S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a biweekly wrap-up of Asia-Pacific media and communications deal announcements, completions and updates from May
TOP NEWS
* Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel Ltd. has completed the acquisition of Telenor ASA's India unit after receiving all regulatory and statutory approvals, the company said in a press release May 14 shared on the BSE Ltd.
* Xerox Corp. said May 13 that it is pulling out of its proposed US$6.1 billion sale to Fujifilm Holdings Corp. after reaching a deal with activist investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason which will allow them to take control of the U.S. based company.
* U.S. retail giant Walmart Inc. said May 9 that it plans to buy a 77% stake in Indian e-commerce company Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd. for US$16 billion. Current shareholders including Microsoft Corp. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. will hold the remainder. SoftBank Group Corp. is a key investor in Flipkart and is expected to sell its shares as part of a deal.
TECHNOLOGY
* SK Group's SK Telecom Co. Ltd. and Macquarie Group Ltd. will buy domestic security systems company ADT Caps Co. Ltd. from private equity fund Carlyle Group LP for 1.28 trillion South Korean won, Reuters reported May 7.
* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. bought Beijing Sound Connect Technology Co. Ltd. to strengthen its sound recognition and human-machine interactive technologies, SHINE reported May 3.
MEDIA
* Zhongnan Red Culture Group Co. Ltd. acquired an 18.4% stake in Shanghai-based Baian Film for 46.04 million yuan to strengthen its capabilities in importing and distributing foreign movies, it said in a statement May 15.
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* News Corp. subsidiary REA Group Ltd., an online advertising services company for real estate in Australia and Asia, agreed to acquire Hometrack Australia Pty. Ltd. May 10 for A$130 million in cash.
* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. acquired Daraz Group, the Pakistan e-commerce unit of Rocket Internet SE, for an undisclosed amount, according to a May 8 statement.
* Advertising company WPP Plc on May 1 said it acquired full ownership of Young & Rubicam Inc. and Wunderman joint venture agency assets across Southeast Asia and Taiwan and Dentsu Sudler & Hennessey Inc. after a share swap transaction with Dentsu Inc.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
* PLDT Inc. unit PLDT Online Investments Pte. Ltd. reduced its stake in Rocket Internet SE, a German private equity and venture capital firm, to 2.0% from 6.1%. According to May 7 filing, Rocket Internet accepted 6.8 million Rocket shares tendered by PLDT Online at the offer price of €24 per share for a total consideration of €163.2 million.
* Spark New Zealand Ltd. on May 4 said it agreed to sell 50% of its shares in its Connect 8 subsidiary to electricity distribution company Electra Group.
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