kailey: coming up on bloomberg best, the stories that shaped the week in business around the world. a brexit breakthrough slated for a british breakdown. theresa may fights for her political life. >> this is a devices step which enables us to move on. >> we do have a torrie civil war now in the open. >> it is hard to see how she will get it through the parliament when the numbers are not there. kailey: alibaba single day set a new sales record through an extended pledge that has everyone talking oil. >> markets look to take a turn in 2019. >> you are seeing a kind of capitulation on the part of financial investors. >> we need to cut production to

keep the market balance, we will do, but we will not overdo it. kailey: to head of state, trade is the top topic. >> sentiment is getting to a danger zone. >> my decisions about foreign investment and national interest. >> we want to make sure that if the world sneezes, new zealand does not catch a cold. kailey: it is all ahead on "bloomberg best." hello and welcome. i in kailey leinz. this is bloomberg best, your weekly review of the most important business news, analysis, and interviews from bloomberg television around the world. let's start with the day by day look at the top headlines. on monday, from saudi arabia, investors hoped oil would snap it's 10 day losing streak. >> oil is higher this morning in saudi arabia and said they would reduce crude sales in december, and suspect opec will cut next year. >> the king of saudi arabia is back in swing factor.

they are ready to reduce probably by 500,000. that leaves potentially 500,000 to be distributed amongst the rest. >> yes, it stops the routes, the bear market. but it is not exactly the bump i think they were hoping for. what we are thinking about, they have one month until the news and bmx, they have one month to grab control of the narrative and convinced the markets they are serious. >> when president trump tweeted, "hopefully, saudi arabia and opec will not be cutting oil production. oil prices should be much lower based on supply." it seems the market is listening. should it? >> i think the market is reacting to all kinds of things, so i would not expect the tweets will have material difference in the price. >> the s&p 500 almost below two percentage points. we were down 65 points, clearly the nasdaq up. what did you take of the move? >> it was astonishing. you saw the financials, you saw in some of the materials

companies how they have taken a hit, and you wonder if there are fundamental factors why the companies are selling off, like financials? or is it indiscriminate selling like we saw in early october? >> the overwhelming big story in the last 24 hours, the trade issue. pessimism to optimism. >> yes, they are talking again, steven mnuchin and the chinese have began or continued their ongoing discussions via telephone.

i can tell you the sources i'm talking to our saying the administration would like to continue their conversations with china, but they are willing to pull out provided things don't go their way, piccadilly ahead of buenos aires. >> we are setting up for an important meeting in buenos aires, but this is the white house divided on where to go in china and it is unclear china is ready to give a big structural concessions that this white house has been pushing for. >> crude oil is showing little signs of recovering from its record decline. it plunged more than 7% yesterday, its biggest one-day drop in three years as opec warned crude is falling faster than expected, underlining by saudi arabia and other members

are signaling output cut. what will stop this fact, if anything? >> i think the speed and scale of it is largely driven by money coming out of the market. if you look at open interest, a measure of how many contracts are outstanding in futures, that has been falling off a cliff. i think that accelerating scale of the speed of the move, as well as the scale, but it is hard to see from a point of view from opec, particularly the saudi arabia oil minister. what do you do where it feels like they have lost control of the narrative? at this in time, you have the white house furiously tweeting at them every time they say they will cut production. >> theresa may's cabinet is debating the draft brexit deal in westminster. the cabinets approval is a prologue to a much harder slot

for the parliament. >> at least two heavyweight brexiteers have decided to back may, a couple others are weighing whether they will or not as they look at the text, but as you say, the real challenge is going to be in parliament. may addresses mps today, and a lot of people are saying, this is a sellout, this is not what people voted for, it is handing over sovereignty, not taking it back. it is hard to see it going through. >> the choices before us were difficult, particularly in relation with northern ireland backstop. with the collective decision of cabinet, whether the government should agree the drawn agreements and outline political.

it is a decisive, which enables us to move on and finalize the deal in the days ahead. >> theresa may is fighting for her political life, despite getting the backing of her cabinet yesterday. there was a growing revolt from within her own party that threatens to derail her brexit plans. >> what they have been happy with so far as business has more certainty now and it will be with the plan. it is effectively the deal they wanted in the best they could have hoped for. it it is not the deal that will leave everyone happy. clearly, the labour party came out and said it is unlikely to support the deal. it will be a tough sell for theresa may. >> the brexit secretary has resigned in a blow to theresa may. he tweeted that he could not in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the eu. he is one of the key ministers for theresa may, so how did she faces his resignation? >> it is quite awkward. you cannot in good conscience support the treaty you negotiated yourself.

we always knew she was really up against it in parliament. the same thing seems to be happening where people sit in a room and say, we will go along with it, and then they come out and get the enough by their friends and they start resigning. >> we do have effectively a tori civil war in the open, and the drg, the european research group, the brexiteers need to get a petition letter -- a number petition letters for it to be a reality. >> it is really hard to see how may will get her brexit deal through parliament. the numbers are not there. and with every member who resigns, that is one fewer conservative who was going to vote with her, as she has been counting on them to vote to get the deal through parliament. >> we are getting the best deal for britain. i will do my job to get a deal that is in the best of national interest. when the vote comes before the house of commons, mps will need to look at that deal, consider the vote of the british people to leave the european union, and our duty to deliver on that. and they will be held accountable for the decisions they take. >> the united states and china

discussing on the sidelines of that upcoming g20 meeting in buenos aires. they say achieving a trade deal by january is "impossible." >> what level of expectations are here? >> quite low. a framework agreement is much down from cutting a deal, but overall, it is not that bad. if they get to that point, it will be the most progress we have had in six months. the u.s. has repeated that the rest of tariffs, well, the chinese have not given an inch on the bigger u.s. demand. >> secretary ross doubling down against peter navarro, emerging as someone who is at the forefront of the u.s.-china talks, according to sources i talked to. the bottom line is the president

is trying to have a good cop, bad cop scenario with secretary ross and peter navarro. that is where things stand heading into buenos aires. >> theresa may is taking control of brexit talks, stripping the brexit department of the role. may is said to be speaking to local tori party leaders. she did so on friday. >> in a way, it is a poke in the eye to the brexiteers because she named someone who is not the heavyweight in the brexit deal. there are three or four high brexiteers in the cabinet that she could have chosen, but those figures are probably wobbling of -- a bit, so she did not want to name them in case they decide they want to quit. she has gone for somewhat low profile and said, guess what?

i am going to take full control of the brexit department. all they will do is do domestic preparedness, so legislation and no deal planning. at the same time, she promoted a very high profile remainder and a long-term ally of may, so the balance of power in the cabinet has shifted a wee bit in favor of the eu, which reflects the deal made a while back. kailey: still ahead as we reviewed the week on bloomberg best, more oil discussion with expert insight into what could break crude's fault. -- fall plus, conversations with. the prime ministers of australia and new zealand. and more on politicians putting pressure on goldman sachs. >> not only do they want the fees back, but they went conversation. kailey: this is bloomberg. ♪

kailey: this is "bloomberg best." i am kailey leinz. let's continue our global tour of the world's top business stories in europe, where italian leaders and eu officials are locked in a clash of will over italy's budget. vonnie: european commissioners have to decide whether to take on the process that could lead to several billions of euros in fines for italy. how serious is the european union about leveling fines on italy? italy looks quite happy to pay fines at this point. >> i do not think the eu is eager to levy fines on italy. they want to work things out, have more discussions, ringed italy within the eu rules were a lot closer to them, so i think any fines would be the endpoint, not the point of reference going into all of this. >> china's industrial production and business investment gain, while retail sales slowed, signaling some policymakers are grappling with the slowest growth in a decade. chinese consumers have increasingly been tightening their belts with uncertainty from the trade war that adds to downward pressure. what are some of the big key takeaways we got from the data? >> this was probably positive. as you said, if there was a fly

in the ointment, it was retail numbers. and fixed asset investment, as well, also came in above the surveys. we heard from officials thinking there was a tick up in private investment, infrastructure, and environmental sector, also saying overall, investment in structure remains at a low level, and they think the trade war impact was minimal at this stage, saying they have other tools that are at their disposal to support the economy and going forward, saying there is downward pressure still. >> japan's third quarter gdp numbers came worse than expected. the economy shrank by an annualized 1.2% from the previous three months. economists had expected a 1% contraction. natural disasters weighed on domestic demand, and slowing growth in china pressured exports. >> the gdp contracting, and just well below what the boj considers should be its growth potential. will this put a lid on inflation pressures, or could a tight labor market offset that? >> the most positive thing we think has happened in the past three months or four months is

them saying we will taken by the hundred thousand new workers. now, is that the first step in one million, up 5 million, we will replace the declining population, increase the tax base question mark remember, japan now has 164 jobs for everyone hundred applicants. if we can improve that part of the equation, then we get back on our inflationary track. that said, these numbers are a little disturbing in the short term. >> goldman sachs' reputation could face one of its biggest crises of the decade after the malaysian probe into the investment company gathers pace. the nation is stepping up pressure against the investment banking giant, calling for more aggressive claims against the bank. to bring us up-to-date on the investigation and how it is progressing, what does malaysia want? >> it is widely expected that the next prime minister wants more just the claims, and what

that means is not only do they want fees paid back, but they went conversation, where he says it is goldman ruining their image and they went losses stemming from the interest-rate differential, which he says when goldman sold the bonds, they were sold at higher interest rates than they would have paid otherwise. he also wants conversations on losses, so this is raising the pressure on goldman. >> softbank announced details of the ipo of its cash buying unit, seeking $21 billion, making it the biggest offering in their history. highly anticipated, but time is of the essence in the deal. >> let's run through the numbers. they are sharing 1.6 billion shares at ¥1500 apiece, which will amount to 33% stake in their domestic telecom business, including japan's third-largest wireless carrier, broadband network and services. that will met them about $21 billion. this is a little bit less than what we were expecting. media has been reporting the sales might be its weakest, ¥3 trillion, so we are preparing for the world's biggest ipo ever, but we will settle for half biggest now. 90% of the shares will be sold domestically in japan, and our sources tell us that in fact, more will be sold to retail investors and not the institutional investors. >> alibaba rank up almost $31

billion in sales at the annual singles' day extravaganza, setting a herd as shoppers formed the online bazaar. more huge numbers, all after 10 years of this event. they still pulled it off. what were the key numbers? >> another record, more than 30 billion last night, but they said that around 500 million apartments consumer, online consumer of events, they said in terms of some of the big-ticket brands and top sellers, you probably have apple phones, dyson vacuum cleaners, and amongst the top three on sale. in terms of countries shipping goods to consumers here, the top three nations included japan, south korea, and the u.s., interestingly. >> amazon has officially confirmed it is opening two new headquarters. one in long island, new york, and the other in arlington, virginia. plus, they will have more than 5000 new jobs. >> we will have shareholders meetings in these headquarters. we will have board of directors meetings, our employee meetings, in new york, and in the d.c. area, like we have them now in

seattle. >> splitting them up makes a lot of sense because of the sheer size. it used to be that if you wanted >> to build a huge campus, he went to the suburbs. today, young tech workers or tech or tech workers in general do not want to be in the suburbs. they want to be in a diversified, culturally attractive city. therefore, the employers really have no choice but to try to establish themselves in big cities. >> one bad apple is spoiling a bunch of suppliers. they are leading the supplier losses falling, and increasingly weak demand for iphones. as apple shares plunging. what do you make of this announcement? one of their key areas of growth, one of their clients are saying, we are cutting down their orders. >> one thing to keep in mind is apple strategy with the iphone now hinges on driving a price, not unit shipments. my thought when i saw the news was, boy, this really reflects the emphasis they have, the iphone xs, both 10s's are more expensive than the time, and the xr is more expensive than the iphone 8. it shows how it is moving

upmarket in terms of price in order to make up for some of the volume shortfall. >> let's turn to chipmakers, and the sector has seen another bout of selling in asia, wiping at least $8.4 billion in market value, a week forecast from nvidia and supplied materials in the u.s., adding to the latest signals, with the demand for personal computers and mobile falling. to sum up what we have heard overnight. >> the big issue there is basically, they have too much inventory in the supply chain. there is a glut, and they really need to wait until it has digested before they start shipping out more chips. they came out and admitted that. the whole chip industry is on tenterhooks. it any news, good or bad, will throw the market in either direction. ♪ today, young tech workers or tech or tech workers in general do not want to be in the suburbs. they want to be in a diversified, culturally attractive city. therefore, the employers really have no choice but to try to

establish themselves in big cities. >> one bad apple is spoiling a bunch of suppliers. they are leading the supplier losses falling, and increasingly weak demand for iphones. as apple shares plunging. what do you make of this announcement? one of their key areas of growth, one of their clients are saying, we are cutting down their orders. >> one thing to keep in mind is apple strategy with the iphone now hinges on driving a price, not unit shipments. my thought when i saw the news was, boy, this really reflects the emphasis they have, the iphone xs, both 10s's are more expensive than the time, and the xr is more expensive than the iphone 8.

it shows how it is moving upmarket in terms of price in order to make up for some of the volume shortfall. >> let's turn to chipmakers, and the sector has seen another bout of selling in asia, wiping at least $8.4 billion in market value, a week forecast from nvidia and supplied materials in the u.s., adding to the latest signals, with the demand for personal computers and mobile falling. to sum up what we have heard overnight. >> the big issue there is basically, they have too much inventory in the supply chain. there is a glut, and they really need to wait until it has digested before they start shipping out more chips. they came out and admitted that. the whole chip industry is on tenterhooks. it any news, good or bad, will throw the market in either direction. ♪

kailey: you are watching "bloomberg best." it's been another week of mixed signals regarding trade talks. in an interview, we asked what he sees in the current trade landscape. >> if you look at trade as a whole, it is at record levels. it's not like trade has gone down. the danger about this is the impact it has on expectations and sentiment. the fundamentals seem to be fine. sentiment is getting into the danger zone. >> it takes time for the actuals to hit people. in 2019, things might change. how do you prepare for it? >> it's a combination of things

we are looking at very carefully. rates rising in the u.s., that will have impact on emerging markets. we have seen a little of this combined with the geopolitical situation around china and the u.s. i think it's a broader geopolitical issue moving around. there is noise coming out of europe with brexit and italy widening spreads. you need to keep an eye on that. you have the fact that it's been 10 years without having any significant recession in the u.s. or around the world. i should prepare for all sorts of scenarios. >> are you seeing a global slowdown taking place? if you think about 19, it's hard to think of where it will come from. there may be something out there. if i had to guess, if inflation keeps creeping a little bit, it will limit the policies that cover combating a slowdown. >> there would not be enough bullets in the chamber. >> exactly. it's the toolbox you have. >> coming up, more of the top news, including earnings

reports. more compelling conversations straight ahead. the new zealand prime minister says it's worth taking the time to get the deal right. >> we want to balance a with quality. >> this is bloomberg. ♪

kailey: welcome back to "bloomberg best." the collapse of oil prices was a central topic of discussion throughout the week on bloomberg television. let's revisit some of the conversation, starting with manus cranny's interview with bp ceo bob dudley. >> will we get $70? >> we are planning it at $65 long-term, but the market confirms, even though projections of global growth and demand are below the 1.5 threshold, i think global economic growth will change a little bit. the markets should be firm in 2019, venezuela production, libyan production, out of the permian basin in the u.s. the factors could go either way? >> is shale the biggest threat in 2019? the trajectory of shale is really quite stupendous. is that the biggest threat to global demand? >> well, i think in the long term it will be supply and demand and opec said they would like to keep the price within a certain quarter were. i think that's a fair way and good for producers and consumers. the permian has been quite something but it will respond

quite quickly until things are moved around. it will be increased production for several years. >> i think that what was happening was that they were geared into a much tighter market and once the results came out on exports it is a process of readjustment and the price we saw of $86 is a geopolitical spike in prices came down and now they are lower -- we are also seeing a capitulation on the part of financial investors, and they are all fleeing the market. that's what you are seeing when you look at $65 right now. >> with the growth of the united states as an oil power, where do you see oil prices ranging? at the moment, we have quite a bit of volatility in the price action. where do you see it? >> well, i think it's really going to depend on the growth numbers in the world. a lot of u.s. production -- and this is now just a factor that is built in -- the impacts are as global as the study we put out today, trading places, which is having an impact on everything, including u.s. trade balance. the merchandise trade balance would have been another $250 billion more in deficit had it not been for this growth we are seeing in u.s. oil exports. i think the global market having to adjust to the fact that we have three, russia, saudi arabia, and the united states. the u.s. is on track to be the biggest oil producer in the world. that's a big change in the market.

>> we have had cuts in the past, and we need it to cut production to keep the market balance. we are not going to overdo it. we are always going to keep that balance and the reference will be the five-year average, where we will work very hard for a year and a half. if it comes to the question -- i'm expecting that they will go to a responsible producer, taking measures to keep the market in balance. >> so minister, december is still a way off, but your best guess as to how much needs to be cut? >> there are things outside our control, which add to speculation that the market fundamentals are still reasonable. my expectation is that adjustment in the growth will reach consensus to adjust the market. >> opec lowering its demand next year for the fourth straight month. where does demand plan to sell off? >> i think it played a bigger role than people give it credit for. the thing i have been focusing on is gasoline demand, particularly in the u.s. what we have seen for the past couple years is that gasoline demand had a revival,, prices came down the economy was going strong. what we are seeing this year is that with prices back up, demand has flattened out, negative in quite a lot of the country apart from places like texas, and i think you are starting to see

that worldwide. the iea report showed that gasoline demand worldwide is barely growing, which is kind of striking when you consider that the prices are not back to the levels we had. >> when you have oil drop as much as it does, what does it do to producers here in the u.s.? how much will it decentralized production? >> well it's going to defensive eyes some, but what we created back in the 80's was a futures market and many of these companies are hedged, they are protected and can keep going for another year or so with prices around 50. especially since costs have come down. i think we will see productions but i don't think we will see rapid reduction at all. >> this week, bloomberg television spoke with a pair of prime minister's, australia's scott morrison's and new zealand's december ardor. we asked about the politically sensitive decision to block a

foreign bid for an australian gas pipeline. >> i want to get own idea of where the lay of the land is when it comes to the chinese linked company and high profile knock backs. we have had attempts in building out the network -- is it getting to a point where if you are a chinese connected company you will not have a good chance of getting approval? >> not at all. you have highlighted some exceptions, but the normal state of affairs is that there are many approvals dozens of times over. ipi was tied to the concentration and liquidation of the owner, it wasn't about the nationality. australia will always make decisions in our national interest, but we will always be the most liberalized foreign regime in part of the world.

you can invest in australia more than australia can invest in the rest of the region. i wouldn't describe the rearrangement as reciprocal but we have a very liberal arrangement. we went through a very disciplined crisis, and there were no surprises in those decisions, and i think it's an important mark of how we continue to engage with china. we have our rules, we explain our rules, and we welcome investment, and it's no less than what china would expect or what singapore would expect or indonesia or malaysia or any other part of the region. no question that australia's foreign investment arrangements are the most liberal. >> this has been stalled. countries like china and singapore wanted to push it through by the end of the year

but that's not to be until the end of next year. >> we are looking into 2019 and we have roughly seven chapters that are looking good. but i think there is bit more conversation to be had and we need to balance pace with quality. and we do want to see these additional benefits and that is why we will keep pushing with what's already been negotiated. but it is a significant agreement and i think given the benefits that could be derived in this region. >> is there concern that it is being driven by china? >> no, that's not a concern from our perspective. our concern is making sure that we don't sacrifice quality for pace, particularly given the lengthy gestation. we want to derive the most from it that we can.

>> prime minister, what are your australia will always make decisions in our national interest, but we will always be the most liberalized foreign regime in part of the world. you can invest in australia more than australia can invest in the rest of the region. i wouldn't describe the rearrangement as reciprocal but we have a very liberal arrangement.

we went through a very disciplined crisis, and there were no surprises in those decisions, and i think it's an important mark of how we continue to engage with china. we have our rules, we explain our rules, and we welcome investment, and it's no less than what china would expect or what singapore would expect or indonesia or malaysia or any other part of the region. no question that australia's foreign investment arrangements are the most liberal. >> this has been stalled. countries like china and singapore wanted to push it through by the end of the year but that's not to be until the end of next year. >> we are looking into 2019 and we have roughly seven chapters that are looking good. but i think there is bit more conversation to be had and we need to balance pace with quality. and we do want to see these additional benefits and that is why we will keep pushing with what's already been negotiated. but it is a significant agreement and i think given the benefits that could be derived in this region. >> is there concern that it is being driven by china?

>> no, that's not a concern from our perspective. our concern is making sure that we don't sacrifice quality for pace, particularly given the lengthy gestation. we want to derive the most from it that we can. >> prime minister, what are your >> prime minister, what are your views on the u.s.-china trade? is it getting better or worse? what are the indications you are getting in your conversations with the rest of the global leaders? >> at least from a domestic perspective, i don't think it is having an effect in the sense that investor confidence might be somewhat affected by seeing what's happening as a result of the trade conversations going on, that it could be having an impact on global growth. we want to make sure that if the

world sneezes, new zealand doesn't catch a cold. but there's also something to be said for the architecture. we see no benefit for trade wars, so we will keep pushing hard around, abiding by the trade rules and agreements and norms that we signed up to. ♪ kailey: this is "bloomberg best." let's resume our roundup of the week's top business stories with a focus on company news. chinese internet giant tencent was among the companies releasing quarterly earnings reports. >> tencent beat third-quarter earnings expectations, largely thanks to a one-time gain from

♪

kailey: this is "bloomberg best." let's resume our roundup of the week's top business stories with a focus on company news. chinese internet giant tencent was among the companies releasing quarterly earnings reports. >> tencent beat third-quarter earnings expectations, largely thanks to a one-time gain from its investors, but the clampdown slowed it. this by from time, but there is no suggestion that they have any kind of longer-term answer to a pretty big existential crisis coming from chinese regulators. >> that's right. we have seen early analyst reactions and i think most people are a bit disappointed that tencent could not offer more visibility with this stalled chinese approval process. that is right now one of the

biggest overhangs in the stock. i think it was a legitimate heat on the bottom line for the third quarter, but if this game approval process isn't clarified quickly, it may be short-lived. >> walmart planned to sail smoothly into the holiday season, but instead found choppy waters today. the retailer is falling despite posting strong third-quarter sales, a signal it can hold its own against amazon. >> expectations are really high for walmart. they are one of those retailers who has been doing quite well, along with home depot, macy's. but that means their stock has been trading around 22 times earnings compared to 17 times him in historically. it's an expensive stock.

people are looking for things to poke holes in it, and gross margin was down a little bit today, and overall it was a solid report but shares are down as much as six months. >> revenue is improving across the business, prompting the world's largest container shipping company to raise the lower end of its forecast for profit. how is it that you are able to raise your profit forecast and revenue in a world increasingly beset by trade restrictions? >> well, we have seen a quarter where freight rates have gone up more than 5%, so that's a

positive driver. but we are also seeing good appropriation particularly in logistics. so right now the global trade is growing at a reasonable pace and container freights are going up. you >> the world oldest pharmaceutical business has raised its sales outlook for the year and reported a profit that beat analyst estimates, even as it warned exchange rates continue to weigh on profits. how exposed are you to troubles in the fourth quarter? could this be what's rattling investors today? >> we have seen by a large from the second half of 2018 relief in the foreign exchange situation in a way that important currencies have improved compared to the euro, compared to what we have seen in the first half. on the other hand, we have some trouble with the depreciation of

the american currencies, especially the brazilian rail and argentinian peso, which hit the bottom line pretty hard. we expect this affect to continue until the end. that is one of the reasons that despite the very strong topline that led to a guidance upgraded in sales we kept the organic pre-guidance staple for the year. >> the german conglomerate has reported higher-than-expected earnings in the third quarter. how the german conglomerate is performing after it's a $63 billion takeover of monsanto. the full impact of the acquisition is difficult to gauge but there science division has had double sales compared to a year ago. >> we are very happy to finally start integration, a good second and third quarter of the company overall, confirmed guidance, and in terms of legal challenges we are very comfortable that in the end the science will prevail. we are quite optimistic going forward and for the litigation at hand. >> marijuana stocks are all the rage this week, with all the earnings coming out.

>> we just got the numbers, significant increase in revenue, a pattern we are starting to see -- revenue and production numbers are growing quickly, this is the corridor leading into legalization which ended september 30. it doesn't include the numbers post legalization but a lot of these companies were beginning to ship to the provinces and some of that is reflected. higher revenue, higher production, and what we are also seeing his lower average selling prices and lower margins of cost. >> it's a very new industry that's evolving.

each quarter we start to get more and more information and it easier for investors to model, but right now there are so many developments, understanding the total addressable market, and what products will be sold in those markets. it's really something we are learning. each quarter we will continue to see it started moving towards that. >> sap announce yesterday it is buying all tricks for $8 billion in its largest ever deal, valuing it at 20 times revenue. how transformative is this transaction? does this change your company fundamentally? >> this is the jewel in the crown of sap. it does change it fundamentally. if you can marry operational data with experience data, you have the holy grail of enterprise application software.

this is a bold move, it's all about gross, it's all about the unique synergy of x data and oh data, experience and operational data, coming together on one platform to fundamentally change the world. >> after a month-long sometimes contentious campaign to force a sale, athena has given in. the private equity firm will acquire the company for $135 per share, totaling $5.7 billion. how did this come about? >> it has taken a while to play out, obviously a fairly robust sales process. for the shareholders, they will be relieved because they got the deal done. i think it's a slightly lower price that could have been achieved earlier in the process, but they are going to participate and you will see them as a good fit.

this is what we could call a quasi-strategic private company. >> an italian energy producer has won the right for oil fields in abu dhabi in a deal that could be worth $20 billion over 40 years. >> this is a big one. that is the first big gas deal. we feel that we are going to put it in production and it is a huge deal, it is supposed to produce the top -- it's a huge field. >> when will we get to those production levels? >> timescale, i'd say we can talk about 2022, 2023, something like that. ♪

>> when i look at bayer versus novartis, glaxo, the dax, it's a disappointing picture. investors over the last five years are losing money with them, and it seems that it is all down to the monsanto acquisition, because it just come off gains in the past six months. kailey: there are about 30,000 functions on the bloomberg, and we always enjoy showing you our favorites on bloomberg television. maybe they will become your favorite. here's another function you will find useful. it will lead you to our quick takes, where you can get important context and fast insight into timely topics. here is a quick take from this week.

>> decades in the making, quantum computing is the technology that can make today's fastest supercomputer look like an abacus. teams around the world are racing to build machines with different approaches, and while the technology is moving quickly, it is too soon to tell when it will get there. this is your bloomberg quick take on quantum computing. the computer you are using now processes information in bits that can represent two possible states, one or zero. quantum computers use quantum bits, which can represent one or zero or both at the same time. this is called superposition. they can also exhibit what's called entanglement, a state in which a change to one changes the state of another. these two properties let quantum computers consider multiple possibilities of one's, while a normal computer plugs away at one possible answer at a time.

>> so if we actually figure out how to do these kinds of calculations, we can suddenly solve absolutely complex and unfathomably long calculations with a quantum computer that would take a traditional computer, no matter how good or fast it is, thousands of years. >> there's a lot of hype around quantum computers, and researchers continue to make incremental advances. evangelists promised machines that can break the most impenetrable coded messages more accurately predict weather patterns, and instantly diagnose and treat disease based on a specific body. but there's a ways to go. >> it is difficult to make these physical computers, the hardware. a lot of this research is in material science, figuring out what's the best hardware to use. there's a few different options. you aren't just talking about the traditional silicone chips that we see in normal computers. >> many use loops of semiconducting wire, or even stranger approaches, like twisting subatomic particles

into a braid. many can only exist under temperatures colder than deep space. a canadian company became the first to sell quantum computers in 2011, although their usefulness is limited. ibm, google, intel, and others have all belts working quantum computers. microsoft is investing heavily, while china is throwing hundreds of millions into the technology. >> anyone who knows the promise of technology can get excited about it, even if it is many years away, and even if it never works out the way theoretically it could. this is still something people think is worth spending a lot of money on. kailey: that was just one of the many quick takes you can find on the bloomberg. you can also find them at bloomberg.com, along with all the latest business news and analysis 24 hours a day. that will be all for bloomberg best this week. thanks for watching.

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♪ carol: welcome to "bloomberg businessweek." i am carol massar. jason: i am jason kelly. we are in bloomberg's global headquarters. carol: this week, we have a special takeover issue. it is called the year ahead. it is a 365 degree look at the topics facing the business