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Hawaii Fire Report Points To Utility Equipment
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Good day and welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Thursday, April 18. In today's briefing, Hawaii's attorney general released the most comprehensive account yet of the deadly Maui wildfire that has utility Hawaiian Electric facing litigation.
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Wednesday's report provides details about high winds and a downed power line on the day catastrophic flames engulfed the historic town of Lahaina last summer.
MATTHEW THAYER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Maui fire report shows Hawaiian Electric power line's role in deadly blaze. While the Hawaii Attorney General's report didn't assign blame for last year's deadly wildfire, it provided the most comprehensive account thus far, including the role played by Hawaiian Electric's power lines.
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Hawaiian Electric has previously denied that its power lines were responsible for the wildfire that destroyed the town of Lahaina. Shares in Hawaiian Electric Industries, which owns Hawaiian Electric, have fallen below $10 in recent days, near a 40-year low.
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NanoString Technologies is a Seattle-based biotech company that provides life-science tools for discovery and translational research. PHOTO: SHELBY TAUBER/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Bruker to acquire NanoString Technologies. Bruker has agreed to acquire NanoString Technologies for about $392.6 million in cash.
The maker of scientific instruments has also agreed to assume certain liabilities of the Seattle-based NanoString, which will no longer be the subject of a chapter 11 proceeding as a result of the transaction.
"The sale to Bruker will also bring about a swift conclusion of our restructuring process," NanoString Chief Executive Brad Gray said.
The deal was agreed to under a court-supervised chapter 11 sale process. Bruker submitted a qualifying bid for NanoString on April 12 and won the company at an April 16 auction with a revised offer.
The improved terms of the Bruker deal represent about a 78% increase in value relative to a stalking horse bid for NanoString. —Dean Seal
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President Biden has faced pressure to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela.
PHOTO: HANNAH BEIER/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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U.S. oil companies can still operate in Venezuela. The Biden administration said Wednesday it would allow some American and European oil companies to carry on operations in Venezuela. The guidelines reflect the difficulty the Biden administration has had in holding Maduro accountable in ways that won't raise gasoline prices in the U.S.
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Investors have been hoping that a further thaw in relations between Washington and Caracas would ease the way for a debt restructuring. But Maduro violated an October agreement with the U.S. to stage free and fair elections, putting the White House under pressure to reimpose sanctions.
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More Australian companies are failing. More than 10,000 Australian companies are expected to enter external administration by end-June, a level not seen since the financial year 2012-2013, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. In an update on insolvency data for the nine months starting July 1, 2023 to the end of March this year, ASIC said it found an increase in the number of Australian companies failing. During the period, 7,742 companies entered external administration, a 36% increase compared with the corresponding nine-month period ending March 31, 2023. —Alice Uribe
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PHOTO: FREYA INGRID MORALES/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Ares takes fresh aim at healthcare. Private-credit specialist Ares Management has begun gathering capital for its first fund to finance specialty healthcare businesses, including those that are scientifically and technologically advanced and struggle to attract institutional support.
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Healthcare has grown popular among private-markets firms in recent years, accounting for around 15% of private-equity deals globally last year, excluding add-on acquisitions, in line with 2022, according to data from industry consultant Bain & Co. But the buyout industry faces rising criticism from lawmakers, regulators and others, particularly over investments in care providers such as hospitals and nursing homes.
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