle East generated £1.97 billion in revenue for PwC in the twelve months to June 30, 2024.

The PIF didn’t publicly provide a reason for its decision last year, and PwC’s auditing projects weren’t placed under the restrictions. Following the PIF ban, PwC’s Global Chairman Mohamed Kande flew to Riyadh for meetings with the wealth fund.

PwC has been investing heavily in Saudi Arabia, backing efforts to boost localization, and opened a huge office hosting its regional headquarters in Riyadh last month. 

The firm has since appointed a new senior partner to lead over 11,000 employees in the region, with Laura Hinton succeeding Hani Ashkar, who has been serving in the post for more than 12 years. 

The PIF is anchoring the kingdom’s economic transformation plan, Vision 2030. That includes Neom, a $1.5 trillion new city on the west coast, as well as other multibillion-dollar projects aimed at building out historic areas into tourist destinations.  –BLOOMBERG

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AIRBUS SE is preparing its employees for a turbulent year ahead as geopolitical tensions between the US and other countries hang over the start of 2026. 

“The beginning of 2026 is marked by an unprecedented number of crises and by unsettling geopolitical developments,” Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury wrote in an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. “We should proceed in a spirit of solidarity and self-reliance.” 

“The industrial landscape in which we operate is sown with difficulties, exacerbated by the confrontation between the US and China,” Faury said in the letter. These geopolitical issues caused significant logistical and financial collateral damage for the planemaker last year, and the company needs to be “ready to adapt at all times,” he wrote. 

The unusually gloomy tone underscores a growing sense of alarm about an increasingly hostile approach by US President Donald Trump against longtime allies in places like Canada and Europe. Tensions broke into the open last week after Trump escalated his demands that the US should be given control of Greenland — a quest he underscored with the threat of fresh tariffs against countries opposing the move. 

The political dislocations are clouding an otherwise strong period for planemakers and airlines as demand reaches new highs. United Airlines Holdings Inc. warned last week that the fallout between global powers risks disrupting the carrier’s global operations. 

Airbus, which reports full-year earnings next month, said it had no comment on internal correspondence. Reuters first reported on the memo. 

Airbus is at higher risk than US rival Boeing Co. from the renewed transatlantic-trade tensions over Greenland that are threatening a deal keeping aerospace tariffs at zero, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts George Ferguson and Melissa Balzano wrote in a note. 

“Airbus has more to lose, we believe, given its stronger customer base in the US, but more options due to its final-assembly line in Alabama. Engines are particularly challenging, given interwoven supply chains,” they said.  –BLOOMBERG

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