Bloomberg Razorpay, an Indian startup that facilitates digital payments, is raising $160 million from Sequoia India, Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC Pte and others, tripling its valuation to $3 billion in six months. The Bangalore-headquartered company, which helps businesses to automate their payment systems, will use the funds to expand into banking and lending, make acquisitions and add services in Southeast ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong billionaire brothers Victor and William Fung are exploring selling their stake in Delvaux, a 192-year-old Belgian luxury leather bagmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Fungs are working with advisers and have reached out to prospective suitors on the potential divestment of the asset, the people said. A sale could value the bagmaker at around ...

Bloomberg After spending $120 million on a stake in an online grocer in Norway, SoftBank Group Corp is laying out the business logic of targeting a market that boasts Europe’s highest hourly labour costs. The deal is an example of how countries that pay average workers really well often come up with some of the smartest technology, according to Paul ...

Bloomberg Japanese exports posted a double-digit gain for the first time in more than three years in March, offering another indication that a recovery in global trade is gaining strength. The value of overseas shipments jumped 16.1% from a year ago, for the biggest increase since November 2017, led by exports of cars, plastics, semi-conductors and chip-making equipment, the finance ...

Bloomberg Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, warned for the first time that trade tensions may disrupt its access to key production equipment and hit its operations, amid increasing friction between the US and China. The company, which produces semiconductors for Apple Inc and other major global tech companies, said in its annual report released that ...

Bloomberg Russia hit back defiantly after the US warned of “consequences” if jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny dies on hunger strike, deepening the conflict over the dissident who’s already survived an alleged assassination attempt. “It’s obvious that Russia’s development as a strong, sovereign state is of no interest” to the West, Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of parliament ...

Bloomberg Chad said its army repelled rebels advancing southwards towards the country’s capital, as the US ordered non-emergency staff at its embassy to leave the country. A rebel convoy was intercepted in the southwestern Kanem region, army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa said in a statement on state-run Office National de Radio et Television du Tchad. “The convoy was destroyed and ...

Bloomberg Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces growing criticism across the political spectrum for holding large election rallies as the country’s health system reels from a deadly wave of Covid-19 cases, forcing citizens to beg for oxygen and hospital beds on Twitter. Modi avoided wearing a mask at a campaign rally, saying “I’ve never seen such huge crowds” at an ...

Bloomberg Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc is headed for an open confrontation with the battle between two potential successors to be voted on by her caucus in the Bundestag on Tuesday. After a late-night meeting in Berlin between Armin Laschet, the leader of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, and Markus Soeder, his upstart challenger from the smaller Bavarian sister party, failed to ...

Bloomberg At least one person was killed and tens of thousands fled their homes as Super Typhoon Surigae made a close approach to the Philippines’ eastern provinces. A 79-year-old male was declared dead on arrival at a hospital after suffering severe head injury caused by a fallen coconut tree in Leyte province in central Philippines, the disaster risk-reduction agency said ...