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SoftBank prepares for mobile unit IPO; Vodafone India to off-load Indus stake

TOP NEWS

* SoftBank Group Corp. has begun preparations to float shares of its domestic telecom unit SoftBank Corp. in 2018. SoftBank Group said the IPO will enable "greater clarity" on the separation of its investment and telecommunications activities, in order to "better respond to the various needs of investors." SoftBank Corp. will remain a unit of SoftBank Group in the event of an IPO.

* In more SoftBank Group news, the company is in talks to acquire a stake in reinsurance giant Swiss Re AG that could be worth more than US$10 billion, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

* Vodafone India is in advanced talks to sell its entire 42% stake in Indus Towers Ltd. to Bharti Infratel Ltd. for US$5 billion through a share swap deal, The Economic Times reports, citing two sources. Bharti Infratel already holds a 42% stake in Indus and raising its stake to 84% will likely revive investor interest in the company. The deal value could change as cancellation of tower rental agreements due to consolidation in the sector will impact the valuation of Indus, the report said.

JAPAN

* SoftBank Group's net sales for the nine-month period ended Dec. 31, 2017 increased 4% year over year to ¥6.811 trillion. Third-quarter net sales reached ¥2.400 trillion, up from ¥2.310 trillion a year ago. The company's net income attributable to the owners of the parent jumped 20% to ¥1.015 trillion in the nine-month period, which includes the impact of the changes made to Sprint Corp.'s deferred tax based on the provisions in the new U.S. tax law, as well as derivative loss from the monetization of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. shares. Attributable net income for the third quarter totaled ¥912.32 billion, up from ¥80.26 billion a year ago.

* NTT DATA Corp. announced a 30.1% increase in net sales year over year to ¥1.536 trillion for the third quarter of fiscal 2017. In the quarter ended December 31, 2017, the company saw a 20.1% drop in net income to ¥36 billion, from ¥45 billion in the year-earlier period.

* Tokyo-based H.I.S. Co. Ltd. partnered with Japan Communications Inc. to jointly deliver a mobile virtual network operator service. The companies are also mulling setting up a joint venture, The Nikkei reports.

* Rakuten Inc.'s video streaming service Viki appointed Mark Jocson as senior vice president of strategic initiatives and business development, C21Media reports. Jocson previously managed Sony Corp.-owned Sony Pictures Television Networks' digital media business for nearly 100 TV channels around the world and its mobile games publishing studio

SOUTH KOREA

* Hackers could potentially control millions of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. smart TVs by exploiting "easy-to-find" security flaws, according to a study released by Consumer Reports. Security researchers for the publication discovered what they deemed vulnerabilities that affect smart TVs made by Samsung, models made by TCL and other brands that use the Roku TV smart-TV platform. The security flaw does not allow hackers to spy on users or steal their information, the study said, but it does enable them to change channels, update volume settings and "play offensive content."

* Samsung Electronics is considering building a second semiconductor production line in Pyeongtaek City in South Korea due to increasing demand, Yonhap News Agency reports, citing industry sources.

* Naver Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding with Xiaomi Inc. and its South Korean distributor Youmi to cooperate on AI technology. Naver will utilize Xiaomi's AI technology to further enhance its AI platform Clova, and link the platform with Xiaomi's IoT devices.

* In other Naver news, the company launched its in-vehicle infotainment device Away, which was developed by the company's research and development unit Naver Labs. The device provides navigation services based on Naver's point of interest data, voice recognition technology, as well as various media services from Naver Music.

* CJ Group's media and entertainment business unit CJ E&M announced fourth-quarter 2017 revenue of 490.4 billion South Korean won, up 0.3% from the year-ago period. Operating profit grew by 83.5% year over year to 3.5 billion won, thanks to the robust sales growth of in-house music and musical IP businesses.

* CJ E&M's over-the-top service TVING will revamp its platform to provide more support to content startups, Yonhap News Agency reports. The company will also allow creators to take up to 90% of the ad sales to attract various content creators and provide a content curation service.

CHINA, HONG KONG and TAIWAN

* Apple Inc. customers at its retail stores in China can now complete transactions using Alipay, a mobile payment service run by Alibaba Group Ant Financial. The move marks the first time Apple has adopted a third-party payment system at any of its retail stores worldwide, according to the Financial Times.

* Tencent Holdings Ltd. acquired an undisclosed stake in Shanda Games Ltd., a privately held Chinese developer of online games, according to the South China Morning Post. The report cited a Shanda Games spokesman as confirming the investment without disclosing further details.

* Tencent also signed a deal with Shenzhen-based game publisher iDreamSky Technology Ltd. to build an open cloud platform and offer system solutions to developers, Yicai Global reports.

* Taiwanese startup Gogolook Co. Ltd. received NT$345 million from undisclosed investors, Technews reports. The company, which develops the caller ID management app Whoscall, will use the investment to develop AI technologies and expand overseas.

* A unit of China's media watchdog reminded 16 major local internet companies, including Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu Inc., to "improve mechanisms of content auditing and harmful information filtering," Reuters reports.

* AcFun has been offline since early February, signaling the possible end of China's first video-sharing platform, China Film Insider reports.

INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

* The merger between Dish TV India Ltd. and Videocon d2h is expected to close before the end of February, Rapid TV News reports.

* Indian telecom minister Manoj Sinha said radio waves above 3000 MHz will be put up for sale in the upcoming spectrum auction, Press Trust of India reports. Sinha also said that the government is eyeing a revival plan for MTNL and BSNL, which include equipping the state-owned telcos with capabilities to start providing 4G services.

* The International Olympic Committee said it granted the rights for Olympic Channel to live stream the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games across India and the sub-continent. Reliance Jio will also provide comprehensive live coverage on the JioTV app. The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union also acquired free-to-air rights in Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

* Idea Cellular Ltd. suspended its interconnect services with Aircel Ltd. for non-payment of dues "despite several reminders," The Economic Times reports.

* Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video greenlighted "Skulls and Roses," a new unscripted reality series from India, Variety reports.

* Ooredoo said it expanded its 4G coverage to 200 townships in Myanmar.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

* The Stock Exchange of Thailand and the Market for Alternative Investments will launch a program to transform Thai startups into listed companies within five years, including a 1-million-baht investment each, Daily News reports. Some of the companies mentioned include website operator Wongnai Media Co. Ltd. and e-book provider Ookbee Co. Ltd.

* PLDT Inc. will surrender one of its radio frequencies "at no cost" to the government to support Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's plan to establish a third telecom player in the country, the Philippine Star reports.

* Thai PWS Co. Ltd. and Internet Thailand Public Co. Ltd. jointly launched a cloud-based office application suite called SuperDuck in Thailand, Krungthep Turakij reports. Thai PWS, a subsidiary of RMI Global Ventures, is an office application developer, while Internet Thailand Public specializes in information technology infrastructure.

* Motorola Solutions Inc. announced that it secured a contract to provide two-way radio communications network to Malaysia's Mass Rapid Transit, wherein Motorola will install more than 500 radio devices and base stations.

* Teradata Indonesia appointed Erwin Sukianto as its new president director, Bisnis reports. Sukianto, who has 20 years of experience in the technology industry, was previously the managing director of Oracle Corp. in Indonesia.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* The planned IPO of Vodafone in Australia and New Zealand might not occur until the second half of the year due to the ongoing market volatility that has wiped billions of dollars off the Australian market in recent days, sources told The Australian.

* Fairfax Media Ltd.'s real estate business Domain will undertake a review of its work environment in light of allegations that former CEO Antony Catalano led a boys-club workplace culture in the company, The Australian Financial Review reports.

FEATURED NEWS

Research & Analysis: Fintech funding favors robo-advisers in January: Our monthly review of capital raises by private U.S. fintech companies showed a number of investments in digital advisory and banking technology companies.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Global Multichannel: Oi's $19B debt deal may pave way for Chinese giant's Americas debut: Brazilian telco Oi's December debt restructuring agreement significantly improves its prospects for 2018 and may open the door for a takeover by a foreign telco, China Telecom being a potential candidate.

Wireless Investor: France mobile projections 2018: French mobile subscribers expand on strong growth in the M2M market, as 4G penetration reaches 52%.

Nozomi Ibayashi, Nicole Shiwon Kim, Frances Wang, 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.