Uber Technologies Inc. has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian operations to Grab, withdrawing from yet another fast-growing region to end a war of attrition with a fierce local rival.Under the agreement, Grab will acquire all of Uber’s operations in a region of 620 million people, including food delivery service UberEats. The U.S. ride-hailing behemoth in return gets a 27.5 percent stake in a combined entity and its chief executive officer will join the board of the Singapore-based company. Bloomberg News reported over the weekend that the two companies had finalized a deal.The cease-fire marks a victory for Grab as well as SoftBank Group Corp., the biggest shareholder in both companies. Masayoshi Son’s firm is pushing to reduce competition in a Southeast Asian ride-hailing market forecast to reach $20.1 billion by 2025. Uber and Grab, together with two other SoftBank-backed ride-hailing firms -- India’s Ola and China’s Didi Chuxing -- provide about 45 million … [Read more...] about Uber Cedes Southeast Asia to Chief Rival Grab in Latest Pullout
Asia
Asia Stocks Signal More Losses Amid Trade Tensions: Markets Wrap
By March 25, 2018, 5:47 PM EDT The rout that sent global markets into a tailspin last week showed no signs of easing on Monday morning, with stock futures in Asia signaling further declines amid concern that global growth may be destabilized by protectionist policies resulting from the U.S.Global stocks put in their worst week since the rout in early February and erased all of that subsequent recovery, with losses deepening into the close of Friday trading in the U.S. Crude posted its biggest weekly gain since July and the yen rose to the strongest in more than 16 months against the dollar.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News that he’s “cautiously hopeful” the two nations will reach a deal to avoid the tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump ordered on $50 billion of imports. Part of the problem for traders is assessing how the tariffs will be implemented, particularly after Trump exempted a handful of key partners from proposed steel and aluminum … [Read more...] about Asia Stocks Signal More Losses Amid Trade Tensions: Markets Wrap
China’s Push for Tech Self-Sufficiency Threatens Asia’s Exporters
China’s rampant economic growth has been a boon for exporters in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, who’ve supplied high-end components and machines for its factories. The risk for them now is that China changes from customer to competitor as it ascends the value chain.Japanese shipments to China reached a record $130 billion in 2017, leading an export-driven economic recovery that’s run for eight-straight quarters. Korean sales to its neighbor have jumped 70 percent in a decade, while shipments from Taiwan climbed to an all-time high.Yet a deeper dive into the data highlights the threat. Take the trade in semiconductors -- and the machines to make these microchips. Sales of the components from firms like South Korean tech giant SK Hynix Inc. have helped drive export growth into China from the rest of North Asia.But at the same time, there’s been a spike in sales to China of precision metal working machines and equipment for making chips from firms like … [Read more...] about China’s Push for Tech Self-Sufficiency Threatens Asia’s Exporters
3i steps up pace in Asia-Pacific
Buyout group 3i is poised to take control of a Singapore-based manufacturer in its first Asia-Pacific takeover for a decade. The firm's managing partner for Asia, Chris Rowlands, would not name the target - an unlisted company - but said the deal will be worth $160 million (£80.2 million) and will be unveiled within a fortnight. "This is the first deal where we will have a majority position," he said. "We're extending the range of private-equity investing in Asia and starting to develop our buyout business here." 3i has added six partners in the region in a year. Until now, it has focused on minority-stake investments in India, Hong Kong, China and South-east Asia. It manages about £500 million of assets in Asia, about 10% of its global total. Earlier this month, 3i took a £50 million stake in Hyperion Insurance Group to help fund its expansion in the Middle East and Asia. … [Read more...] about 3i steps up pace in Asia-Pacific
Asia del sud: le peggiori alluvioni da decenni
È emergenza umanitaria nel sud dell’Asia, dove si stima che oltre 1.200 persone siano rimaste vittime delle inondazioni di questi giorni, che avrebbero colpito più di 24 milioni di persone. Oltre 1.800 volontari della Croce Rossa e della Mezzaluna Rossa stanno lavorando con le autorità locali per far fronte alla situazione. Bangladesh, Nepal e India i paesi colpiti. … [Read more...] about Asia del sud: le peggiori alluvioni da decenni