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WeWork parent IPO update; SoftBank/Banco Inter deal; Guardant Health stake sale

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WeWork parent IPO update; SoftBank/Banco Inter deal; Guardant Health stake sale

TOP NEWS

* SoftBank Group Corp. aims to acquire at least US$750 million of the shares in The We Co.'s IPO, which is expected to raise at least US$3 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. SoftBank earlier called for The We Co., parent company of coworking giant WeWork Cos. Inc., to shelve its planned IPO after it received mild reception from investors.

* In more SoftBank news, the company agreed to nearly double its stake in Brazilian digital lender Banco Inter SA, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person familiar with the transaction. SoftBank is acquiring the additional stake from members of the controlling families of the bank. The Japanese conglomerate took an 8.1% stake in Banco Inter for about 760 million reais in July.

* SoftBank Vision Fund LP offloaded 4.9 million of its shares in cancer testing company Guardant Health Inc. as the fund's other investments faced valuation and regulatory turmoil, Bloomberg News reported, citing a regulatory filing. Guardant Health shares were sold for US$77 apiece, valuing the stake sale at more than US$370 million. Following the transaction, Vision Fund still remains the biggest shareholder in Guardant with over 20 million shares.

JAPAN

* Japan Display Inc. announced that it is extending the closure of a liquid crystal display plant in Ishikawa prefecture partly due to Apple Inc.'s weak iPhone sales. The company is considering a plan to produce organic light-emitting diode displays there instead, according to The Japan Times.

* NTT Docomo Inc. arm NTT Docomo Ventures Inc. made unspecified investments in U.S.-based big data platform Trifacta Software Inc. and cloud solutions provider Rafay Systems Inc.

* Hulu LLC's Japanese unit tapped U.S. online video technology provider Bitmovin Inc. to supply high-quality video to any device at optimized bitrates.

SOUTH KOREA

* LG U+ signed a memorandum of understanding with Kakao Mobility to cooperate on 5G-based future smart transportation services, Digital Daily reported. The two companies plan to launch a joint task force under which LG U+ will develop services and infrastructure and provide technical support, while Kakao Mobility will develop a user-friendly service platform and provide relevant information.

* KT Corp. is now allowing its customers to pay their phone bills via Kakao Corp.'s digital wallet Kakao Pay, ZDNet Korea reported. Previously, KT customers only had automatic withdrawal and remittance from banks as payment options.

GREATER CHINA (MAINLAND CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN MARKETS)

* Tencent Holdings Ltd. teamed up with Hammer Capital Management Inc. to launch a takeover bid for Chinese car comparison website Bitauto Holdings Ltd. According to Reuters, Tencent and its private equity partner offered US$16 per share to buy out the shareholders of Bitauto, an offer that is backed by Bitauto shareholder JD.com Inc. Tencent owns a 7.81% stake in the car site.

* China Mobile Ltd. will purchase 250,000 5G devices from Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., including 50,000 Mate 20 X 5G phones and 200,000 5G customer premises equipment, C114 reported.

INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

* Apple TV+ will launch in India on Nov. 1 at 99 Indian rupees per month, a price point cheaper than its streaming rivals' offerings in the country, Digital TV Europe reported. Netflix Inc.'s mobile-only plan in India costs 199 rupees, while Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video charges 129 rupees monthly.

* Bharti Airtel Ltd. may launch an infrastructure investment trust for its optic fiber assets to raise around US$2 billion, sources told The Economic Times (India).

* Zee Media Corp. Ltd. CFO Sumit Kapoor resigned from his position to pursue interests outside the company. Zee Media is a major Indian news network owned by Essel Group.

* Indian Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the country's 4G and 5G spectrum auctions will take place at the end of 2019 or in early 2020, The Economic Times (India) reported.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

* Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group, through its entertainment unit Anugerah Kreasi Gemilang, will collaborate with U.S.-based video game developer Blizzard Entertainment Inc. to expand Salim's local games and entertainment offerings, Republika reported.

* Thailand state-owned TV operator MCOT PCL will cease the operations of its Channel 14 MCOT Family (TH) network on Sept. 16, The Bangkok Insight reported. MCOT said no employee will be laid off as a result of the channel going off-air.

* The government of Jakarta tapped several online apps for collaboration in the Indonesian capital's smart city initiatives, CNN Indonesia reported. Among the companies tapped are ride-hailing apps GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. Ltd. and PT Go-Jek Indonesia, as well as online platform PT. Tokopedia.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* Macquarie Media Ltd. posted a target's statement recommending its shareholders to accept the A$1.46 per share takeover bid made by Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Ltd. The offer price values Macquarie Media at A$275.4 million.

* Australia-based telco United Networks Ltd. agreed to acquire 100% of Broadland Group, which comprises Broadland Solutions Pty. Ltd. and Broadland Victoria Pty. Ltd., and its related entities for consideration of 266,554,433 United Networks shares. The 100% script offer is subject to United Networks shareholder approval at the annual general meeting on Oct. 21.

FEATURED NEWS

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FEATURED RESEARCH

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Joji Sakurai, Frances Wang, Hyegyu Park, Kevin Osmond and Wil Hathaway contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.