Hey hey, Flux fam!

Here's everything you need to know today - in under 3 minutes.

Today's big stories

🤑 JB Hi-Fi will return $250 million to shareholders via an off-market buyback

👑 Crown Resorts gives the green light for Blackstone bid

🗞 Binance will invest US$200 million into Forbes

Oh and get this...

That Super Bowl halftime show was something else...and you’d think the performers would get a fat pay check to go with it, right? Wrong. Mary J Blige confirmed she wasn’t being paid for the performance - and neither were the other stars.

‍JB Hi-Fi will give $250 million back to shareholders and is it too late to get in on the fun?!

Background: JB Hi-Fi is the largest home entertainment retailer in Australia...and they've been hitting all the right notes over the last few years.

What happened: In January, JB Hi-Fi's sales climbed 4.3%. That's despite supply chain issues (yup, we just keep bangin' on about it).

What else: Now, the company is planning to return up to $250 million of capital back to shareholders via an off-market buyback. And investors likey - they sent shares up 7% on the news.

So what's the key learning?

💡 Share buybacks occur when companies offer to re-purchase some of their shares from existing shareholders. So if the company has 10 million shares available on the open market...they might buy back 1 million, leaving 9 million out there.

💡Since there are less shares available on the market, the company's profits are spread over fewer shares. That often means those shares end up being worth more.

💡Share buybacks can be done in one of two ways:

1. On-market buybacks: when a company buys its own shares on an exchange during trading hours
2. Off-market buybacks: when the buyback doesn't occur on an exchange. Instead, the company makes the offer directly to shareholders. This is what JB Hi-Fi is doing.

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Bruised, battered and ready for Blackstone: Crown gives shareholders the green light for takeover

Background: Crown Resorts is Australia's biggest casino group. And it's been a rocky year in the press (Royal Commissions...money laundering...license issues...) for this crew.

What happened: The company received a takeover bid from US private equity firm Blackstone. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing (and possibly one final arm wrestle)...Blackstone increased their offer to $13.10 per share.

What else: The price is right, team. Crown Resorts' board has finally recommended shareholders accept the bid. But hold ya 🐎🐎. The deal still needs to be approved by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB)

So what's the key learning?

💡Before global companies can acquire local Aussie companies, they need to be approved by the big guns (aka FIRB).

💡FIRB looks at foreign investment proposals and advises the Treasurer whether to give a 👍 or 👎. Any deal that FIRB reckons is against national interest will be blocked.

💡Although FIRB approve most deals, there have been some pretty big ones that got cut in the 11th hour. Last year, the Treasurer rejected a Chinese company's $600 million acquisition of Lion Dairy and Drinks...and it was sold to Aussie-owned Bega instead. So don't hold ya breath!

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Binance will invest US$200 million in Forbes and did they just become best friends?

Background: Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange. In fact, it's one of the biggest in the world in terms of daily trading volumes.

What happened: Binance is investing US$200 million in media publication Forbes - ya know, the one famous for its 30 under 30 lists that make you reassess your life.

What else: The weird thing about this is...Binance actually sued Forbes back in 2020. But Binance's CEO says it's all about buying influence.

So what's the key learning?

💡When assessing whether to make an investment in another company...there are a number of considerations at play.

💡It could be...

• To find cost synergies between the companies and reduce expenditure
• To gain a majority stake in a business and control or influence its future
• For strategic purposes - aka, a company wants to achieve a certain goal, and invests in another company to get there.

💡 Forbes has around 150 million readers, and it's a trusted brand. Crypto on the other hand...doesn't have the best rep. So, by investing in Forbes, Binance can control the narrative around crypto and help build consumer understanding and education.