The daily business briefing: July 18, 2016

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1. Softbank agrees to acquire chip designer ARM for $32 billion
2. Turkey's lira bounces back after failed coup
3. Bank of America earnings fall, but beat expectations
4. Exxon offers $2.5 billion for InterOil, topping Oil Search-Total bid
5. The Secret Life of Pets beats Ghostbusters at weekend box office

published 18 July 2016

1. Softbank agrees to acquire chip designer ARM for $32 billion

SoftBank has agreed to buy mobile chip designer ARM Holdings for $32 billion in cash, both companies announced on Monday. ARM is the biggest U.K. tech company by market value. It is a major player in mobile processing, providing processors and graphics technology used by Samsung, Huawei, and Apple. The acquisition will be the biggest yet for Japan's Softbank, which owns U.S. carrier Sprint and has a stake in Chinese online retailer Alibaba but had no big holdings in the semiconductor industry before the ARM deal.

European stocks and S&P 500 index futures rose on Monday as Turkey's currency, the lira, rebounded from its sharp drop after Friday's surprise failed coup. The currency took its worst plunge since 2008 on Friday, but has since recovered about a third of its losses after the Turkish government solidified its control. "Geopolitical risk has reared its head again," said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors Ltd. "But it's at least the fourth coup in Turkey since 1960 and I suspect no lasting impact on global markets."

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Bank of America reported Monday that its second-quarter profits fell to $4.23 billion, or 36 cents a share. That's a drop from profits of 45 cents a share in the same period last year, but higher than the 33 cents a share analysts expected. The next big banks to report earnings will be Goldman Sachs on Tuesday, and Morgan Stanley on Wednesday. The first major banks to unveil quarterly results last week reported better than expected profits, bouncing back from a bad first quarter despite the continued drag of low interest rates, which make it harder to make money from lending.

ExxonMobil Corp has bid $2.5 billion for Papua New Guinea-focused InterOil Corp., topping a rival $2.2 billion offer from Oil Search backed by French energy giant Total, Oil Search said Monday. Oil Search has until Thursday to submit a sweetened offer. Exxon already operates Papua New Guinea's only liquefied natural gas terminal. InterOil has gas fields in the country, so acquiring it would give Exxon another source of fuel to export from the country.

The Secret Life of Pets held off Sony's all-female Ghostbusters, which was making its debut, to hold onto the top spot at the North American box office over the weekend. The Secret Life of Pets saw its haul drop by 52 percent to $50.6 million to bring its total to $203.2 million by Sunday. Ghostbusters opened in the No. 2 spot, bringing in $46 million. Finding Dory added $11 million to bring its total in the region to $445.5 million, officially making it the top-grossing animated film ever in North America.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.