Tencent shares fall after Beijing orders end to exclusive music rights deals July 26, 2021 Shares in Tencent have fallen after China ordered the company to end exclusive music licensing agreements with record labels across the world. The move is said to be aimed at tackling the technology giant’s dominance of online streaming in the country. They must cease engaging in any of these deals in the future and any [...]
Tencent pushes British gaming group Sumo to hit $1.27bn valuation in bid to buy July 19, 2021 Chinese tech giant Tencent has pushed the valuation of video game group Sumo to hit $1.27bn today in its bid to buy the British firm. Sumo’s shareholders will gain 513p per share, Tencent said, at a 43 per cent premium to Sumo’s last closing price of 358p. The British video game group, behind games like [...]
UK tech on track for second record-breaking year of Asian investment July 13, 2021 The booming UK tech sector received almost twice the amount of Asian capital in the first six months of 2021 as it did during the whole of 2020, paving the way for a second record year of regional investment. By the end of June, Asian and Middle Eastern investors funnelled over £1.7bn into UK tech [...]
Second-hand market ripens as China’s $3bn platform plots US IPO July 5, 2021 Tencent-backed online second-hand marketplace Beijing Zhuanzhuan Spirit Technology (BZST) is plotting a $400m funding round ahead of an initial public offering, according to reports. BZST, currently valued at $3bn, is trying to gauge interest from private equity and strategic investors, Bloomberg first reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The second-hand retailer is eyeing a [...]
British surgical robot firm CMR valued at $3bn after Softbank-led funding June 28, 2021 British surgical robotics group CMR Surgical has raised $600m (£431m) in a Softbank-led funding round as it looks to expand its technology to hospitals worldwide. The Cambridge-based company said the cash injection was the largest ever medtech private financing round and gave it a valuation of $3bn. The funding was led by Softbank’s Vision Fund [...]
Prosus and Naspers post record revenues as internet investments pay off June 21, 2021 Technology investor Prosus today posted its strongest annual performance to date, with revenues soaring by a third to $28.8bn. Prosus, which is controlled by South African company Naspers, said the record revenues were driven by strong returns at its stake in Chinese internet giant Tencent. The group also doubled its e-commerce portfolio value to $39bn [...]
Bill Ackman’s Spac closes in on $40bn deal with Universal Music June 4, 2021 Billionaire Bill Ackman’s blank-cheque company is closing in on a deal to buy a 10 per cent stake in Universal Music Group for roughly $4bn (£2.8bn). Pershing Square Tontine Holdings is in talks with Universal’s French owner Vivendi over the deal, which would value the record label at around $40bn. Vivendi, controlled by billionaire Vincent [...]
Prosus snaps up Stack Overflow in $1.8bn edtech deal June 2, 2021 Prosus has bought Stack Overflow, an online community for software developers, in a $1.8bn deal as it seeks to capitalise on the demand for online learning. Prosus is one of Europe’s most valuable tech companies and investors and is the largest shareholder in Chinese tech giant Tencent. It is its first acquisition in the edtech [...]
Wall Street closes lower as inflation jitters spark broad sell-off May 11, 2021 US stocks closed lower today as rising commodity prices and labor shortages fed fears that despite reassurances from the US Federal Reserve, near-term price spikes could translate into longer-term inflation. While all three indexes pared their losses from session lows, the sell-off was fairly evenly dispersed across the sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell [...]
China issues warning to tech firms after record Alibaba fine April 13, 2021 Chinese authorities have issued a stark ultimatum to more than three dozen tech companies, warning them to stop engaging in any practices that fall foul of new regulations. The country’s market regulator, which last week slapped Alibaba with a $2.8bn fine, said it summoned 34 companies including Tencent, JD.com and Tiktok owner Bytedance. The State [...]