Softbank pulls investment from Credit Suisse funds July 20, 2020 Softbank is said to have pulled an investment from Credit Suisse’s supply chain finance funds, after the Swiss bank reviewed the Japanese giant’s role in the funds. The Swiss bank launched the review after reports last month that Softbank had injected $500m into some of Credit Suisse $7.5bn range of funds, which in turn invested [...]
Uber to assist officials with coronavirus test and trace scheme July 20, 2020 Uber has launched a service to give health officials access to data on its drivers and riders as part of coronavirus test and trace schemes. Offered free of charge in any country where Uber currently operates, the service will provide health departments with data about who used Uber’s services and when, and allows health agencies [...]
Physical? Hybrid? Virtual? Companies re-imagine AGMs for 2021 and beyond July 20, 2020 | City Talk Could the annual general meetings (AGMs) of 2021 and beyond look and feel very different? As companies start to consider the future format of corporate set-piece events, so the possibility arises these often sparsely attended gatherings could begin to evolve into significantly more enlightening and engaging occasions. This year’s AGM season largely coincided with lockdown, [...]
Ebay to sell classified ads unit to Adevinta for nearly $9bn July 20, 2020 Norwegian group Adevinta has won the auction to buy US e-commerce firm Ebay’s classified-ads unit for nearly $9bn, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters today. Ebay intends to keep a minority stake in the business following the close of the deal, the source said. Activist investors Elliott Management and Starboard Value had been pushing Ebay to sell [...]
Ant Financial to float in dual Shanghai-Hong Kong listing July 20, 2020 Alibaba’s payments arm Ant Financial has started the process of a concurrent initial public offering in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The world’s most valuable tech unicorn said it would list its shares on both the Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market and the Hong Kong stock exchange. In a statement Ant Financial, which provides the digital payment [...]
UK secures supply for potential German coronavirus vaccine July 20, 2020 The UK has secured a supply of 30m doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by German firm BioNTech and US drugmaker Pfizer over the next two years, making it the first country to sign up for the drug. BioNTech and Pfizer said they have the capacity to produce 100m doses by the end [...]
Tiktok shelves London HQ plans as tensions mount July 19, 2020 Bytedance, the Chinese owner of video app Tiktok, has had its plans to create a new international headquarters in London thrown into doubt by a growing diplomatic crisis and fears it could be blocked in the US. Tiktok has been in discussions with the UK government over the past few months to locate its headquarters [...]
Ericsson shares soar as 5G sales boost profit July 17, 2020 A rise in 5G network sales and software revenue helped Ericsson report higher-than-expected quarterly core earnings today, as it stuck to 2020 and 2022 financial targets. The Swedish company has experienced a recovery under Borje Ekholm – a former CEO of Investor AB- who took the position in 2017, having been chosen to steer the [...]
DEBATE: Is employee experience with IT the key factor for a productive post-pandemic workforce? July 17, 2020 Is employee experience with IT the key factor for a productive post-pandemic workforce? Pedro Bados, chief executive and co-founder of Nexthink, says YES. Employees’ working experiences have historically been measured through three key elements: people, place, and technology. Recent months have turned this dynamic on its head. With workers across the country sent home from [...]
Green fingers: How cannabis can fuel a British agri-tech revolution July 17, 2020 Since time immemorial, the human race has slashed and burned its way through wilderness to fuel its rapacious growth. Food, medicine and building materials have required more and more deforestation, with the resultant decline in biodiversity and rise in the emission of greenhouse gases. Finally, comprehension is dawning about the impact of climate change and [...]