International News

Bloomberg As the latest China data showed some softening at the end of an upbeat year, reports for this month are looking likely to show the economy keeping pace despite slowing industrial profits. The earliest indicators for January show momentum remains intact, with sales managers the most upbeat since July, financial experts more optimistic, and satellite imagery signalling manufacturing conditions ...

Bloomberg A management consortium backed by TPG Capital has bid for a fiber telecommunications network controlled by India’s Tata Group, people with knowledge of the matter said. The suitors offered $1 billion for fiber assets and related businesses owned by the Indian conglomerate’s Tata Teleservices Ltd. unit, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information ...

Bloomberg Just as the US throws up new barriers to cross-border commerce, its largest trading partner China is redoubling its efforts to seal free-trade agreements. From deals with blocs including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to bilaterals with tiny countries like the Maldives, China’s FTAs already cover 21 countries. That compares with the 20 countries covered by US agreements. ...

Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to back leading online insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar at a valuation of at least $800 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The two sides are examining how the Japanese company can take a stake without pushing foreign investment in PolicyBazaar above 49 percent, the limit under India’s regulatory policies, said one of ...

Bloomberg One of China’s top smartphone makers is targeting Japan for its next conquest. Oppo, which vanquished Apple Inc. and Xiaomi Corp. in just a few years to become No. 2 in its home market, will introduce its flagship R11s model next month, Deng Yuchen, chief of Japan operations, said. Oppo is aiming to reach a market position that matches ...

Bloomberg After a 3,985 percent rally since its 2008 listing, V-Guard Industries Ltd. that has evolved into one of India’s leading consumer-durable companies has found its next big growth plan: Internet of Things (IOT). The company, which started 40 years ago with a mere 100,000 rupees, now has products ranging from food mixers to fans and is betting that rising ...

Bloomberg Google’s top executive said the search giant would welcome higher taxes. Uber Technologies Inc.’s new CEO said it must be more accommodating with regulators. Salesforce.com Inc.’s veteran leader Marc Benioff said Silicon Valley has been arrogant and compared Facebook to the tobacco industry. At the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, technology executives struck a conciliatory note in ...

Bloomberg Germany’s most powerful union IG Metall failed to reach a labour deal for some 3.9 million workers in Europe’s largest economy, setting the stage for potentially disruptive 24-hour strikes at industrial giants from Siemens AG to Daimler AG. Talks with IG Metall broke off with no deal after 16 hours of negotiations, employer organisation Suedwestmetall said. The union, which ...

Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc., whose losses have piled up in the quest for growth around the world, will be profitable in three years as its ride-hailing business matures and the company reaps the rewards from investments in areas such as autonomous vehicles, said Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi. Bending the company’s financial trajectory out of the red would be a ...

Bloomberg Starbucks Corp.’s US slowdown has gone global. The coffee chain posted disappointing sales growth in all its major regions, signalling that it now has bigger problems than an overly saturated US market. The results from the quarter that ended on December 31 sent shares down the most in six months. “Our holiday merchandise and limited-time offers did not perform ...