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Finland buys Nokia stake; Spotify launches in 4 countries

TOP NEWS

* The Finnish government acquired a 3.3% stake in Nokia Corp. for about €844 million as it seeks to strengthen a company seen as crucial for the nation. Solidium Oy, Finland's state-owned investment company, said Nokia now accounts for about 11% of its €8.4 billion of total equity investments. The investment was financed by Solidium's earlier divestment of its stake in Telia Co. AB.

* Spotify Technology SA, the parent of Spotify AB, has launched its services in Israel, Romania, South Africa and Vietnam. The music-streaming service is now available in 65 countries.

UK AND IRELAND

* U.K. newspaper publisher and media company Daily Mail and General Trust plc agreed to sell EDR, its U.S.-based property information business, to two technology-focused private equity firms for $205 million. Silver Lake and Battery Ventures will acquire the business, which provides property due diligence and risk management technology and information.

* Ofcom announced that it will assess whether "there was an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the U.K.," which the British regulator will include in its determination whether it is fit and proper for Russian channel RT to broadcast in the U.K. Ofcom sent a letter to ANO TV Novosti, holder of RT's U.K. broadcast licences explaining the intended assessment. RT expressed dismay with the British government's stance and said that it has been "quickly proposed to be sacrificed as a political pawn."

* U.K. Culture Secretary Matt Hancock said the government plans to work with tech companies, publishers and the civil society to develop a framework that would help in protecting users and their rights, Digital TV Europe reports. Hancock has called on to online companies to "step up and play their part" in the creation of these rules.

* The British government said in its Spring Statement that it has allocated more than £95 million as its first wave of funding to roll out local full fiber network in 13 U.K. locations. The areas that won the bidding are Armagh City, Belfast, Blackpool, Cambridgeshire, Cardiff, Coventry, The Highlands, London, Manchester, Mid Sussex, North Yorkshire, Portsmouth and Wolverhampton.

* Sheffield renewed the operating license of Uber Technologies Inc. after the ride-hailing company responded to officials' queries regarding its management, Reuters reports. Uber's license in the city has previously been suspended after failing to respond to the city government's questions.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA U.K.

* Microsoft Corp. is opening two cloud data centers in Germany, Reuters reports, citing WirtschaftsWoche and Handelsblatt. The U.S. tech giant has spent €100 million for the facilities, which will enable customers to retain their data in Germany in compliance with the country's relatively strict privacy regulations.

* Germany's Federal Cartel Office, or Bundeskartellamt, is planning to launch a third probe into the digital market, a month after opening an inquiry into online advertising, Reuters reports. The Bundeskartellamt has reportedly warned tech companies not to abuse their market dominance or misuse their collection of personal data.

* Swiss media group Tamedia AG has announced a net income increase of 39% to CHF107.2 million. Digital subscriptions also rose, the company said.

* Sky plc's German pay TV service Sky Deutschland GmbH will cooperate with Hamburg-based sports consulting agency Onside Sports GmbH to provide additional content.

* German automotive manufacturer Bayerische Motoren Werke AG plans to give up the print version of its corporate publication to focus on digital content provision instead, reports Meedia. The move affects Territory, a subsidiary of German digital publisher Gruner + Jahr AG & Co KG

FRANCE

* Creative content company Seventytwo Seconds Co. Ltd., or 72 Seconds, signed a content distribution deal with Vivendi SA's Dailymotion SA, E Daily reports. Under the partnership, 72 Seconds TV's content including "72 Seconds" and "Banana Actually" will be available in Dailymotion.

* Free revenues are up nearly 6% year-on-year at just under €5 billion and 16% in profit from ordinary activities, at €862 million. The Iliad unit said it has over 6.5 million subscribers as of Dec. 31, 2017.

* Orange SA has agreed to sell €1 billion of notes due March 2028 with a coupon of 1.375%. Barclays, ING, Natixis and UniCredit are acting as bookrunners.

* The NextRadio TV group, owned by Altice NV and which controls BFM TV, wants to make its channels pay for the telecom operators broadcasting its program, reports CB News. "The French are already paying a fee" and they should not have to pay "an additional tax" to watch TF1, M6 and the channels that as they ask for remuneration to operators, noted Maxime Lombardini, general manager of Iliad.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* Netherlands-based multinational telecom company Altice received a bid from wireless communications operator and real estate investment trust American Tower Corp. and private equity firm KKR & Co. LP for its telecommunications towers, Bloomberg News reports, citing unnamed sources, who noted that the assets could be valued at approximately €3 billion in a sale. Infrastructure operator TDF and other private equity firms are also among potential bidders for the assets.

* VICE Media LLC's Benelux unit will launch a local independent production house called VICE Studios, reports Villamedia. VICE Studios, which will be broadcasting from Amsterdam and focus on documentaries and docuseries, was launched earlier in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

* The ongoing bid on Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors NV by Qualcomm Inc. will most likely rise after U.S. president Trump earlier this week blocked Singapore chipmaker Broadcom Ltd. from pursuing a takeover of the U.S. chip maker, reports De Telegraaf. According to certain analysts, Qualcomm will fully focus on an aqcuisition of NXP now a take-over by Broadcom is out of the question, which will likely increase the proposed take-over amount.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Ant Financial, the financial arm of internet giant Alibaba Holding Ltd., reached a partnership with Norwegian government-backed telecommunications company Telenor ASA to acquire 45% of its subsidiary Telenor Microfinance Bank for US$184.5 million. Ant Financial aims to leverage on its experience from Alipay to upgrade the Pakistan-based Telenor Microfinance Bank's mobile wallet Easypaisa.

* Amazon.com Inc. is recruiting personnel in Sweden and is planning a launch before the summer of 2018, DI Digital reports, citing five independent e-commerce experts. The e-commerce giant has not confirmed the claims. Amazon already has operations in several European countries, but not in the Nordic region.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Workers in the San Fernando logistics warehouse of Amazon's Spanish arm intend to strike March 21 and March 22 over a wage dispute, Reuters reports, citing trade union Comisiones Obreras. The union said Amazon allegedly plans to block salary increases and reduce wages and payments for employees working during weekends or holidays.

* Iliad CEO Maxime Lombardini said the French telecom operator has no current plans to buy an Italian telco, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, Deputy CEO Thomas Reynaud said Iliad's priorities for 2018 include the deployment of fiber optic and 4G services as well as the launch of its Italian business "before the summer," according to a separate Reuters report.

* Telefónica SA's pay TV platform Movistar secured exclusive rights to broadcast Formula One and MotoGP races, after Vodafone Group Plc unit Vodafone España SAU's decision to drop the rights, Advanced Television reports. Movistar has launched two channels dedicated to the events.

* Uber has returned to Barcelona with the launch of its new UberX ride-hailing service that complies with local transportation laws, Reuters reports. The new service is in contrast to UberPop that was legally barred by city authorities in 2015 after numerous regulatory battles as well as protests from drivers.

* Telecom Italia SpA warned of unilaterally implementing temporary state-backed layoffs in the coming weeks if unions will not change their vote on the telco's labor reorganization plan, Reuters reports, citing two labor representatives. The Italian operator has interrupted talks with unions over plans to slash up to 6,500 jobs through redundancies and early retirement schemes.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Rostelecom PJSC will invest about 1.02 billion Russian rubles on the upgrade of software used in its IPTV platform, Telecompaper reports, citing Cnews.ru. The Russian national operator plans to hire the services of its Restrim unit, which is the sole bidder for the project.

* Russia's Tinkoff Bank is planning to spend 1 billion Russian rubles for its mobile virtual network operator unit Tinkoff Mobile by end-2019, Telecompaper reports, citing Tdaily.ru. Tinkoff Mobile operates on Tele2 Russia's network. Tele2 Russia is a unit of Tele2 AB

* China's ZTE Corp. said it completed the commercial rollout of its Hybrid Access solution on A1 Slovenija's network. The solution is expected to help improve the bandwidth and reliability of fixed-line and broadband services for A1 Slovenija customers. A1 Slovenija is a unit of América Móvil SAB de CV's Telekom Austria Group.

FEATURED NEWS

The Program Guide: Global edition: Disney orders 'Star Wars' series; Apple preps 1st animated show: Walt Disney ordered a live-action series based on the "Star Wars" film franchise for its upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming platform, while Apple commissioned its first animated series.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Wireless Investor: Germany mobile projections, 2018-2028: As German mobile network operators complete buildouts of nationwide 4G networks using 700MHz spectrum acquired in 2015, we estimate German 4G mobile subscribers totaling 41.9 million and representing 33% of total mobile subscribers.

Anne Freier, Amanda Kelly, Charlotte van Hek and Esben Svendsen contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription.