March, 2019

• 26 March

  SoftBank to invest in robot startup

  

  Bloomberg SoftBank Vision Fund is joining a $300 million investment in Cloudminds, helping the Chinese robotics and artificial intelligence startup ramp up production capacity with the goal of tripling its revenue this year. Cloudminds, which last raised money in 2017 at a $440 million valuation, aims to sell half a million of its robots this year to Chinese customers from ...

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• 26 March

  Alibaba Group seeking cheapest ever dollar loan

  Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd may get its cheapest dollar-denominated syndicated loan ever as it negotiates with banks to amend terms of its existing $4 billion borrowing. The Chinese Internet giant wants to cut the interest margin of the facility that it signed in May 2016 by 25 basis points to 85 basis points over Libor, said people familiar with ...

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• 26 March

  China ex-internet regulator jailed

  

  Bloomberg China’s former top internet regulator was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption, completing the downfall of a once-high-flying official who mingled with executives from Apple Inc and Facebook Inc. Lu Wei was found guilty of taking bribes on Tuesday by the Ningbo People’s Intermediate Court in the eastern province of Zhejiang, according to the official Xinhua News ...

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• 26 March

  Apple, Goldman join forces to launch credit card for iPhones

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are joining forces in the consumer credit business, launching the Apple Card for iPhones. The card is tied to Apple Pay, a service that lets people load banking information and pay in store or use it for purchases online. It works globally where Apple Pay is accepted, lets users track spending in ...

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• 26 March

  Europe set for worst M&A doldrums since credit crunch

  

  Bloomberg European dealmaking is on course for its worst first quarter since the height of the credit crisis. Unless something dramatic happens by the end of the week, Europe’s on track to have the worst quarter for M&A since 2013, when unemployment and austerity plans were causing protests and countries were asking the European Union to bail out their banks. ...

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• 26 March

  Brookfield to invest $559mn in TransAlta

  

  Bloomberg Brookfield Asset Management Inc. will invest C$750 million ($559 million) in power producer TransAlta Corp. and nominate two directors to its board. Brookfield could also increase its stake in the Calgary-based utility to about 9 percent under certain conditions, according to a statement. The deal allows Brookfield to convert its investment into an equity interest in TransAlta’s Alberta hydro ...

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• 26 March

  SNC dealt another blow with Chile copper mine project cancellation

  

  Bloomberg SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., the embattled engineering firm at the heart of Canada’s biggest political crisis in years, has been dealt another blow in Chile. Copper producer Codelco said that it cancelled a contract worth $260 million to build two new acid plants in the Chuquicamata mine. Montreal-based SNC has “seriously” and “repeatedly” breached aspects of its contracts, according to ...

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• 26 March

  UK reconsidering ban on billion-dollar scooter firms

  

  Bloomberg The banning of e-scooters on British roads is being reconsidered after the UK government said it was opening “the biggest regulatory review in a generation” of current mobility laws, some of which date back to 1835. The government said that it wanted to start the process of modernising existing legislation, which was proving to be a barrier to innovation, ...

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• 26 March

  Lyft moves IPO roadshow as drivers protest

  

  Bloomberg Disgruntled drivers showed up at the Omni hotel in San Francisco hoping to make their feelings known to the executives, bankers and potential investors at Lyft Inc.’s IPO roadshow meeting. No one was there. Lyft’s scheduled meeting was held at the Olympic Club instead. It had originally been planned for the Omni, according to a term sheet reviewed by ...

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• 26 March

  Israel launches strikes across Gaza after rocket hits house

  

  Bloomberg Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, following a tense day that began with a rocket attack on a home in central Israel and a counterstrike that reduced the office of Hamas’s leader to ruins. Amid the escalation, both sides made preparations for the possibility of a broader confrontation. Israel moved troops closer to its southern ...

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