If going back to work is a struggle for you today, spare a thought for the M&A teams at Iberdrola and Baidu. Both have called off deals because they didn’t get regulatory approval in time. Just as well, because at this point I couldn’t stomach writing a headline about cracking open the booze to celebrate.

The lowdown

• 🦤 Fidelity cuts X’s valuation to less than a third of what Elon Musk paid for it.

• 🏭 China factory activity sees a third straight month of contraction.

• 🔨 The Netherlands cracks down on chip machine maker ASML’s China exports.

Featured story

Iberdrola calls off $8.3 billion PNM Resources takeover

Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola is calling time on its planned acquisition of PNM Resources in the US. The $8.3 billion deal would have transformed Ibderdrola’s US unit, Avangrid, into one of the biggest companies in the American utilities sector.

Iberdrola is giving up after failing to get regulatory approval. New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission initially rejected the deal at the end of 2021. Iberdrola had appealed, but pulled out because it couldn’t get the necessary approvals to close by December 31.

It’s not the only deal going down the pan at the start of 2024. Chinese tech giant Baidu is calling off its acquisition of live streaming business Joyy because certain conditions hadn’t been met by year-end, including “necessary regulatory approvals.”

The content we're consuming today

• FT: Big Four firms rethink governance after year of mis-steps and scandals ($)

• The Verge: Welcome to the public domain, Mickey Mouse

• WSJ: Wayfair’s CEO wants staff to work harder. Your boss probably agrees ($)

Off-balance sheet items

• Making travel plans for 2024? Here’s what North Korea is like, according to people who’ve been there.

The bottom line