Bloomberg Showa Denko KK, Japan’s No 3 diversified chemicals supplier, agreed to pay more than double its own market value to buy its bigger rival Hitachi Chemical Co, to scale up its lithium-ion battery and advanced materials businesses and keep pace with Chinese rivals. Tokyo-based Showa Denko offered as much as 964 billion yen ($8.8 billion) for all shares of ...

Bloomberg Japanese exports dropped for a 12th straight month in November, offering no clear indication yet of a pickup despite recent signs of green shoots in global manufacturing. The value of shipments overseas fell 7.9% in November from a year earlier, dragged down by sliding exports of cars and construction and mining equipment, data from the Ministry of Finance showed ...

Bloomberg A Chinese pipe maker endured a rollercoaster debut, finishing the day at a loss after almost doubling during its initial public offering in Hong Kong. Maike Tube Industry Holdings Ltd surged as much as 84% on Wednesday morning, before closing down 5.7%. It’s the latest example of a stock seeing wild swings in its Hong Kong debut. Snack Empire ...