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Quest Means Business
Men's Fashion Week; ChemChina to Buy Syngenta; Oil Price Jumps; Yahoo Boss Parties While Company Loses Money?; French Drug Maker Sanofi Working Toward Zika Virus Vaccine. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired February 03, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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RICHARD QUEST, HOST: The Dow was down for most of it. But towards the end of the session a sudden boost in news and profits. And we are up 176. And
there's the man waiting to slam the gavel. A gavel and a wave. I think we can call that a robust gavel that brings trading to an end on Wednesday, it
is the 3rd of February.
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QUEST: Tonight, from small seas, mighty takeovers grow. Chinese investors strike a giant European merger deal. You'll hear the details on this
program. It's back in the black. Oil has surged by 8% and with it goes Wall Street. And Marissa Mayor fights for her right to party, whether it costs
$7 million or $2 million, it was a big bill.
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QUEST: I'm Richard Quest live in New York, where I mean business.
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QUEST: Good evening. We begin tonight with news of takeovers and mergers as China goes shopping and bags its biggest purchase ever.
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QUEST: ChemChina has offered $43 billion for Syngenta, that's the Swiss company that supplies pesticides and seeds to farmers around the world.
It's the latest item on a long and growing list of foreign companies that China has bought. By taking control of Syngenta, it's one way that
Beijing's trying to ensure food supplies for the world's largest population.
Now, the man you see on the right is the Syngenta Chairman, Michel Demare. He spoke to CNN's Maggie Lake and said the deal is a win for everyone.
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MICHEL DEMAR, SYNGENTA CHAIRMAN: The beauty of this deal is that it's actually a good deal for all the stake holders. I think as you say,
investors like the deal. And when you look at the other stakeholders, I believe the most important message that we have here is this is not a
transaction made for cost energies but it is a transaction for gross and investment and innovation. So we are not looking here at cutting jobs. We
are looking at new markets, and obviously the Chinese market will give us a different possibility to upgrade technology in this market in the future.
And so we can continue innovating, investing in further market penetration and that will be to the advantage of all the growers worldwide.
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You say this isn't about job cutting. But how can you guarantee that? Who will be making that call? How much
discretion will you have and management have over that?
DEMAR: Well, first of all, the fact is that so far ChemChina is not very involved in the chemicals and seeds, and so they have acquired Syngenta
also to acquire the expertise that our company has built over the years. So they really want to use us as a platform to continue expanding in this
regard.
The second thing is that despite the fact that it is a 100% acquisition we have put in place very strict governance agreements whereby we are going to
have out of a board of 10 directors, we're going to have four independent directors and that we have established a series of rules where it will
always require the support of at least two independent directors to make decisions. With regards for instance changing the location of the
headquarters or reducing the (inaudible) jet. And obviously the question that you would for sure ask me transferring assets into Syngenta or outside
of the company would need specific approval from the independent directors to take place.
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QUEST: Now as for what China is doing buying more and more of the world's companies, take a look and you can see how takeovers have helped China
insulate itself from the slowdown which is taking place at home. And there a quick way for Chinese businesses to expand international rather than
doing it organically, you take over something.
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QUEST: The seeds are spreading. As you can see you have Syngenta, which is a deal worth nearly three times as much as the previous biggest deal. But
it is all about the fundamentals, growth, pesticides, seeds, agriculture. So growing crops takes water and growing economies takes oil.
So the Chinese have taken stakes in energy companies in Canada, in Switzerland, and down in Brazil with Exxon, HDAX and Repsol. You need as
well if you are going to have oil and you are going to have seeds a little fertilizer for the sectors to grow as well.
The mining companies provide the natural resources and they've bought stakes in Rio Tinto, absolutely vast company, a copper mine in Peru was
also bought through (inaudible).
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QUEST: China is spreading its roots into finance as well. During the heat of the crisis of 2008, it took a stake in Morgan Stanley of the U.S. that
was one way Morgan Stanley boosted its capital base without having to do rights issues or go for further equity and Standard Bank down in South
Africa. A bid for Hong Kong's Nanyang's Commercial Bank as well.
In 2015, the weak Euro provided a touch of light for ChemChina It took advantage and it picked up Pirelli.
So what you see there is a vast array of companies, but very much resource rather than consumer led, that are all designed to help promote and to
further the China manufacturing machine. Let's put this into perspective with our correspondent from CNN Money, Cristina Alesci. Mergers and
acquisitions are your bread and butter. What do you make of this deal?
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: What I make of this deal is a continuation of what we've seen from China really throughout last year.
They are going gang busters. Some of the reasons this is happening are positive. Some are negative.
The country had -- the government has said look domestic companies need to get smarter. So not only do you have to manufacture but you have to move up
the value chain and maybe buy your own customers to acquire the technology and spur the kind of economic activity that the country really needs right
now.
QUEST: Do you see any fallback in this strategy as a result of the economic slowdown that they are suffering? I mean obviously the Syngenta deal is
absolutely vast.
ALESCI: It is. It is huge. And I do see a fallback, of course.
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ALESCI: They are looking for growth elsewhere. Also, on the negative side of things the Chinese are very nervous about another devaluation of their
currency, which could make deals down the line more expensive, which is why they are in such a hurry to get them done today.
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ALESCI: And this is what I'm hearing anecdotally from bankers who tell me here in the U.S. that they are more than eager to go to a Chinese buyer
because they know they will get a higher premium from a Chinese buyer.
QUEST: That was my next question.
ALESCI: And this has got Wall Street in frenzy right now.
QUEST: This is my next question, I mean are they wise and canny buyers in that sense? Or do people see them coming? I mean the Chinese are very, very
sophisticated in many ways when they do their deals.
ALESCI: I believe they are very sophisticated. I can tell you there is huberous on Wall Street and they believe that they can get a higher price
by a Chinese buyer and that has been backed up by their actions.
Now the Chinese as you said are very smart. So they are looking at these purchase prices over a much longer horizon than some of the sellers are
looking at them and that could be part of the disconnect when you are talking about premiums.
QUEST: And finally, again thinking back to the ones I just point odd out. They are all resource led, oil companies, pesticides, a couple of banks.
But by and large they are designed for the productive element in the Chinese economy rather than the consumer element. And if they are shifting
their economy, as we know they are, do these deals make sense.
ALESCI: I think you are right. I think there are deals in the works right now that are more consumer focused. And I think as we go on this year we
will see a shift from resources to really more technology. Deals like in the semi-conductor space where you are talking about electronic devices
that consumers use and go crazy for around the world. The Chinese are very eager to do those deals because again they don't want to just be
manufacturing for customers and those customers are getting bigger profits and margins off of cheap Chinese products. They want to be the ones selling
at the higher margin.
QUEST: And we must never forget of course the Chinese bought IBM's computer hardware division Lenovo.
ALESCI: Exactly.
And what wasn't represented on that board right there and you should do one on this, is the Chinese are looking for trophy assets in the same way the
Japanese were doing back in the '80s.
Exactly. -
QUEST: You don't remember those days.
ALESCI: No, I actually do. But you know if you look at the Waldorf Astoria here in New York, bought by a Chinese buyer.
QUEST: I'll tell you what, instead of we should do something on this, you should do something.
ALESCI: All right, my next assignment, thank you so much.
QUEST: Thank you very much indeed. Volatile day for stocks. Join me at the CNN big board and you will see the super screen.
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QUEST: This was weird. Absolutely weird. You start off high, you go low, you get a couple of bumps around lunchtime, then down, and then up again.
All of which tells me there was no general direction even though it was hurt by data showing U.S. service sector grew at the lowest pace in two
years.
The jump in energy shares because the - because oil was up some 7 to 8% all helped push it at the end of the day. This is what happened with Brent the
major benchmark globally. Up 7.3%. 35 and change with investors taking advantage of the weakening dollar. Dollar goes down. Oil goes up. The
relationship between the two is really extremely complex. And frankly few people seem to understand it.
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QUEST: Oil's jump came too late for Europe's stocks. As a result you see this down the -- straight down the line with their worst losses being this
the Frankfurt DACS after they'd seeing the data services figures in the United States which stoked a fear of underlying economic weakness.
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QUEST: Joining me now is Richard Clarida, Global Strategic Adviser at Pimco to talk more about that. Good to see you.
RICHARD CLARIDA, GLOBAL STRATEGIC ADVISER, PIMCO: As always, Richard. Good to see you.
QUEST: This relationship between oil and the dollar and the stock market, it defies rational explanation.
CLARIDA: Well, it is historically unusual. After the fact, (inaudible) explaining it. So when the dollar changes that changes the price of oil to
everybody in the world because oil's this invoice is dollars.
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CLARIDA: So you sort of see that effect. Stocks in oil are more trickily. Historically when oil prices have gone up, that's been bad for stocks. We
remember the '70s and '80s, the oil sharks, but we are in a markets now in the last several days where stocks and oil prices move together positively,
so low oil prices hurt stocks and vice a versa.
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QUEST: And this is what we're seeing today. I mean in today's market there seems to be no reason other than it is an average Wednesday in February for
the market to rally 183 points.
CLARIDA: Well we did have comments from Bill Dudley today in which he -
QUEST: That's the head of the New York Fed, yes.
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CLARIDA: Which indicated that the Fed is noticing that the economy has slowed since the December meeting and financial conditions are tighter.
QUEST: Right, but that goes - that speaks to whether or not his four interest rate hikes are viable or realistic in 2016.
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CLARIDA: It looks less likely than it did a month ago certainly. The Fed likes to keep its option open but I'd probably bet against four hikes this
year.
QUEST: But would you bet against another hike (inaudible)
CLARIDA: No, no, no. I think it's too soon to tell. I think the Yellin Fed prizes it's optionality. Remember in September of last year the Fed made
some nervous sounds and 8 weeks later we got a rate hike. So no, I think they have the option to move. But probably March is a tough call right now.
QUEST: But it's very difficult now for the Fed because the one thing that everybody praised them for was their communication. Having got it
spectacularly wrong earlier last year and in the previous year, they did get it right in terms of when the move actually came. Now they have got a
very tricky task.
CLARIDA: Yes, very tricky.
QUEST: Because how do you -- how do you telegraph to the market that you don't know whether you are going to raise rates or not?
CLARIDA: You know, that's a great point, Richard. Stan Fisher the vice --
QUEST: Yes, he's been on this program many times.
CLARIDA: -- the Vice Chairman of the Fed was at the council on formal relations Monday and I attended the talk and that's how he began his talk,
he said we actually don't know if we are going to hike in March. There's a lot of data between now and then, the Fed says there's data dependent.
I've argued that's not enough to stop the monetary policy but Stan Fisher was not at all embarrassed on Monday to say we don't know.
QUEST: We don't know. But we do know that you've been very kind to come and join us.
CLARIDA: You bet.
QUEST: Thank you very much. When we come back how would you look a good party? Now, it could cost $2 million, that's what Marissa Mayer said it
cost.
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QUEST: It could have cost $7 million, that's what her critics say it cost. It was a Christmas party worthy of the Gatsby.
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QUEST: Party like there's no tomorrow from the great Gatsby. You have the epic party scene there from the movie. The epitome of excess and
extravagance. And of course, the CEO Marissa Mayer of Yahoo is getting heat for Yahoo's Gatsby themed party which it held in December.
Now, it didn't have maybe Leonardo Dicaprio, but it certainly featured performers, lavish flowers, gambling tables. The rumor had been that it
cost $7 million. Mayer denies this. During a quarter when Yahoo loss mother than $4 billion. On Tuesday she also announced plans to cut staff numbers
by some 15%.
So whether it cost 2 or $7 million, whether they spend $450 million on free food for staff, she says the money is -- the amount is much closer to $150
million.
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QUEST: Look at how the shares closed. The percentage is much more relevant than the actual amount. The shares are only worth 27 and change. Down 4.7%
a loss of 5%. When you factor in they are more than 20% down on the year so far, you really have to ask -- well you have to ask Nicolas Thompson, the
editor of NewYorker.com.
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All right, what do you make of this Marissa Mayer, -- the whole question of what she's doing at Yahoo?
NICOLAS THOMPSON, EDITOR NEWYORKER.COM: I think she has been unable to couple up with a strategy, and she's been unable to execute it, she's been
unable to bring in the right people. They have tried lots of things, most of them have not worked.
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THOMPSON: This is not a country that's going to - a company that's going to die tomorrow but under Marissa Mayer's leadership which started with so
much promise and so much excitement it has been almost nothing but bad news after bad news after bad news.
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QUEST: Tell me how you really think about her.
THOMPSON: Well, I actually think that she hasn't been absolutely terrible. I think some of the criticism is overwrought. I think a lot of criticism
has come --
QUEST: Is it her fault? I mean is she dealing with a dinosaur that simply can't learn new tricks?
THOMPSON: Well this is the fundamental question and she addressed this in the earnings call. Yahoo is a dinosaur, they have a desktop business that
was making lots of money in banner adds.
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THOMPSON: Everybody knows that's all going away. We knew that when she took over the company three and a half years ago. But you can't just abandon it
and say we're going to focus entirely on new businesses. You have to keep the old cash coming in as long as you can which makes it harder to
innovate.
But you need to invest in new things and those new things need to work. And that has not been what's happened for Yahoo.
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QUEST: Right, so she tried tumbler, she's tried a couple of other strategies, many which have cost billions.
THOMPSON: All kinds of content, all kinds of mobile.
QUEST: But now you've got this really tricky issue of the Alibaba stake and Yahoo Japan which you want to get rid of, but the IRS won't let you do it.
So now she wants to reverse spin it. So she'll keep this bit but manage to keep the other bit and she'll stay with that and investors don't like that
either.
THOMPSON: Investors don't like that either. I mean mostly they -- don't lie that either.
QUEST: So what do they want?
THOMPSON: they want something different, they want something new and now they want her to sell it for as much money as they can get. And it seems
like they finally have the green light to sell Yahoo.
QUEST: To sell Yahoo, the company.
THOMPSON: To sell the Yahoo contract - right, to sell Yahoo the American company, the thing that we think of as Yahoo, not the holding company for
the Alibaba shares.
QUEST: But if you sell the Yahoo Company, Yahoo.com, the Yahoo that we know what are you selling and who are you going to sell it to?
THOMPSON: Well you are selling a massive user base. I mean the thing about Yahoo is the number of people who go to Yahoo.com who use that central
service is huge. It's aging, it's hard to monetize. It's probably going away because it's not mobile and it's not social. But there is huge huge
business right there.
QUEST: Right. So let's assume you sell it. Who buys it?
THOMPSON: People talk about Verizon, they talk about AT&T, they talk about the companies -- .
QUEST: Hang on, hang on, if she can't make a go of it -- if the board wants to get rid of this dog with fleas as they would see it because they have
got this great investment they can keep hold of with Alibaba and Yahoo Japan what does Yahoo and AT&T do with it.
THOMPSON: Well part of the problem with Marissa Mayer's reign is the expectations game.
So she came in and she was this flamboyant wonderful amazing Google executive who had been in charge of Google from the - or had played a large
role in Google since the very beginning.
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THOMPSON: She came in and she was going to make it this incredible Silicon Valley tech company that was going to grow like the others and it was going
to be awesome. Maybe if they expectations that Yahoo is just kind of a thing and it grows a little bit and it's OK, maybe people don't worry about
it so much.
QUEST: A bit like the water company.
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THOMPSON: Yes, so Yahoo becomes a utility.
QUEST: Good to see you sir.
THOMPSON: A pleasure to see you.
QUEST: Did you get an invitation to that party?
THOMPSON: I wish I had, it looks pretty good.
QUEST: Do you think it was $2 million or nearer $7 million?
THOMPSON: I'm going to say kind of in the middle. It looks on the pictures in the Daily Mail like a $7 million party.
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QUEST: How can you spend $7 million on a Christmas party though? We'll answer that next time we talk.
Microsoft has announced the $250 million deal. It's going to buy SwiftKey which is the company behind an app that can predict what you are typing.
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QUEST: Predictive text of some sort or another. It boosts Microsoft's abilities in A.I. Now longtime viewers and there should be plenty of you
out there of "Quest Means Business," you're familiar with SwiftKey.
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QUEST: A few years ago its marketing chief Joe Braidwood was one of the stars of our millennial series following young entrepreneurs. We looked at
the unique perspective this generation offers the business world.
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(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Technology is a way of life for millennials but it's also the main reason why this generation is taking over the work force.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way they think and the way they communicate is completely different. They move at a much faster speed mentally than any
other generation before. They are amazing learners. They come with all the social media tools and tricks embedded in them as natives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Social media is more than just a career tool. For one of our first millennials Joe Braidwood, it was a career opportunity, when he
became Chief Marketing Officer at Swiftkey, a new mobile app.
JOE BRAIDWOOD, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, SWIFTKEY: What we've done with SwiftKey is try to make typing much easier for people basically. We've
taking some of the break throughs of existing artificial intelligence, natural language pressure tanks and big kind of lofty technology and kind
of boiled it down into a keyboard on a phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Being a part of the mobile technology scene meant you always had to be one step ahead.
BRAIDWOOD: What I'm hoping to do now is go and check out Motorola down here next to Microsoft because they have got a tablet there that should have our
app on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And with more time spent on the road than at home, being constantly on call soon took its toll.
BRAIDWOOD: To me there is no real distinction between when I'm not working and when I am working. It's you know wherever I am.
I have been struggling to deal with all my e-mail to make sure that I'm addressing absolutely everything in my to do list.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For millennials technology is an advantage and an addiction all in one. And they are all too aware that it's up to their
generation to find the right balance.
BRAIDWOOD: Being able to actually get face to face with some of these people and talk to them about what you are doing is so much more powerful
than an e-mail in a massive inbox full of email or you know a phone call that might not get picked up.
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QUEST: From one extreme to the other. From the millennials to a corporate executive of tightened proportions who is very much at the other age range.
Sumner Redstone who is in his 90s has resigned as executive chairman as CBS Corporation. CBSs announces that Lez Moonves has been named chairman of the
company, he's currently CBS' CEO.
Now Sumner Redstone, who is absolutely one of the great names in corporate America having built up huge companies is 92 years old. He'd been in a
battle to keep the position. Apparently his girlfriend had said he was incapacitated and now apparently it seems the board has agreed. He has
resigned. And Les Moonves -- I'm just reading it directly from the press release from CBS Corporation.
Sumner Redstone becomes chairman emeritus Moonves now becomes the Chief Executive and Chairman of CBS.
As we continue, governments in Latin America are struggling to contain the outbreak of the Zika virus.
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QUEST: We're going to hear from the drug firm that says it can slash the time to develop a vaccine years. It's "Quest Means Business," the mid-week
edition.
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QUEST: The French drug maker Sanofi says it's pushing hard to discover a vaccine for the Zika virus and expects to find one in double quick time.
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QUEST: The virus, which is mostly transmitted by mosquitos is spreading at a frightening speed. It's already been found in more than two dozen
countries. No vaccine exists. And the process of developing one from scratch typically takes at least ten years.
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QUEST: Sanofi now says it's done work like this before particularly on Dengue fever and now hopes to cut the time scale by several years.
CNN's Nic Robertson spoke to the head of research who said Sanofi's expertise will give it a jump start.
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NICOLAS JACKSON, GLOBAL HEAD OF RESEARCH SANOFI: It starts with putting in place a multidiscipline routine. Clinicians, epidemiologists and scientists
who are experts in (flavor) virus biology, the family that Zika belongs to. That multidisciplinary team can then very quickly tap into the established
collaborative networks we have, they can begin to pursue different vaccine candidates. And they can galvanize resources and investment that we need to
take this program forward.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And the challenges? What do you anticipate those being?
JACKSON: What is the rate of this virus spreading? What is the clinical picture this virus? Is it truly associated with these clinical
complications? We then have the challenge of the diagnostics because if someone is infection infected they have conjunctivitis and fever, we have
to be able to distinguish is it dengue, is it zika, is it another flavivirus . So the diagnostics is also extremely important.
ROBERTSON: In terms of time how much of a shortcut is that going to be to delivering the vaccine do you believe?
JAKCSON: Well practically again we can make those conducts extremely quickly n a matter of weeks. They can then be taken through rapid
assessment, both pre-clinically and then clinically. So the big advantage we have is that jump start with technology available in the freezers that
we have that we can adapt quickly.
ROBERTSON: Your experience with yellow fever, dengue, what's the cost likely to be of a zika vaccine?
JACKSON: Well, we have described the cost of our dengue vaccine program. It was about 1.5 million euro from end to end including manufacturing
capability. So all vaccines today are extremely expensive to research and develop.
Given that we have the technology in place, given that we have the experience with three licensed flavivirus vaccines the cost is likely to be
lower but of course today we don't have any clear estimates at this initial stage.
ROBERTSON: One question people are desperate to know, how long before there is a zika vaccine?
JACKSON: Well a typical vaccine can take ten or more years. But there is a great sense of urgency within the organization. The W.H.O. has declared an
emergency so we need to move as quickly as possible. So we've got technology in house. We have capabilities, and infrastructure that's been
established around our dengue vaccine and other flavivirus. So we really hope to significantly reduce that time line and cut years off the typical
amount of time that it takes to develop a vaccine.
ROBERTSON: So we are talking several years rather than perhaps a decade?
JACKSON: That's correct. And when we go forward, as our plans solidify, as we identify the lead vaccine candidate, we can be much more predictive in
the timelines that we have.
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QUEST: Chinese football clubs are on a major shopping spree. One of them just signed a striker from Spain setting an Asia transfer record.
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QUEST: We'll talk about that in just a moment. This is "Quest Means Business" on CNN.
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[16:31:35] RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR AND REPORTER HOST OF "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" SHOW: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There is more
"Quest Means Business" in just a moment when the New York Men's Fashion Week gets underway and I'll be joined by the legendary stylist Joseph
Abboud. I hope he will give me a few tips on pinstripes. And mining on asteroids is the final frontier. It's being led by Luxembourg of all places. Before we get to any of that, this is CNN and on
this network the news always comes first. U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura says he's halting the Syrian peace
talks for three weeks, saying there's more work to be done on both sides. Talks will resume later this month in Geneva. Meanwhile, the violence
continues in Syria. The leader with the free Syrian army says government forces have broken the rebel's siege of Aleppo.
Authorities in Somalia are investigating whether a midair explosion on an Airbus aircraft was terrorism. Officials believe one person died after
being sucked through the hole that was blown out of the side of a plane after they took off.
The pilot managed to land safely. A source says a test found residue from an explosive substance.
Donald Trump has accused Senator Ted Cruz of committing fraud in the Iowa caucuses. On Twitter Mr. Trump called for a new election or the results of
the caucuses to be nullified. Trump cited flyers sent out by the Cruz campaign warning recipients they
would be committing a violation by not voting. The Cruz camp dismissed Trump's claims.
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke out strongly against anti-Muslim rhetoric during his visit to the Islamic Society of Baltimore.
It was the first visit he'd made as president to a mosque in the United States. Mr. Obama told his audience why he refuses to classify terrorist
attacks as Islamic in nature.
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BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: Suggesting somehow that if I would simply say `these are all Islamic terrorists,' then we would actually have solved
the problem by now apparently. Well I agree we actually do need moral clarity. Let's have some moral clarity -
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Groups like - groups like ISIL are desperate for legitimacy. They try to portray themselves as religious leaders and holy warriors who speak
for Islam. I refuse to give them legitimacy.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We must never give them that legitimacy.
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QUEST: Bernie Sanders welcomed the President's remarks. The Democratic candidate is now in New Hampshire where he's hoping for an outright win in
the state's primary after narrowly losing the Iowa caucuses to Hillary Clinton.
Speaking to CNN earlier, Mr. Sanders criticized Republican rhetoric on Muslims and immigration.
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BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's very important. You know, if this country is about anything, it's about
religious freedom, religious tolerance. And let me be very clear - what Donald Trump and some of these other people are doing are trying to condemn the Muslim religion, trying to say that we
should not have Muslims coming into this country is totally unacceptable. Attacking Mexicans - that is not what America is about. America is about standing together as one people, not allowing ourselves to be divided up by
religion or by nationality.
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[16:35:09] QUEST: In just a few hours from now you can hear Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton as they take part CNN's presidential town hall debate
moderated by Anderson Cooper. It's at 9 p.m. on the East Coast - 6 a.m. - I'm sorry, 3 a.m. -- in Central Europe. And don't worry, if you miss it, there's a replay on Thursday at
midday London time, 1 p.m. Central Europe only on CNN. So we started our program this evening with the ChinaChem takeover - or the ChemChina takeover - of Syngenta for many billions of dollars.
But it's not only agricultural conglomerates that are being snapped up by the Chinese. One of China's top football teams has just smashed the local
transfer record for one of the best players in Spain. Athletica Madrid striker Jackson Martinez has signed with Guangzhou Evergrande for an eye-watering $45.8 million, the latest in a string of
high profile acquisitions by the Chinese Super League teams in recent weeks.
Patrick Snell joins us live from the CNN Center. Patrick, first of all, put this into context for us -- $45.8 million is the largest amount within
the Chinese and the Asian football transfer market. How does it compare to what we would see, for example, in Europe?
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, as you said, Richard, quite rightly so - eye watering stuff. This sort of player who wasn't even a big success
during his limited time in Spain, in the Spanish capital, where he only scored I think it was three goals in some 22 games.
But the fact is these are huge sums of money and once again the Asian transfer record has been broken.
Let's just first of all detail a couple of more recent signings coming in in addition to Jackson Martinez, a very good young player at Chelsea while
Ramires, the Brazilian, going at 28 years of age. These are players still very much in their peak - Ramires going from Chelsea to Guangzhou. That was the then-previous Asian record and then the
third number we came up with was the Gervinho for just shy of $20 million. He was going from A.S. Roma to Hebei China Fortune FC. And we worked out,
Richard, that a staggering $150 million in new players entering in the Chinese market before the end of January - that window staying open until
late February. But how does it compare to other big names from the European, the major European leagues? Well, (also hap) figure of $46 million for Martinez,
just $4 million shy of the highest record ever paid by a German club that was Javi Martinez, $50 million when he went from Bill Bauer (ph) to Munich.
But elsewheres, we broaden it out and we look at for example Spain - Gareth Bale the Welshman went for $132 million, going -
QUEST: Right.
SNELL: -- from top (member) of the Premier League to Real Madrid, Angel di Maia, from Real Madrid to (Mou United).
And of course as far as the French League is concerned, at (Insin Cavania) $84 million. So you begin to see the figures here being talked about and
the Chinese Super League living up to its name. These figures are getting closer and closer the gap between Europe's
powerhouse leagues and China is definitely getting shorter, Richard.
QUEST: Right, but that is fascinating. Let's talk this in a - let's put this in a business context, Patrick. Are the Chinese basically paying top
dollar for players that wouldn't command anything like this if they were being transferred within Europe?
I'm not saying they're getting mutton for lamb, but I'm saying that they are paying a pricey full price.
SNELL: And you'd be right, absolutely, Richard, There's definitely - the cynics would say there's definitely a case of overpaying going on here.
And as I say, I used that reference off the top. When you look a Martinez -- $46 million - that's just shy of what actually Atletico paid to Porto
for him in the first place where he scored 93 goals in 122 games at Porto. He was prolific in Porto.
He then moves to Atletico, and as I say, he was a huge disappointment in the Spanish capital.
But why is this happening? Simply because you look at the grassroots level, the requests. The Chinese President's Xi Jinping and that 50-point
plan of his that was made in 2015. That has really, really resonated. And what are we seeing now? The grassroots level, there's even talk of making
soccer or football or as I prefer to call it, compulsory in schools -
QUEST: Right.
SNELL: China in turn is investing in European clubs as well, so been very smart in that score. Investing in
clubs like Spanish (Coursa), Atletico Madrid, Barcelona-based Espanyol as well. And even the big one in England - Premier League, Manchester City as
well. So China being very smart about this, but you're absolutely right there's a case of overpayment going on. No question about that.
[16:40:02] QUEST: And we'll thank you, sir, to leave soccer at the door with your hat and your coat. It's football on "Quest Means Business"
(RINGS BELL) and that's where it remains.
SNELL: Which is what I said, (inaudible) I prefer.
QUEST: Absolutely. But you're flirting with soccer.
SNELL: I know, I know.
QUEST: We'll have none of that on this program.
SNELL: (LAUGHTER).
QUEST: One of the frontrunners in the race to be the next FIFA president of football insists he's not just a puppet of Michel Platini.
Gianni Infantino is UEFA's general secretary and he has worked under Platini at the European governing body.
Now he is one of the five candidates at this month's election that will choose the successor to Sepp Blatter. CNN's Amanda Davies grilled him on
his presidential ambitions.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
GIANNI INFANTINO, FIFA PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (Inaudible) meet our other four other candidates. I have the greatest of respect for all these four
candidates. And I don't underestimate anyone of them and I just hope that we can have a positive campaign for football all of us and I hope as well that that I
will be the winner at the end of the day.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: There has been a suggestion though that you have been talking to Sheikh Salman and that if he was to win the
presidency, you would go in in a very senior management role.
INFANTINO: Well there has been maybe a suggestion about that. I don't know who spread these false rumors. I'm already general-secretary -
DAVIES: So that's not happened?
INFANTINO: No, that's not happened, that's not going to happen. I am general-secretary already of UEFA and I'm counting for the presidency of
FIFA and this has to be - this is a very important task to be candidate for presidency.
So I'm going on to the end.
DAVIES: So if Sheikh Salman was elected president -
INFANTINO: Yes.
DAVIES: -- you would not want a role working under him at FIFA?
INFANTINO: No, I will not be general-secretary of FIFA, certainly not.
DAVIES: But you would do something else if he was to offer you something else?
INFANTINO: I would go fishing probably if I lose the election. I'm confident to win.
DAVIES: Does any of this actually really matter? Does it matter who wins? Will a -
INFANTINO: Big time.
DAVIES: Why?
INFANTINO: You need today more than ever somebody who knows exactly what to do, somebody who knows exactly where to start with all the reforms to
live them, to implement them.
DAVIES: But what you say about transparency, about development of football projects around the world, about reform, we've heard all of that before.
INFANTINO: Yes, but that's why I'm saying that we need somebody who makes it, not only who speaks about it. Now, I am a doer and not a politician.
DAVIES: You didn't set out on this presidential campaign to become president? You initially threw your weight behind Michel Platini.
INFANTINO: Yes, initially.
DAVIES: Do you want the job?
INFANTINO: Definitely I want the job. Otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here or standing here.
DAVIES: I sat in a room last week with a senior football executive who said he doesn't like any of the candidates on offer in terms of the FIFA
presidential election. He listed what was wrong with each candidate. For you he said you are
Platini's puppet. He is the puppeteer, you are his puppet.
INFANTINO: Well, instead of being anonymous, it would be happy - I would be very happy - if you could say to me directly so I will clearly explain
to him that's certainly not the case. I am Gianni Infantino. I share a lot with Michel Platini - we worked
together for nine years, of course. But Mr. Platini has his own strengths and weaknesses, I have my own strengths and weaknesses and I am committed
to show it to the whole world and to this person - well if he can say who he is and face me, I would be happy to explain it to him as well.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: One country is staking its claim in the new space race. Now, it's a small nation with a big plan - to dig valuable minerals out of asteroids.
We'll explain which country and where after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:45:42] QUEST: Now, what you see here behind me is a vision of what asteroid mining could look like in the future.
And today one country declared its ambition to be a pioneer in this. And look - it's how it comes in, grabs it, takes it out. This is your
mining asteroids. Well which country is going to do this? A small little country. It's
Luxembourg with a population of 500,000. Delightful though it is, it has space missions that are zero.
And it does have one of the world's top satellite operators which might actually get on its way. But the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg's government
says it wants to invest in space mining and set up a legal framework for the future ownership of minerals mined from asteroids.
Peter Marquez is the former director of space policy for U.S. President Bush and President Obama. He's currently the vice president at Planetary
Resources, a U.S. company that says it will be at the forefront of asteroid mining. He joins me now.
Sir, good to see you. Thank you.
PETER MARQUEZ, VICE PRESIDENT, PLANETARY RESOURCES: Very good to see you, thanks for having me.
QUEST: This move by Luxembourg, clearly they're not going to put their own rockets up or anything. How much of this is a corporate move designed, if
you like, to be at the forefront of the architecture, the legal framework, the mechanisms by which this industry develops?
MARQUEZ: I think it's a little bit of all of that. They have talked to us over the course of two years from everything from the corporate side of
things to technology development, human resources and hiring people across Europe and bringing them into Luxembourg.
So they're looking at this across the entire spectrum of a space program.
QUEST: But to do what? I mean, because obviously the launch isn't going to take place, the companies that own the machinery will be elsewhere -
what does Lux - what role does Luxembourg per se play?
MARQUEZ: I think Luxembourg has seen that this is, without hyperbole, the greatest economic opportunity in human history.
And what they are doing is providing a technology base, access to universities to people, access to technologies that are critical for
companies like mine to develop the technologies to go do that mining that's on the screen right there.
QUEST: Right. Now, tell me about this mining that's going to take place. Because you've got to find the asteroid, you've got to get to it and then
you've got to mine it. What are you mining and how difficult is it?
MARQUEZ: Right, so we're mining three specific types of things. One is water, other is metal like iron and nickel - good to make steel to do
things in space. And the last group is platinum group metals. So we bring the platinum group metals home, but then the other two items we would utilize in space.
So, you know, talking about the economies of this, last summer there was an asteroid that has a very catchy name - 2011 UW158. And when that passed by
earth, we were able to observe it and that asteroid had enough platinum on it that it had a market value of $5.4 trillion.
QUEST: So, my last and perhaps trickiest question - when?
MARQUEZ: So, we actually already have one satellite that we put up last year. We have another one that is going to launch this year and another
one later this year, so that'll be our fourth. And so we're talking within the next five years to actually do our first prospecting mission.
So this is happening now.
QUEST: We look forward to that, sir. Come back and talk more about it. Thank you very much. Maybe from Luxembourg -
MARQUEZ: Thank you.
QUEST: -- lovely place.
MARQUEZ: Yes, indeed.
QUEST: Now, Richard Anderson is to retire as the chief executive chairman of Delta Airlines.
Mr. Anderson who has been in the southern carrier for years and has led it to great heights and indeed of course its merger with Northwest Airlines is
to leave on May the 2nd. Ed Bastian who is the current president at Delta will become the new chief exec. Sorry to see Richard go many will say, but Ed Bastian will be
certainly no surprise. He was the heir apparent. Men take center stage at New York's Fashion Week. First a highlight from "Make, Create, Innovate."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:26] New York Fashion Week has always been about women until now. Now all change! Yes, it's time for men to take much more of a role in it.
In a fashion week, an image like this which now of course is far closer to the mind of what it is.
Fashion Week is starting to look more and more for men as New York hosts its second-ever Men's Fashion Week.
The first event had a successful launch in July. Now, Men's Fashion Week - we are very lucky. I'm privileged to have with
us -
JOSEPH ABBOUD, MENSWEAR FASHION DESIGNER: Thank you, Richard.
QUEST: -- lease - to come and talk to me. The collection which opened the festivities is here.
ABBOUD: Yes.
QUEST: Before we talk about the collection and what I should be wearing -
ABBOUD: Yes.
QUEST: -- tell me why Men's Fashion Week? Why was it felt necessary to do this?
ABBOUD: Well men's never been as exciting as it is now, so the men's business, probably since the 60s and 70s hasn't been this creative.
So it's time to make a statement and men are dressing, men are caring about their clothes.
QUEST: Well men are caring about their clothes but what were you lacking by being involved in Women's Fashion Week or the general Fashion Week?
Were you sort of being shoved under the carpet.
ABBOUD: Yes, yes, yes. Yes, men have always been stepchildren to women. It's always been women's wear as fashion, but now with the new young
consumer he loves fashion so men are stepping into the forefront.
QUEST: Economically speaking -
ABBOUD: Yes.
QUEST: -- do we see the spend by men - because let's face it, -- no disrespect to the fashion industry -
ABBOUD: Yes.
QUEST: -- but there are two words there, one is fashion and the other is industry.
ABBOUD: Yes.
QUEST: Are men spending as much?
ABBOUD: Yes they are. They're spending more money but now it's a price value proposition.
So men make investments in their clothes - it's not as emotional. So you have to play to a man into his purse as well as to what style he
wants to wear.
QUEST: Right. This is what you were showing -
ABBOUD: Yes.
QUEST: -- last night.
ABBOUD: Yes.
QUEST: Guide me through what I should be - never mind what I will -
ABBOUD: Right.
QUEST: -- what I should be wearing next year.
ABBOUD: Well this is an ode to the American Savile Row -- custom tailoring. Men are wearing suits again. They're not just wearing
sportswear. So basically you're seeing traditional fabrics like herringbones and tweeds and velvets, things that really come from that custom tailoring.
And we have a factory in Massachusetts where we employ 800 people -
QUEST: Because that's one of your things, isn't it?
ABBOUD: Yes - it's made in America.
QUEST: It's all about made in America.
ABBOUD: Yes it is.
QUEST: How do you manage to make in America? I think this is rather splendid. Not my size but I - you'll forgive me if I -
ABBOUD: Not at all. It could be close though, it could be close.
QUEST: Well it is - it's a 40 regular -
ABBOUD: Yes.
QUEST: -- and I'm a bit of a 42 long -
ABBOUD: Yes.
QUEST: But I'm sure with a bit of adjustment -
ABBOUD: Yes.
QUEST: We won't make it -
ABBOUD: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
QUEST: Right.
ABBOUD: So the idea for making in America is to be able to dress American men.
Not bad - we could put you on the runway, Richard.
QUEST: Please.
ABBOUD: I would love to do that.
QUEST: Done it once - I did it once.
ABBOUD: Well we'd love to have you again.
QUEST: Never again, never.
ABBOUD: We'd love to have you.
QUEST: But let me - how can make in America and compete -
ABBOUD: Right.
QUEST: -- with the price of, say, Asia or Europe?
ABBOUD: Well absolutely because we've got this factory where we do employ 800 people, and we are vertical through our - through our retail stores
where we can take a product directly to the consumer. So we don't have all of this margin in the middle. We are vertical, so we
can offer a suit at $895 out of Massachusetts with Italian fabrics that would be comparable to a $1,500 or $1,600 suit.
QUEST: Excellent. And so it's going to be darker colors in the fall?
ABBOUD: Well men's colors -
QUEST: Men's colors.
ABBOUD: -- so you're going to see a lot of grays and sort of the British color basically where we look at the tone of your colors - the olives and
the russets which feel great in their natural, you know, tweeds and glen plaids.
QUEST: And a hat.
ABBOUD: And a hat, right.
QUEST: The hat's back!
ABBOUD: So it's basically peacock revolution part 2.
QUEST: Peacock revolution, (inaudible) as we go into the break. Which one, which one, which one -
[16:55:02] ABBOUD: You would look great in basically this wonderful Chesterfield.
QUEST: Oh my Chesterfield.
ABBOUD: Right. Doesn't that sound appropriate?
QUEST: I thought it was a sofa myself, but don't worry about it.
ABBOUD: (LAUGHTER).
QUEST: A Chesterfield.
ABBOUD: Yes, in tweed and it's -
QUEST: Tweed.
ABBOUD: -- perfectly (inaudible). Yes, exactly.
QUEST: Just remember never wear brown in town.
ABBOUD: (LAUGHTER).
QUEST: Good to see you.
ABBOUD: Thank you so much for having us, really appreciate it. Thank you.
QUEST: Now I've just to get the catwalk right, haven't I?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's very "Profitable Moment." Men of the world, "Quest Means Business" viewers celebrate. The days when women had all the fashion
industry to themselves seem to have disappeared. New York's decision to have a men's fashion week - maybe it's not as big or as glitzy as maybe the women's.
But it is a symbol of that there is no doubt that the men's fashion industry has taken on a life of its own.
Does that mean that we're all preening ourselves and discussing whether this is in or whether my __ looks big in that? No, it doesn't.
What it means is that men are finally admitting, yes, we actually like what we wear and we are prepared to try different things.
The realization that Men's Fashion Week has taken off in New York can surely only grow into London and Paris and beyond, whether it's tweeds or
velvets. And that's "Quest Means Business" for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York.
Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable (RINGS BELL).
I'll see you tomorrow.
END
