On your marks, get set, buy.
Petrol heads were in the news today as, much like its formula 1 car, shares in Ferrari were gone in a flash.
Yesterday, the car giant’s initial public offering raised US$893m (£579m) valuing the prancing horse at some US$10bn (£6.5bn).
Fiat Chrysler, which owns 90% of Ferrari, placed just 10% of its stake (9% of the total shares) at US$52 (£33.64) per share.
Shares start trading today on Wall Street under the ticker ‘RACE’ today, with investors desperate to get their hands on shares.
All proceeds from the IPO will go to FCA, according to a regulatory filing, which is looking to freshen up its Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Maserati brands.
Speaking of Fiat, the carmaker and Luxembourg’s tax authorities have been found to be in violation of European state aid rules.
It was one of two firms to be in breach of the rules, along with Starbucks, which struck a deal with Dutch tax officials five years ago.
The two companies are expected to face tens of millions of euros in additional tax bills, with Starbucks reckoning it could be in line to pay €20mln-€30mln in extra taxes.
Fiat’s potential tax bill could be much higher, according to reports.
Amsterdam is the centre of Starbucks’ European operations while Fiat has set up group financing activities in Luxembourg.
Starbucks and Fiat had separately set up complex tax avoidance structures that meant their income was subject to very low rates of tax, an enquiry by the European commission found.
The move is part of a Brussels crackdown on private tax deals some member states strike with large multinationals.
In the UK, China’s leader Xi Jinping is expected to approve the country’s contribution to Hinkley Point, the UK’s first nuclear power plant in a generation.
China will likely cover about 30% of the cost of the plant, which could be opened by 2025, in Somerset.
President Xi Jinping is meeting Prime Minister David Cameron later, on the second day of his UK state visit.
It wasn’t the only news on the China-UK relations front, as Merlin inked a deal with China Media Capital to build a Legoland park in Shanghai.
New concepts will include sites based on DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda series.
Merlin already has five attractions in China, with Madame Tussauds in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beiing, and Wung, and the Chang Feng Ocean World aquarium in Shanghai.
On the corporate front, Homebase owner Home Retail Group took a hammering as a sharp decline in TV, tablet and white goods sales has hit its Argos brand.
Profits at Argos almost halved in the six months to August 29 to £6.4mln from £12mln the year before.
Another company struggling was education specialist Pearson, which slashed its earnings expectations as it experienced weaker US college enrolments.
If only it hadn’t sold the FT, which reached a record paid circulation of 747,000, an increase of 10% year on year, with digital subscriptions up 16% year on year to almost 535,000, before it was sold.
In the small cap space, Trinity Exploration has agreed to sell its interests in the WD-2, WD-5/6, WD-13, WD-14 and FZ-2 licences and related assets to Touchstone Exploration for US$20.8mln.
It also agreed a further extension to the repayments of its outstanding US$13mln debt until Friday.
Finally, UK Oil & Gas is pressing ahead with development of the ‘Gatwick Gusher’.
The Horse Hill operator is conducting a flow test at the controversial site, near Surrey, which apparently has 124bn barrels of oil, according to Nutech estimates.
How much oil is eventually extracted depends on recovery and how much it costs.