July, 2018

• 25 July

  Fosun considers takeover of $10bn-insurer Ageas

  

  Bloomberg Fosun International Ltd., the Chinese group backed by billionaire Guo Guangchang, is considering an offer for all or parts of Belgian insurer Ageas in what could be its boldest move to expand its international footprint, people familiar with the matter said. Shanghai-based Fosun is talking to advisers about alternatives including teaming up with a partner to split the Brussels-based ...

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• 25 July

  Facebook sets up China subsidiary to build innovation hub

  

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc.’s apps and websites are still blocked in China, but that’s not stopping the social media giant from trying to open a center in the country to support local startups. Facebook set up a Chinese subsidiary, Facebook Technology (Hang Zhou) Ltd., earlier this month, according to a filing with the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. The subsidiary, ...

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• 25 July

  SoftBank plans payments service for Japan this year

  

  Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp. plans to announce within days that it will start a mobile digital payments service in Japan by the end of 2018 as billionaire founder Masayoshi Son seeks to expand in the sector, people familiar with the matter said. The service, a collaboration with Indian startup Paytm, will make extensive use of artificial intelligence for mobile payments ...

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• 25 July

  China’s CIPC sees bargain in healthcare selloff

  

  Bloomberg As investors sell Chinese health-care stocks in the wake of a vaccine scandal, one top-performing fund manager sees a chance to buy more. The broad selloff in the sector will likely be temporary as investors overreacted and “wrongly implicated” many stocks, said Wang Chaowei, who manages 866 million yuan ($127 million) for CPIC Fund Management Co. One of his ...

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• 25 July

  China pledges $14.7bn in investments to South Africa

  

  Bloomberg China pledged to invest $14.7 billion in South Africa and grant loans to its state power utility and logistics company as the two nations seek to strengthen economic ties and increase trade. The rand gained. The commitment follows similar promises from Saudi Arabia and the UAE and bolsters President Cyril Ramaphosa’s campaign to lure $100 billion in investment to ...

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• 25 July

  Trump says US, EU must cut all tariffs ahead of key talks

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump said that the US and the European Union (EU) should eliminate all tariffs, barriers and subsidies, with the bloc’s trade chiefs set to present him with proposals in that direction in a crunch meeting at the White House. “I have an idea for them. Both the US and the EU drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies!” ...

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• 25 July

  Nafta talks to pick up again this week

  Bloomberg High-level talks for a new North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) are picking up again this week following two months of limited negotiations that were instead marred by tit-for-tat tariff battles and diplomatic fallout. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland will discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement on Wednesday when she meets in Mexico City with officials from ...

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• 25 July

  Venezuela’s inflation to hit 1mn percent: IMF

  

  Bloomberg Venezuela’s inflation will skyrocket to 1 million percent by the end of the year as the government continues to print money to cover a growing budget hole, the International Monetary Fund predicted. The crisis is comparable to that of Germany in 1923 or Zimbabwe in the late 2000s, said Alejandro Werner, head of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere department. He ...

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• 25 July

  Nike to raise pay for 7,400 employees

  

  Bloomberg Nike Inc. is raising the salaries of about 7,400 employees worldwide, following an internal review of the company’s pay structure. Starting next month, the athletic shoe giant is adjusting pay for 10 percent of its global workforce, across all job levels, Nike spokeswoman Ilana Finley said Monday in a statement. The changes are being made to ensure that Nike ...

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• 25 July

  Telecom Italia weighs asset sales

  Bloomberg Telecom Italia SpA’s undersea-cable business Sparkle is among the assets the phone carrier is evaluating for sale to boost its stock price, according to people familiar with the matter. The former phone monopoly is contemplating ways to free up cash that it could spend on cutting debt and paying dividends, said the people, who asked not to be identified ...

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