Vodafone Australia and TPG Telecom both announced an A$15 billion merger on Thursday. Under the deal, which will rival Telstra (ASX: TLS) and Optus, TPG shareholders will own 49.9 percent of the group, with Vodafone Australia shareholders owning a majority of 50.1 percent. “The combination of the two companies will create an organisation with the necessary scale, breadth and financial strength for the future,” Iñaki Berroeta, the chief executive of Vodafone Australia said in a statement. “The equal terms of the combination preserves the competitive strengths of the two businesses, meaning a sustainable long-term fixed/mobile competitor to Telstra and Optus.” Berroeta will become the managing director and chief executive of the merged group. David Teoh, who is currently the CEO and chairman of TPG, will become the chairman of the new group. The deal is expected to be completed next year, subject to approval by watchdogs and the board. Bernstein analyst, Samuel Chen said: “When you combine the fixed and mobile assets, the new TPG would be in a proper position to deal with Optus … and a full-fledged telecom operation.” Vodafone Australia is the country’s third largest mobile operator and is jointly owned by Vodafone Group and Hutchinson Telecommunications Australia. The group has a customer base of around six million. According to analysts, TPG has an 11,000km-long fibre network providing broadband to businesses. However, the group want to branch out into retail with a fibre-to-the-building offer which could provide broadband to up to 500,000 apartment blocks. In June, Telstra announced plans to cut 8,000 jobs in a bid to slash costs. “We have to do this … as an industry we’re at a tipping point,” said chief executive Andy Penn. “We understand the impact this will have on our employees and once we make decisions on specific changes, we are committed to talking to impacted staff first and ensuring we support them through this period.” Shares in Hutchison Telecommunications Australia (ASX: HTA) jumped 44 percent. Shares in TPG Telecom (ASX: TPM) surged 18 percent.  

Sir James Dyson has announced plans to expand his Wiltshire research facility for the testing of his electric cars. The investment has come one year after Dyson’s plans to manufacture an electric car and rival Elon Musk’s Tesla. The British technology company will invest about £200 million at Hullavington, the testing facility on a former second world war airfield. Jim Rowan, the chief executive of Dyson, predicted that Hullavington will become a “world-class vehicle testing campus”. “We are now firmly focused on the next stage of our automotive project strengthening our credentials as a global research and development organisation,” he said. The expansion plans for the Hullavington site includes planning applications for over 10 miles of vehicle-testing tracks with high-speed sections, hills and off-road routes. The plans for the electric car are so far unclear and there has not yet been a prototype released. However, talking to GQ magazine earlier this month, it is expected to be aimed at the upper end of the market, will have “some” driverless features and may not even look like a conventional vehicle. “What we’re doing is quite radical,” he said. Before the referendum, Dyson was a strong Brexiteer. “Brexit can supercharge British technology and refocus minds on global trade if only we grab the opportunity with both hands – the government must embrace it and support British businesses,” he told the Guardian. This is contrary to several major industrial companies and carmakers, including Airbus (EPA: AIR), BMW (ETR: BMW) and Jaguar Land Rover. They have said that a hard Brexit would lead to a reassessment of jobs and investments in the UK. The tech group made its 100 millionth machine last year as well as posting a 40 percent rise in turnover to £3.5 billion. Profits for the group jumped by a third to a record £801 million. Dyson has over 12,000 staff, including 4,500 engineers and scientists worldwide.

Donald Trump has warned against a “violent” overturn of his policies, should Democrats win the midterm elections. The US President appealed to conservative Christian groups, saying November’s vote is a “referendum” on freedom of speech and religion, which is threatened by “violent people”. In a leaked audio recording that was obtained by the Times, Trump said that Democrats will “overturn everything that we’ve done and they’ll do it quickly and violently.” “It’s not a question of like or dislike, it’s a question that they will overturn everything that we’ve done and they will do it quickly and violently. And violently. There is violence. When you look at Antifa – these are violent people,” he said. “In this room, you have people who preach to almost 200 million people. Depending on which Sunday we’re talking about,” the US President told Evangelical leaders.

“I just ask you to go out and make sure all of your people vote,” Trump said. “Because if they don’t – it’s Nov. 6 – if they don’t vote we’re going to have a miserable two years and we’re going to have, frankly, a very hard period of time because then it just gets to be one election – you’re one election away from losing everything you’ve got.”

“Little thing: Merry Christmas, right? You couldn’t say ‘Merry Christmas’,” he added. This is not the first time that Trump has warned of violence from US citizens. During the 2016 presidential campaign, the President said his supporters would be likely to react violently if he did not win the Republican nomination. “I think you’d have riots,” he said. The mid-term elections will take place November 6.

The British Retail Consortium has warned that customers in the UK will face major price hikes if a Brexit deal is not reached. Revealing an increase in British shop prices for the first time in more than five years, the BRC has said prices can continue to rise depending on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The August increase broke a 63-month streak of deflation as food inflation increase to 1.9 percent. According to the BRC, the increase seen in August was due to the heat wave is seen in the UK over recent months, which led to a decrease in production and increases in the prices of oil and agricultural products. BRC’s chief executive, Helen Dickinson, said: “Despite significant increases in costs in the supply chain, this month’s figures show that retailers are keeping price increases faced by consumers to a minimum.” “Current inflationary pressures pale in comparison to potential increases in costs retailers will face in the event the we leave the EU without a deal. If that does happen retailers will not be able to shield consumers from price increases.” Dickinson added that whilst the weather was seen to have significant impacts on British retail prices, the event of a no-deal Brexit could have a “severe, quick and significant” impact on prices. One such severe example is the possibility of the cost of importing cheddar from Ireland rising by 44 percent overnight. “The EU and UK negotiating teams must deliver a withdrawal agreement in the coming weeks to avoid the severe consequences that would result from such a cliff edge scenario next March,” she added. A report by the London School of Economics released in July found that everyday dairy products including butter and yoghurt could become luxury items in Britain following Brexit. “Our dependence on imported dairy products means that disruption to the supply chain will have a big impact. Most likely we would see shortages of products and a sharp rise in prices, turning everyday staples like butter, yoghurts, cheese and infant formula, into occasional luxuries. Speciality cheeses, where there are currently limited options for production, may become very scarce,” said Ash Amirahmadi, the UK managing director of Arla Foods.    

Following the highly publicised financial interests of George Osborne in recent years, we take a look at the financial interests of a selection of MPs after the recent updating of the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Jacob Rees-Mogg co-founded Somerset Capital Management (SCM) in 2007. The London-based firm has recently established an investment fund in Ireland and is warning clients of the financial risk a hard Brexit may cause. SCM has warned: “During, and possibly after, [Brexit] there is likely to be a considerable uncertainty as to the position of the UK and the arrangements which will apply to its relationships with the EU.” This announcement causes embarrassment for the the influential Conservative MP who has repeatedly disregarded the financial concerns caused by Brexit. Rees-Mogg is paid roughly £14,000-a-month for working 30 hours a month there.   Grant Shapps is recorded as the unpaid Chair of the Governance Board for OpenBrix Ltd from 1 July to 31 July 2018. However, the Conservative MP recently resigned from his position. OpenBrix Ltd is a property website that uses blockchain to remove traditional estate agents. His resignation was timed just months prior to the company’s completion of a fundraising campaign that could bring in £19 million. Grant Shapps declared his work unpaid on the Register of Member’s Financial Interests. However, the Financial Times have reported that he could have earned over £100,000 from the fundraising campaign. The MP claims to have resigned because he doesn’t want to “overstretch” himself.   Sir Edward Leigh is a Conservative Party MP and Non-Executive Director of Europe Arab Bank. The company provides a range of banking and financial services in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and North Africa. from October 2016 he received an annual salary of £74,000 in this role, for an expected monthly commitment of 20-30 hours.   John Baron is a director of Equi Ltd which runs an investment trust website. The Conservative MP also receives £800 per month for a monthly investment column in the FT’s Investors’ Chronicle magazine. However, all fees are waived in lieu of FT donations to charities of Baron’s choice.   Richard Benyon is the director and Chair of the UK Water Partnership, a not for profit company set to promote the interests of the UK water sector. The Conservative MP has held this position since October 2015. Benyon is paid £15,000 a year for an expected annual commitment of 12-14 days.   Conservative Party MP Nick Boles is contracted from May 2018 to May 2020 as the Non-Executive Director of Totemic Ltd. The company specialises in personal financial management and offers services such as insurances, mortgages and debt advice. Boles will receive £30,000 per year for 16 hours of work per month.    

A new survey compiled by the Reputation Institute has found Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) to be the UK’s most reputable retailer. The online retail giant scored first place thanks to high marks service, innovation, leadership, products and performance according to the public survey. “Amazon’s combination of selection, value, personalisation, and no hassle customer service is a winning formula,” said Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, the chief reputation officer at Reputation Institute. “Despite their position of strength, Amazon is faced with reputation risk based on the proposed ‘Amazon tax’ and growing criticism of working conditions in their vast distribution centres.” Following Amazon was Boots, John Lewis (LON: JLH), Co-op, Ikea, Debenhams (LON: DEB) and Sotheby’s (NYSE: BID). In the last place of this year’s survey was Sports Direct (LON: SPD) with its score facing a “significant decline” thanks to workplace, governance, citizenship and leadership. The retailer, which recently acquired House of Fraser in a £90 million deal, found its score to drop from 53 in 2016 to 48.4 this year. The score given to Sports Direct “demonstrates that there is a clear link between declining reputation and declining profits, with their poor ranking following the company announcing a 73 percent decline in profits in July”. “Sports Direct’s overall reputation has tumbled in the past year, alongside its profits. The company recently suffered a huge backlash from investigative journalists who compared working conditions to ‘the gulag’ and the firm was investigated by MPs shortly afterwards,” said Hahn-Griffiths. Ranking highly in the study were discounters Aldi and Lidl, which according to researchers, “highlights that there is a strong link between company performance, good products/services and improved reputation”. The Reputation Institute found there to be a link between high scorers and the ethics behind the goods they provide. The UK supermarket sector was a “prime example of a subset of retailers that have adopted ethical initiatives to stand out in this fiercely competitive space,” said the Institute.

Aston Martin has confirmed plans to float on the London Stock Exchange. The luxury carmaker is reportedly seeking a valuation of up to £5 billion and will initially float around 25 percent of the company. “Today’s announcement represents a key milestone in the history of the company, which is reporting strong financial results and increased global demand for its award-winning sports cars,” said the chief executive, Andy Palmer. “Today’s results show that we have continued to deliver sustainable growth, margins and value for our shareholders whilst launching three new models and variants in the first half of the year.” The group made the announcement as it posted its half-year profits on Wednesday, totalling £42 million and an eight percent rise in revenue. The 105-year-old carmaker is synonymous with James Bond and will likely be placed at the top end of the FTSE 250, just below FTSE 100 firms such as the Royal Mail (LON: RMG). Despite 25 percent of its cars to the EU whilst operating in the UK, Palmer is not concerned with the Brexit impacts.

“We can demonstrate that Brexit is not a major effect for us,” he said. “If there is a tariff into Europe, it’s countered by a tariff into the UK for our competitors so you might lose a little bit of market share in the EU but you pick it up in the UK,” he added.

Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said: “There are few people who wouldn’t want an Aston Martin on their drive, and even fewer who can afford one.”

“However this stock market float allows investors to buy into a little of the glamour of Aston Martin, without getting a second mortgage,” he added.

Aston Martin was founded in 1913 and is one of the UK’s most well-known brands.