December, 2022

• 13 December

  France, Spain to pursue $2.6bn hydrogen pipeline plan

  

    Bloomberg France and Spain said they will move ahead with a 2.5 billion euro ($2.6 billion) hydrogen pipeline, easing past tensions over an alternative link as they seek to boost their status as European energy suppliers. The project will connect Portugal and Spain with France to transport about 10% of the bloc’s green hydrogen demand by 2030. French President ...

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• 13 December

  Paytm’s share buyback plan leaves its investors surprised

  

    Bloomberg Paytm’s plan to buy back shares has left investors surprised and worried about the loss-making Indian fintech firm’s growth prospects as it uses funds to prop-up its hammered stock. The board of One 97 Communications Ltd, the listed-entity that runs Paytm, was expected to decide on the buyback. The move comes as the stock has plunged about 75% ...

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• 13 December

  India’s Birla weighs selling insurance brokerage unit

  

    Bloomberg Aditya Birla Capital Ltd, controlled by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, is considering selling its insurance brokerage unit as the group seeks to restructure its financial services business, people familiar with the matter said. The publicly-traded company has held talks with potential buyers about a sale of Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers Ltd as it failed to scale up the ...

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• 13 December

  Byju’s lenders seek quicker part-payment of $1.2b loan

    Bloomberg A group of creditors to Byju’s, India’s most valuable startup, has asked the company to immediately repay part of a $1.2 billion loan they recently bought into as they renegotiate terms of the debt, according to people familiar with the matter. The lenders have hired Houlihan Lokey Inc to advise them on amending covenants after the edtech titan ...

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• 13 December

  GIC-backed unicorn in talks to acquire Foodpanda in Thailand

  

    Bloomberg Food delivery unicorn Line Man Wongnai is in talks to acquire Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda in Thailand as it plans for a stock-market debut in the next few years, according to people familiar with the discussions. Bangkok-based Line Man Wongnai considered a deal at around $100 million at one point, but the value is likely to have changed ...

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• 13 December

  Japan to boost limit on ‘tax-free accounts’

    Bloomberg Japan is set to increase the annual limit on tax-free investment accounts aimed at the middle classes and raise taxes on ultra-wealthy individuals, as PM Fumio Kishida pursues his agenda of fairer distribution of the fruits of growth. The revamped NISA tax-exempt system will expand the amount that people may invest over a lifetime to Â¥18 million ($131,000), ...

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• 13 December

  Indonesia’s GoTo jumps 24% since May after relentless selloff

  

    Bloomberg GoTo Group jumped by the most since May as some brokers upgraded the battered stock following weeks of sharp selloff. The Indonesian ride-hailing and e-commerce provider surged 15% to 100 rupiah, snapping 16 straight sessions of losses. Trading volume also soared to about 30 times its three-month average. Even with the latest gain, the stock has plunged more ...

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• 13 December

  Sunak unveils plans to tackle UK’s backlog of asylum claims

  

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled plans to tackle the UK’s swelling backlog of asylum claims including making it harder for arrivals from Albania to stay in Britain. The premier unveiled a five-point plan to bear down on what he called “illegal migration,” saying it’s “unfair” that people enter Britain “illegally,” because it takes capacity away from processing “genuine” claims. ...

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• 13 December

  China sends record wave of bombers into Taiwan Strait

  

    Bloomberg China’s military sent its biggest daily sortie of bombers into the Taiwan Strait in at least two years, in apparent show of displeasure over a visit by a key member of Japan’s ruling party. The 18 H-6 strategic bombers — the most in Bloomberg-compiled data going back to September 2020 — were part of a sortie of 29 ...

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• 13 December

  India confirms first border clash with China since 2020

  

    Bloomberg Indian and Chinese troops clashed in the northeast Indian border state of Arunachal Pradesh, India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told parliament, officially confirming the first such encounter between the neighbours in about two years. Troops from both sides “exchanged blows” after hundreds of Chinese soldiers transgressed into India’s side of the boundary, Singh said. India has raised the ...

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