March, 2017

• 21 March

  China’s UCF Group backs $914mn deal for Hong Kong Life Insurance

    Bloomberg China UCF Group Co., the conglomerate led by businessman Zhang Zhenxin, is backing the acquisition of Hong Kong Life Insurance Ltd. in a deal valuing the insurer at HK$7.1 billion ($914 million). Hong Kong Life’s owners, including Chong Hing Bank Ltd. and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., agreed to sell their holdings to an investment firm called First Origin International ...

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• 21 March

  Aussie’s Downer makes $974mn takeover offer for Spotless Group

  

    Bloomberg Downer EDI Ltd., the Australian engineering and infrastructure management company, offered to buy Spotless Group Holdings Ltd. in a cash deal valuing the company at A$1.26 billion ($974 million) as it continues to diversify from resources following the mining-investment boom. Downer offered A$1.15 per share for the Melbourne-based cleaning and catering services firm, according to a statement on ...

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• 21 March

  TPG looks to tap unmet demand in Asia health, finance sectors

    Bloomberg TPG, the US alternative-investment firm that oversees more than $74 billion, sees opportunities in health care and microlending in Asia to meet untapped demand in some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. The region is short of quality health-care infrastructure, Jim Coulter, TPG’s co-founder and co-chief executive officer, told a Bloomberg private equity forum in Mumbai. In India, industries ...

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• 21 March

  Vanishing buyers hit UK property brokers

  

    Bloomberg Britain’s largest property brokers are cutting jobs, closing branches and raising capital even as homes sell for record amounts. While some companies have blamed Brexit and tax hi-kes for a drop in transactions, high values have put off many other buyers. Demand for housing dropped to 6-month low in Feb, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. ...

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• 21 March

  Toronto home prices may jump 25% this year

  

    Bloomberg Toronto’s housing market is likely to stay strong for the rest of the year, with home prices jumping as much as 25 percent, amid hints that speculators are fueling demand and posing a potential risk to the economy, TD Economics Chief Economist Beata Caranci said. A “strong Toronto home-price forecast is not a vote of confidence in market ...

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• 21 March

  Deutsche Bank to face regulatory fines over foreign currency trades

  

    Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is expected to be fined by the Federal Reserve and New York’s Department of Financial Services for its conduct in the foreign exchange market, a person familiar with the matter said. The German lender said that the US Justice Department had closed a criminal inquiry into its currency-trading activities without action. But regulators are in ...

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• 21 March

  PPG prepares new Akzo bid after $22.4bn failed

  

    Bloomberg PPG Industries Inc. is preparing a renewed takeover bid for Akzo Nobel NV, according to people familiar with the matter, taking a second run at Europe’s largest coatings company after a previous offer was rejected. Exact details of the new proposal couldn’t immediately be learned. Akzo rebuffed PPG’s unsolicited 20.9 billion-euro ($22.4 billion) takeover bid on March 9, ...

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• 21 March

  Common euro bonds can smoothe ECB’s market exit

  

    The prospect of a halt to the European Central Bank’s bond-buying program at the end of the year removes a powerful bulwark against rising government borrowing costs. Together with the rise of anti-euro parties in Europe, it has also spooked investors. Now, perhaps it’s time to resuscitate the old idea of centralizing bond issuance by all euro members. Spanish ...

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• 21 March

  Asia’s lack of cyber defences are a missed opportunity

  

    It’s not often that we hear updates from Asia’s cybersecurity companies. That’s because there aren’t very many of them. NEC Corp. announced on Monday it will set up a security operations center in California under its Infosec Corp. affiliate. The initiative adds to teams in Japan and Europe, allowing NEC to run a “follow the sun” operation, similar to ...

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• 21 March

  Used to Big Brother, Chinese learn value of privacy

  

    China’s Communist government has never shown much concern for the privacy of Chinese citizens. If you have something to hide, the thinking goes, we probably need to know it. In one form or another, surveillance and monitoring have evolved into a well-honed form of social control. And as a result, neither companies nor consumers have traditionally had very high ...

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