September, 2021

• 7 September

  Grab’s online supermarket takes off in Philippines

  

  Bloomberg Grab Holdings Inc, set to go public in the US through a deal with a blank-check company, is launching an online supermarket in the Philippines as it tries to move beyond meal deliveries and ride-hailing to boost revenue. Consumers in Metro Manila area, with a population of more than 13 million, will be able to order vegetables, meat, seafood ...

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• 7 September

  Chinese AI startup Aibee plans to raise $100mn

  Bloomberg Aibee, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, is planning a funding round to raise about $100 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The Sequoia Capital China-backed firm could seek an initial public offering after the fundraising, however no final decision has been made, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. Details of ...

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• 7 September

  SoftBank-backed Snapdeal weighs $400m Mumbai IPO

  

  Bloomberg Indian e-commerce retailer Snapdeal Pvt is considering an initial public offering that could raise about $400 million, joining a growing list of startups preparing to tap capital markets as the nation’s digital economy booms. The company, which counts SoftBank Group Corp among its investors, is speaking with advisers about a potential listing in Mumbai that could value it at ...

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• 7 September

  India’s services activity expands in 4 months

  Bloomberg Activity in India’s dominant services sector expanded for the first time in four months as pandemic restrictions were loosened, a survey showed. The Markit India Services PMI SA rose to 56.7 last month from 45.4 in July. The August reading is the highest since February 2020 for a sector that makes up more than half of India’s economy. A ...

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• 7 September

  ‘1 billion Asians to join global middle class by 2030’

  Bloomberg More than 1 billion Asians are set to join the global middle class by 2030, according to a new study that predicts the pandemic will prove just a temporary pause in the world economy’s great demographic shift. The middle class — households where per-capita spending is between $11 and $110 a day — amounts to some 3.75 billion people ...

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• 7 September

  Mikati’s M1 to invest $33m after buying Telenor Myanmar

  

  Bloomberg Lebanese investment firm M1 Group pledged to spend $330 million over the next three years to expand the Myanmar telecom business it’s buying from Norway’s Telenor ASA, bucking moves by many international investors to exit the Southeast Asian nation after the military seized power in February. The funds will be used for network expansion, broadband infrastructure and services, M1 ...

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• 7 September

  Taliban say international flights from Afghanistan to start soon

  

  Bloomberg The Taliban said international flights from Afghanistan will resume shortly as Qatar and Turkey help restart operations at Kabul airport and the group has complete control over the country with the last pocket of resistance in the north now defeated. “Domestic flights have already started and we’re waiting to hear when we can start overseas flights,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah ...

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• 7 September

  Japan’s Kono may get popular rival’s backing in PM race

  

  Bloomberg Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono’s expected run to succeed outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga may get a boost as one of his most popular rivals for the post plans to step aside, TV Asahi said. Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, 64, won’t run for leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and is instead considering throwing his support behind ...

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• 7 September

  Brazil on edge as Bolsonaro tells his base to take to streets

  

  Bloomberg President Jair Bolsonaro has urged Brazilians to come out in force on Tuesday to show their support for his government. It’s shaping up to be an all-or-nothing gauge of his chances of re-election that has Brazil bracing for potential clashes. Brazil’s banking and industry groups have issued calls for calm, as Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lewandowski wrote a newspaper ...

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• 7 September

  Global green bond sales hit record $39.1 billion

  

  Bloomberg The green bond market is hotting up again with investors bracing for a potentially record month of sovereign sales. Spain, Colombia and the UK are due to offer their inaugural green bonds this month, with the latter expected to “certainly be the largest” in the world by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak. That’s in addition to established issuer ...

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