Has Jack Ma made IPOs a weapon of corporate warfare? October 29, 2020 Ant Group is not a household name. An affiliate of Chinese tech wizard Jack Ma’s Alibaba, it operates the digital payment platform Alipay, which serves more than a billion users and is China’s largest such enterprise. This week, Ant Group announced the pricing of its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Shanghai’s Star [...]
US election: Where do Trump and Biden stand on tech issues? October 28, 2020 The bosses of Facebook, Twitter and Google are this afternoon appearing in front of a US Senate committee to face questions over key issues of tech regulation. With tech titans facing increased scrutiny in their home country, the topic is likely to be a key policy issue in the run-up to the presidential election. So [...]
BT taps Ericsson to provide London 5G networks October 28, 2020 BT has chosen Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson to provide 5G radio equipment in London, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and other major UK cities. The deal means that when rollout is completed, Ericsson will manage around 50 per cent of BT’s 5G traffic. It comes just months after the government said it would ban Chinese firm Huawei [...]
Music scouting platform Instrumental secures Tencent backing October 27, 2020 A British music scouting firm that uses algorithms to discover new artists is said to have secured fresh investment from Chinese tech giant Tencent. Instrumental is set to announce the strategic partnership, which will see Tencent take a minority stake in the company, as early as tomorrow, Sky News reported. The deal will come as [...]
Former prime minister David Cameron backs black internship initiative October 26, 2020 Former Prime Minister David Cameron is among high-profile figures who have thrown their weight behind a new initiative aimed at increasing the number of internships available to black candidates. The 10,000 Black Interns initiative, set to launch tomorrow, is designed to boost the number of paid work experience positions for young black people in major [...]
Aviation watchdog slams Heathrow’s legal threats over £1.7bn airport charge hike October 26, 2020 The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has hit back at Heathrow Airport over threats that it will take the regulator to court unless it budges on its decision to reject Heathrow’s attempt to increase airport charges by £1.7bn. Earlier this month, the CAA turned down the request from the UK’s largest airport, which wanted to hike [...]
Ant Group to raise $34bn in world’s biggest stock market debut October 26, 2020 Ant Group is aiming to raise up to $34.4bn (£26.4bn) in what will be the world’s largest ever initial public offering, stock market filings confirmed today. The Chinese fintech firm is set to raise $17.2bn in both Shanghai and Hong Kong through the mammoth dual listing. Ant Group set the price tag for the Shanghai [...]
Ant Group listing to be ‘world’s biggest’, Alibaba founder says October 24, 2020 The dual listing for Chinese fintech giant Ant Group will be the world’s biggest, Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Alibaba, said. “It’s the first time that the pricing of such a big listing – the largest in human history – has been determined outside New York City” he told the Bund Summit in the [...]
Bitcoin stands to benefit from US elections October 23, 2020 Opinions are mixed over how the US elections and other significant developments will affect Bitcoin, but one thing is for certain – we’re in for a bumpy ride over the next couple weeks. Back in 2016, the vast majority of political commentators and news outlets predicted a high probability of a Clinton victory. However, as [...]
Ant Group gets final approval for world’s biggest stock market float October 21, 2020 China’s Ant Group today won the final nod from regulators for its $35bn (£26.6bn) initial public offering, clearing the way for what could be the largest-ever stock market debut. The fintech giant, which is backed by Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba, today won approval from the country’s top securities watchdog for its registration in Shanghai. Ant [...]