• Samsung Mulls Split Samsung Electronics' board is to consider splitting the conglomerate into two on Tuesday, as proposed by activist hedge fund Elliott Management, according to the Seoul Economic Daily 's sources. A split would allow the heirs of the founding Lee family to strengthen their grip on the global smartphone leader, the crown jewel of the Samsung Group business empire. Elliott proposed a split in October to boost shareholder value. It wants Samsung to divide into a holding vehicle for ownership purposes and an operating company, pay a $26 billion special dividend, pledge to return at least 75% of free cash flow to investors and agree to appoint some independent directors. The board's decision will hinge on whether the Lee family can reconcile such aims with their own various priorities. Fortune • A New Favorite in France's Presidential Race Francois Fillon won the primary race to represent the center-right Republicains in France's presidential election next year. He looks a shoo-in for the second-round run-off in May, given that the Socialist Party's vote could be split between three or more candidates. Opinion polls suggest that he would defeat the far-right Marine Le Pen in the run-off, but his Thatcherite leanings, his desire to scrap the 35-hour week and his social conservatism (he's opposed to gay marriage and abortion) will make it harder for him to mobilize some of the segments of society that have already been responsible for this year's two big political shocks in the U.S. and U.K.. BBC • Mobile Payments Startup Hits $9 Billion Valuation Payments software company Stripe said it was raising another $150 million at a valuation of $9.2 billion. That's nearly double the $5 billion valuation it had at its last funding round in July last year, The company, which has now raised $450 million in total, said it wants to use the funds for acquisitions and for a broader international expansion. It has already launched in Japan, Singapore, France and Spain this year. The Wall Street Journal cited a person close to the deal as saying that Stripe's payment volume is growing faster than that of Square, but hasn't yet overtaken it. Stripe's software is used by businesses to accept and track digital payments. • Johnson & Johnson Targets Rare Disease Specialist Johnson & Johnson said Friday it has approached Actelion, Europe's biggest biotech firm by market value at around $20 billion, about a potential takeover. Much of that value is attributable to Actelion's Opsumit and Uptravi drugs for treating high blood-pressure, whose success has stopped it from falling off the patent cliff after its blockbuster Tracleer's patent protection lapsed. Actelion has successfully fought off unwanted interest in the past, notably from Elliott Management, but the news took the share price to nearly four times where it was only three years ago, which may swing Actelion CEO Jean-Paul Clozel. Either way, it's an interesting way for J&J to deploy its cash right ahead of a promised revamp of the corporate tax code's treatment of offshore cash. Fortune | 
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