Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced plans Wednesday for an economic development trip to South Korea, his first overseas trip as governor.
Kemp said the trip will include four days of business meetings with existing partners and companies considering investing in Georgia, as well as a meeting with the country’s prime minister, Lee Nak-yon. The trip is scheduled to take place from June 22 through June 28.
Kemp said Georgia is already home to at least 113 Korean facilities providing jobs for more than 9,000 Georgians. He’s hoping to continue to grow the relationship.
One high-profile Korean company that has invested in Georgia is automaker Kia, which has a sprawling manufacturing plant in West Point, Georgia, roughly 30 miles north of Columbus.
SunTrust, BB&T to become Truist
The name of the nation’s newest mega bank is Truist Bank.
Southern regional banking giants BB&T and SunTrust said Wednesday that the two would adopt the name for their merged institution.
The two banks announced their merger earlier this year creating the nation’s sixth-largest bank by assets at $440 billion. The merged banks are poised to geographically dominate the South, where they are based.
The banks also announced Truist will be headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, a city already home Bank of America.
The new name for SunTrust, which is the second biggest bank in Chattanooga, was announced a day after Chattanooga’s biggest bank, First Tennessee, said it will change its name to First Horizon this fall following its merger with Capital Bank, also headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The new Truist name will appear on 21 SunTrust offices that operate in metro Chattanooga following the merger and consolidation.
Esports merger tops $100 million
Immortals Gaming Company has acquired Infinite Esports in what is believed to be the competitive video gaming industry’s first $100 million deal.
IGC announced the agreement Wednesday, expanding its stable of esports teams by purchasing the parent company for OpTic Gaming. OpTic’s franchises include teams in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) and Overwatch League.
It’s a move back into League of Legends for IGC, which lost its top-level pro club when publisher Riot Games moved to a franchising model in 2018. The LCS team will retain the OpTic name until rebranding to Immortals in 2020.
IGC already owns an Overwatch franchise, the Los Angeles Valiant. The company says it will manage OpTic’s Houston Outlaws on an interim basis, with oversight from the Overwatch League, while trying to sell the franchise to another party.
IGC will also take over OpTic’s Call of Duty World League team, but says it will divest its Counterstrike: Global Offensive team. IGC purchased Brazilian CS:GO club MIBR last year.
Infinite Esports’ investors included Neil Leibman and Ray Davis, co-owners of baseball’s Texas Rangers. They will become shareholders in IGC.
League of Legends publisher Riot Games and Overwatch League operator Activision Blizzard have both approved the sale.
Consumer prices up 0.1% in May
U.S. consumer prices increased a slight 0.1% in May, as inflation was tempered by lower costs for gasoline, electricity and used cars.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that the consumer price index rose 1.8% during the past year. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 0.1% in May and 2% from a year ago.
Inflation has been consistently muted, slightly below or near the Federal Reserve’s target of 2% even though the economy is poised in July to set the record for the longest expansion in U.S. history.
Falling unemployment rates and a pick-up in wages have done little to push prices higher. Adjusted for inflation, average hourly earnings have climbed 1.3% in the past year. That same annual figure was up just 0.2% in May 2018.