September 30, 2021 By Kane Wu and Scott Murdoch HONG KONG (Reuters) – Australia is set for its best year ever in M&A activity despite extended pandemic-induced lockdowns in its most populous states as cash-rich corporates and funds scoop up assets, with bankers seeing no sign of the momentum slowing. Deals involving Australian companies totalled […]
Incident.io helps your team communicate better during outages
Incident.io has raised a $4.7 million funding round led by Index Ventures and Point Nine. When your company is facing an outage or a data breach, Incident.io provides the right framework to communicate about the issue — both internally and externally — and make sure it is resolved as quickly as possible. In addition to […]
China’s high-end military technology touted at biggest air show
September 30, 2021 By David Kirton ZHUHAI, China (Reuters) – China put on an extravagant display of once-secret high-end military technology at its largest air show this week, while broadcasting its growing ambitions in space exploration and for self-sufficiency in commercial aircraft. Pandemic-related travel restrictions meant Airshow China in the southern city of Zhuhai was […]
Exxon offers new proposal to locked-out Texas refinery workers
September 30, 2021 By Erwin Seba HOUSTON (Reuters) -Exxon Mobil Corp on Wednesday offered its first concession in a new contract proposal to locked-out workers at its Beaumont, Texas, refinery and lube oil plant to include some seniority protection. Exxon on May 1 locked some 650 workers out at the 369,000-barrel-per-day refinery, replacing them with […]
Pandemic recovery fuels deal craze as third-quarter M&A breaks all records
September 30, 2021 By Pamela Barbaglia and Anirban Sen LONDON (Reuters) – Global mergers and acquisitions hit new record highs in the third quarter as companies and investors shaped their post-COVID future through transformative deals while their advisers struggled to cope with transaction volumes never seen before. A frantic summer of merger activity produced deals […]
IPOs slow down globally in Q3 after frenetic 2021 start
September 30, 2021 By Echo Wang and Abhinav Ramnarayan (Reuters) – Initial public offerings (IPO) globally slowed in the third quarter of 2021 from their previous frenetic pace, but the number of listings in the first nine months of the year still was the highest since the dotcom bubble of 2000, according to Refinitiv data. […]
Singapore central bank seen on hold as COVID-19 pandemic drags on: Reuters poll
September 30, 2021 By Chen Lin SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s central bank is expected to leave monetary policy on hold at its October review, analysts say, as highly transmissible coronavirus variants spread locally and across the world, threatening the pace of economic recovery. All 11 economists in a Reuters poll this week expect the Monetary […]
Fortescue halts operations at Pilbara site after employee’s death
September 30, 2021 (Reuters) – Fortescue Metals Group Ltd said on Thursday an employee had died after a ground collapse at its Solomon Hub site in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, forcing it to temporarily suspend mining operations at the project. The world’s no.4 iron ore miner announced the suspension earlier in the day, […]
China’s Golden Week travel not expected to return to pre-COVID levels this year
September 30, 2021 By Sophie Yu and Brenda Goh BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Golden Week holiday this year is unlikely to see domestic travel rebound to pre-COVID levels, industry estimates show, hurt by uncertainty over pandemic curbs and consumer fears about the health of the economy. The seven-day holiday from Oct. 1 to mark the […]
‘No code’ tool maker, Heyflow, nabs $6M to fix your customer conversions
Heyflow, a Hamburg, Germany-based startup touting ‘no code’ tools for easily building interactive “clickflows” to boost customer conversions, has bagged a $6 million seed. The round was led by Project A Ventures, with participation from Atlantic Labs and several unnamed angel investors. Heyflow competes with a growing number of no code/low code tools which aim […]
UC Berkeley finds gig workers could earn $4.82 per hour if MA ballot proposal passes
A coalition of app-based delivery and ride-hail companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash recently filed a ballot proposition in Massachusetts to continue classifying gig economy workers as independent contractors, rather than employees. If the measure makes it to the November 2022 ballot and passes, drivers could end up earning as little as a quarter of […]
Indian social commerce Meesho raises $570 million at $4.9 billion valuation
Meesho has more than doubled its valuation in less than six months, to $4.9 billion, as a growing number of high-profile investors back the Indian social commerce startup that is reporting strong growth despite the pandemic. The Bangalore-headquartered firm said on Thursday it has raised $570 million in its Series F financing round, following a […]
Asian stocks steady as calm returns but jitters keep dollar firm
September 30, 2021 By Alun John HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares found some calm on Thursday following this week’s heavy China-driven losses although the dollar sat at a more than one-year high against major peers, upheld by lingering safe-haven demand and expectations for tighter U.S. monetary policy. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside […]
China Evergrande shares swing as bondholders await word on payments
September 30, 2021 By Anne Marie Roantree and Andrew Galbraith HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Shares of debt-laden China Evergrande Group swung wildly on Thursday as the company looked set to miss its second bond interest payment in a week, as an additional $180 million in coupon deadlines loom in the next month. The company’s shares […]
Vietnam’s biggest city to start lifting COVID-19 curbs to revive business
September 30, 2021 HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam’s business hub Ho Chi Minh City will start relaxing coronavirus curbs from later on Thursday, allowing for the resumption of more business and social activities, city officials said at a news conference. (Editing by Ed Davies) Source Link Vietnam’s biggest city to start lifting COVID-19 curbs to revive […]
Taiwan sees upside from China power curbs if orders shifted
September 30, 2021 TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan may benefit from orders being shifted to the island if China’s power curbs lead to the country’s exports being impacted, Taiwan Central Bank Governor Yang Chin-long said on Thursday. The world’s second largest economy is grappling with power cuts and electricity rationing after a collision of tight coal supplies, […]
Australian housing borrowing booms, regulators ready new lending rules
September 30, 2021 By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian home lending in August expanded at its fastest annual pace since early 2018 as buyers borrowed ever more to get into a red-hot market, foreshadowing tougher rules from regulators concerned at the mounting risks to financial stability. Figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) […]
Oil falls after U.S. inventories post surprise gain
September 30, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Thursday, extending losses after official figures showed an unexpected rise in inventories in the United States although prices seem to have stabilised following a recent run of gains. Brent crude was down 11 cents at $78.53 a barrel by 0137 GMT, after falling 0.6% on […]
Access to website dedicated to Tiananmen victims appears restricted in Hong Kong
September 30, 2021 By Jessie Pang HONG KONG (Reuters) – Access to an online museum dedicated to the victims of China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square appeared to be restricted in Hong Kong, with the website accusing authorities of censorship. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic […]
U.S., Chinese military officials hold ‘frank, in-depth’ talks -Pentagon
September 30, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. and Chinese military officials held “frank, in-depth” talks this week on a range of defense issues, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, as the countries grapple over their competing interests in the Indo-Pacific region. Michael Chase, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, held the meetings by video […]
