Grab looks to raise as much as $1 billion at a valuation of around $10 billion, people familiar with the matter told WSJ.
The ride-hailing company now operates in eight countries in Southeast Asia. Grab confirmed in March it has acquired rival Uber’s Southeast Asia operations.
KrASIA Daily is a three-minute read to brief you everything you need to know to start your day. We only choose the latest tech & startup news that is worth your time, with a focus on Southeast Asia and China.
Southeast Asia:
SE Asia: Ride-hailing company Grab Inc., which recently acquired the Southeast Asian business of Uber Technologies Inc., is in talks to raise up to $1 billion in fresh funds, according to people familiar with the matter. (WSJ)
Indonesia: Human resource (HR) management and accounting platform Sleekr announced that it has acquired HR platform Talenta. (e27)
Singapore: International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has proposed a debt investment of $120 million in Singapore-based commodities firm Olam International, according to its disclosure. (Deal Street Asia)
Vietnam: Vietnamese private equity firm VI (Vietnam Investment) Group is said to have invested in one of the country’s largest bubble tea chains, Toco Toco, owned by Taco Vietnam Service and Trading JSC (Taco). (Deal Street Asia)
China:
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. predicted a surprise acceleration of sales as the Chinese e-commerce giant unleashes spending to sustain growth in cloud computing, logistics and supermarkets. (Bloomberg)
ZTE Corp, facing a seven-year ban on buying crucial American technology, said it has requested a stay of the denial order that forbade US companies from doing business with the Chinese telecommunications equipment provider, asking its employees to be “full of hope to welcome the coming of dawn”. (SCMP)
Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang who controls acquisitive conglomerate Fosun Group plans to spend 4 billion yuan (US$630 million) to buy a controlling stake in dating service provider Baihe Network, charting a new course into the online matchmaking business. (SCMP)
The world’s biggest gaming firm Tencent Holdings Ltd. has brought out new versions of FIFA soccer video games through its partnership with US-based Electronic Arts Inc., renewing its rivalry with NetEase Inc. in the field of sports games. (Yicai)
The use of 5G networks will not lead to an increase in data consumption, and users won’t be required to replace their existing 4G SIM cards, network operator China Mobile has said. (Technode)
Lenovo Group, a Chinese personal computer maker, will lose its status as a component of Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index from June 4, Hang Seng Indexes Company said on Friday.
Ucommune, signed the Memorandum of Understanding around the strategic merger of Workingdom. The merger will see Ucommune partnering with Workingdom in establishing the largest coworking platform China based on member data, and will strengthen the service offering in the Yangtze River Delta region. (allwork)
According to the Asian Index of Artificial Intelligence developed by the Asia Business Council, Hong Kong lags behind its neighbours in the region in embracing AI technology, including the mainland, Singapore and India. (SCMP)
World:
The board of Flipkart Online Services Pvt has approved an agreement to sell about 75 percent of the company to a Walmart Inc.-led group for approximately $15 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, an enormous bet by the American retailer on international expansion. (Bloomberg)
Twitter Inc urged its more than 330 million users to change their passwords after a glitch caused some to be stored in readable text on its internal computer system rather than disguised by a process known as “hashing”. (Reuters)
Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk acknowledged on Friday that it was “foolish” of him to snub analysts on a conference call earlier in the week, but further needled Wall Street with a series of accusatory tweets. (Reuters)
Police in a Phoenix suburb are investigating a collision involving a self-driving vehicle owned by Waymo. Chandler Police say the incident happened Friday afternoon when a Honda sedan swerved to avoid hitting another car. The Honda went into opposing traffic lanes and hit the Waymo car. (CNBC)
