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Bloomberg Meituan Dianping, China’s largest group-buying and restaurant reviews service, is said to be close to finalising a deal to raise at least $3 billion from investors including Capital Group, according to people familiar with the matter. The company backed by WeChat-operator Tencent Holdings Ltd. is said to be targeting at least $3 billion at a $28 billion valuation, the ...

Bloomberg General Electric Co. said if Indian officials walk away from a multibillion-dollar locomotive contract, the move would damage efforts to create jobs and chill foreign investment. Altering the deal would “undermine one of the most promising infrastructure projects in the country,” GE said. India may also be on the hook for “substantial fees associated with this project,” the company ...

Bloomberg The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has issued an order allowing women to drive, ending a long-standing policy. It’s also a royal opportunity for global automakers eager to make further inroads into the Middle East’s biggest economy. Saudi Arabia’s move to open up its auto market to about half of its 32 million total population will have a profound impact ...

Bloomberg Billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and Jack Ma’s Ant Financial unit will form a joint venture to offer a digital wallet service in Hong Kong. The wallet will come under the AlipayHK brand which was already launched in May, CK Hutchison said. The mobile app will allow users to make in-store payments in 4,000 retail outlets and ...

Bloomberg Nike Inc.’s US business continued to sputter last quarter, putting more pressure on its operations in Asia and Latin America to pick up the slack. The world’s biggest sportswear maker relied on strong overseas growth—especially in China—to overcome a weakening US business and help it post first-quarter profit that topped estimates. The company also cited a move to streamline ...

­­­­­­­­­­­Bloomberg Alstom SA’s merger with the train-making arm of Siemens AG will mark the end of a bitter rivalry as the European rail industry’s biggest adversaries unite in an effort to fend off the challenge from China and Japan. The ill-tempered contest between Alstom and Siemens has been a feature of the sector for decades and reached boiling point in ...

Bloomberg A federal agency that regulates apples wants to make regulations on Apple Inc. a little easier. The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees new drugs, medical devices and much of the US food supply, said that it had selected nine major tech companies for a pilot programme that may let them avoid some regulations that have tied up developers ...

Bloomberg Uber is testing out a new conciliatory tone in London, where officials said they wouldn’t renew the ride-hailing service’s operating license. It’s going to have ample opportunity to see if that approach will work in the US. San Francisco’s city attorney is investigating whether Uber Technologies Inc. is a public nuisance. In New York, officials are mulling ways to ...

Bloomberg Cisco Systems Inc., the biggest maker of computer networking equipment, said it will cut about 310 jobs at its headquarters in San Jose, California. Cisco is trying to shift from a reliance on revenue from high-cost proprietary equipment, which some customers are turning away from, to software and services. The company has more than 73,000 employees, according Bloomberg data. ...

Bloomberg Twitter Inc., struggling to attract new users, will lift its 140-character limit on tweets in an experiment with a small group that may expand to the entire social media platform. The test will let users send tweets with as many as 280 characters. Lengthening the character limit may result in more engaging conversation on the platform, helping its bid ...