AUTOMAKERS
Hyundai eyes India IPO
Hyundai Motor Co is set to hire banks including Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co for an initial public offering (IPO) of its Indian unit that could raise about US$2.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. India’s second-largest carmaker is also in talks with other banks as it pulls together a roster of advisers for the offer that might come this year, the people said. If the South Korean company does proceed with an IPO, it will use the cash raised to expand operations, Bloomberg News reported this week. India accounted for 13 percent of Hyundai’s global sales last year.
BANKING
Citi urges moderate drinking
Citigroup Inc dealmakers were told to be disciplined when consuming alcohol at client events after the bank received complaints of unruly behavior, according to people with knowledge of the matter. In calls late this week, bankers at all levels — from analysts to managing directors — were reminded to keep the firm’s reputation in mind when drinking, the people said. The senior bankers leading the calls did not put a complete curb on consumption of alcohol, noting that drinking in business settings has wide cultural acceptance, the people said. Citigroup’s management is cutting 20,000 roles, but has so far left investment banking less affected than other divisions.
REAL ESTATE
Meta frees Singapore space
Meta Platforms Inc is giving up its lease for seven floors of office space in Singapore that is set to expire at the end of September, the Business Times reported on Thursday. The Facebook parent had conveyed its decision to not renew its lease at South Beach Tower in June last year, the newspaper reported, citing Samantha Tan, general manager of developer South Beach Consortium Pte Ltd. That was just three months after a round of global layoffs by Meta in March last year. Meta started moving staff out of its 115,000-square-feet South Beach Tower offices in the first half of last year, consolidating its teams at its office in Marina One in the financial district, the report said.
OIL
Petroleos Mexicanos ‘caa3’
Petroleos Mexicanos would be near default without the Mexican government’s support, Moody’s Investors Service said, downgrading the state oil company’s debt further into junk territory. The credit rating company lowered Pemex’s corporate debt to “B3” from “B1” and maintained its “negative” outlook, according to a statement on Friday. Another measure that considers government dependence, which Moody’s calls the Baseline Credit Assessment, was cut to “ca” from “caa3,” indicating the company would be highly likely to default without backing from the state. Pemex, the world’s most indebted oil company, has seen its debt burden balloon to around US$106 billion while production lags and profits slump.
BRAIN IMPLANTS
Neuralink goes to Nevada
Elon Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink Corp, switched the location of its business incorporation to Nevada from Delaware, according to the office of the Nevada secretary of state and a notice sent to shareholders in the company. The change, completed on Thursday, follows Musk’s outburst against Delaware after a judge there struck down his US$55 billion Tesla Inc compensation package. In a post on X, the social network he owns, Musk advised founders not to incorporate in the state.
CANADA
Jobs data raise eyebrows
A stronger-than-expected jobs report on Friday led some of Canada’s more dovish forecasters to revise their views on when they think the central bank will start cutting interest rates. The shift came after the nation’s job market on Friday reported the biggest gains in four months last month. The unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent, the first such decline since December 2022. Capital Economics’ Stephen Brown and Desjardins Securities’ Royce Mendes joined the consensus of economists in a Bloomberg survey who see the Bank of Canada lowering its policy rate at its June 5 decision. Previously, both firms were expecting a cut in April.
CHEMICALS
BASF to shed China stakes
German chemical company BASF AG said on Friday it was speeding up the sale of stakes in two joint ventures in China after its local partner was accused in media reports of human rights abuses. BASF said in a news release that the market for the industrial chemicals made at the production sites in Korla in China’s Xinjiang region was under increased competitive pressure and oversupplied. The company said it had already begun the divestment process. However, it added that recent reports had contained “serious allegations” about activities “inconsistent with BASF’s values.” The company said it remained committed to the China market.
MUSIC
Sony buying half of Jackson
Sony Group Corp is acquiring a half interest in pop star Michael Jackson’s music catalog from the late singer’s estate for at least US$600 million, Billboard reported, saying it’s the largest such deal ever. The agreement might also include songs from other artists that are part of the Mijac publishing catalog, the music industry publication reported, citing sources it did not identify. The assets include ownership of master recordings and publishing for Jackson’s share of his songs, as well as the Mijac catalog. Jackson’s estate had earlier sold its half interest in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a joint venture that included the Beatles songs.
TECHNOLOGY
Bezos unloads shares
Jeff Bezos unloaded 12 million shares of Amazon.com Inc this week, the first time the billionaire has sold the company’s stock since 2021. The sales took place on Wednesday and Thursday and netted just over US$2 billion, according to a filing. Amazon disclosed on Feb. 2 that Bezos plans to sell as many as 50 million shares of Amazon over the next 12 months, potentially cashing in on a stock surge that has put him within reach of becoming the world’s richest person. His fortune has climbed US$22.6 billion this year to US$199.5 billion as of Friday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
ENERGY
Mergers to ramp up: Ebel
The surge in energy industry mergers and acquisitions — marked by a series of megadeals among oil producers last year — is set to ramp up further this year as interest rates decline, Enbridge Inc chief executive officer Greg Ebel said on Bloomberg Television on Friday. “After a couple years of tightening you see a couple years of easing, and people will be looking for those growth opportunities,” Ebel said. The energy industry has seen a wave of consolidation in recent months, including Exxon Mobil Corp’s US$60 billion purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources Co and Chevron Corp’s US$53 billion takeover of Hess Corp.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in