Large, notable and strategic corporate deals

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Tuesday's edition of Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the International edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>Today we lead with news of some large, notable and strategic corporate deals underway.</p><p>But first we should note that the Chicago Fed's <a href="https://www.interest.co.nz/sites/default/files/2021-10/cfnai-october2021-pdf.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>National Activity Index</strong></a> dropped to a seven month low, suggesting the American economic expansion lost momentum for a second consecutive month. Production-related indicators dragged suggesting the main reason was supply-chain issues, while sales, orders, and inventories and employment-related indicators all rose.</p><p>Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.dallasfed.org/research/surveys/tmos/2021/2110.aspx" target="_blank"><strong>Dallas Fed factory survey</strong></a> was all positive in October, although the cost pressure being noted there is extreme.</p><p>In San Francisco, sneaker brand Allbirds is <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001653909/000162828021020401/allbirdss-1a4.htm" target="_blank"><strong>preparing an IPO</strong></a> worth NZ$375 mln and valuing the company at NZ$2.8 bln (and about the same size as Chorus). It's a major success story based on a Kiwi development of merino wool for running shoes.</p><p>And in other corporate news, rental car heavyweight Hertz has made the single-largest purchase ever for electric vehicles, ordering 100,000 Teslas, worth about $4.2 billion of revenue for the carmaker.</p><p>In China, a data point to note. A quarter of all economic activity in the whole country happens in the Shanghai area and the Yangtze River Delta region. It is a strategic concentration that makes Beijing uncomfortable which is why they are promoting the expansion of the Pearl River Delta, where Hong Kong is located.</p><p>Taiwan's September <a href="https://eng.stat.gov.tw/point.asp?index