March, 2018

• 26 March

  TPG nears deal for $1.2 billion Indian hospital chain Fortis

  

  Bloomberg A consortium led by TPG is nearing an agreement to gain control of Fortis Healthcare Ltd., India’s second-largest private hospital chain by market value, people with knowledge of the matter said. The investor group, which also includes Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt, could announce a deal as soon as the next few days, according to the people, who asked not ...

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• 26 March

  Google’s Pichai sings China’s praises in AI, pledges bigger team

  

  Bloomberg Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google, expects China to play a crucial role in artificial intelligence as he keeps expanding the search giant’s workforce in the country, even as many of its services are blocked. “China is already playing a big part in how AI will shape our futures,” Pichai said at the annual China Development Forum in ...

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• 26 March

  India’s Ultratech pushes for M&A deal

  

  Bloomberg India’s largest cement maker, UltraTech Cement Ltd., aims to aggressively cut its debt over the next two years to help prepare for more acquisitions. UltraTech, controlled by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, plans to prepay some loans through its internal cash accruals, according to Chief Financial Officer Atul Daga. It targets to cut the ratio of its net debt to ...

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• 26 March

  China seeks to deploy 30mn autonomous cars

  

  Bloomberg China’s aspiration to deploy 30 million autonomous vehicles within a decade is seeding a fledgling chip industry, with startups like Horizon Robotics Inc. emerging to build the brains behind those wheels. The Beijing-based company is taking aim at Nvidia Corp. and Mobileye NV just as the autonomous-driving business takes off and uncertainty looms over international trade. Annual revenue from ...

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• 26 March

  Echo of run-up to ‘87 market meltdown seen in US-China tension

  Bloomberg History redux? The surging tension over trade between the US and China has prompted comparisons to American combativeness towards Japan that preceded the 1987 equity meltdown—at least, in the mind of veteran market analyst Hao Hong. While Hong, head of research with Bocom International Holdings Co., acknowledges that it’s possible to crawl up many a technical chart of a ...

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• 26 March

  Europe’s $38bn a year carbon market finally starting to work

  

  Bloomberg Europe’s $38 billion a year carbon market is finally starting to work the way it was intended, reining in pollution with a minimum of squealing from industry. Thirteen years after it was created to limit carbon-dioxide emissions, prices for the allowances are rising. European Union policymakers have enacted measures expected to keep the cost of pollution on an upward ...

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• 26 March

  Irish packaging firm rejects $11bn International Paper bid

  

  Bloomberg Irish packaging company Smurfit Kappa Group Plc rejected a sweetened 8.9 billion euro ($11 billion) takeover bid from International Paper Co., testing the US suitor’s resolve as the industry gains from a boom in online shopping deliveries. Smurfit’s board spurned a revised offer of 37.54 euros per share, according to a statement, adding that International Paper’s original offer was ...

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• 26 March

  Donald Trump veers into ‘uncharted trade territory’

  

  Bloomberg The Trump administration is under growing pressure to explain the details of its trade policies after fears of a tit-for-tat economic conflict between the US and China sent stocks tumbling. Businesses and investors are awaiting details in the coming days of the proposed product list for the tariffs on roughly $50 billion in Chinese imports President Donald Trump announced. ...

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• 26 March

  Facebook denies reports it logs call data secretly

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc. has denied that the company secretly logs the calls and messages of individuals using Android mobile devices, following media reports and user complaints. In a blog post, the company said that logging is part of opt-in feature for individuals using Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android, and that it can be turned off in settings. “People have ...

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• 26 March

  Ford’s Lincoln looks to SUVs for salvation as car models stall

  

  Bloomberg Just two years after Ford Motor Co. bet the revival of its Lincoln luxury line on the return of the Continental sedan, it’s reversing course and going all in on sport utility vehicles instead. Despite its retro Rat Pack allusions and elegant evocation of Bentley styling, the Continental didn’t sell as expected. Sales are down 30 percent this year, ...

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