Asia Pacific
Headlines
Rachika A Sahay joins HSA Advocates as Partner in the New Delhi office
Rachika A Sahay joins HSA Advocates as Partner to further strengthen the Projects, Energy and Infrastructure and Corporate practices. She will be operating out of the firm’s New Delhi office. Rachika has over a decade of experience in handling a broad range of deals in the energy sector. She also has diverse experience in handling corporate transactions...
Japanese firms step up overseas M&A
Number of deals hits record in first half as smaller companies get into the game With SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son taking the lead, Japanese companies have been engaging in mergers and acquisitions at record levels. Japanese corporations made 339 overseas mergers and acquisitions during the first half of the current Japanese fiscal year, the highest...
Investcorp adds Deepak Parekh to International Advisory Board
Investcorp, a global provider and manager of alternative investment products, today announced that Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC Limited, Indian’s leading Financial Services conglomerate, has been appointment to Investcorp’s International Advisory Board. Mr Parekh has played a significant role in the development of the financial sector...
South Korea: Making up for lost time
After the impeachment of South Korea’s former president, Park Geun-hye, amid a far-reaching corruption scandal, the country was ready for change. South Korea’s new liberal president, Moon Jae-in, appears set to take on that challenge. Campaigning on a policy platform of job creation, corporate governance and labour market reforms, as well as promises...
Alibaba acquires majority stake In Indian ticketing startup TicketNew
Alibaba Pictures, the entertainment unit of China’s ecommerce major Alibaba Group, has acquired a majority stake in Chennai-based TicketNew for an undisclosed amount. Post-acquisition, Alibaba will have four representatives on TicketNew’s board and the firm’s promoters will have two of their representatives. TicketNew founder and CEO Ramkumar...
Finance
Fiji’s coup-makers act democratic
PERPETRATORS OF COUPS tend to do badly at the polls. Those who start their political careers as soldiers seldom adjust easily to life as elected politicians. Frank Bainimarama seems to be an exception. A former head of the armed forces who seized power in a coup in 2006, he won a general election on November 14th, for the second time in a row,...
India’s long-awaited nuclear-armed submarine goes on its first patrol
WHEN, IN EARLY November, INS Arihant surfaced off India’s east coast, its submariners breathed in the claggy air of the Bay of Bengal for the first time in almost three weeks. They may also have breathed a sigh of relief. Although the Indian authorities are understandably cagey about the details, the sub is believed to have carried as many as...
Indonesia’s prisons will soon start spawning even more jihadists
AMAN ABDURRAHMAN was first arrested in 2004 following an accidental explosion during a bomb-making class near Jakarta. But his career as a jihadist really got going in prison, where he has spent 12 of the subsequent 14 years. Until recently Mr Aman was able to run a militant propaganda campaign from his cell. He translated some 115 articles from...
How Japan’s prime minister plans to cope with daunting demography
“THE DECLINE of the birth rate and the ageing of Japanese society is accelerating at unprecedented speed,” warns Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister. Given the scale of the problem, he told The Economist this week, the government must push for “impactful policies” to tackle it right away. He mentions a series of reforms, intended to boost...
Imelda Marcos is found guilty of corruption, but not imprisoned
Her accounting was slipshod SURVIVORS OF THE tyrannical and rapacious regime of Ferdinand Marcos, strongman of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, are rejoicing at the prospect of his widow, Imelda—famous for her vast shoe collection—soon having to don prison-issue plastic sandals. On November 9th the special court that tries cases of official...
Legal
After Fintech, Singapore eyes Legaltech status
Singapore, a haven for disruptive fintech firms, is aiming to shake up Asia's legal sector next The Lion City will host Southeast Asia's first legaltech accelerator from April. The city-state's initiative aims to groom legaltech startups as well as incubate new business models or services conceived by law firms. Singapore's law academy has launched...
China updates New Industry Catalogue
PRC reduces regulatory procedures for foreign investments following its 2016 reforms. China creates a nationally applicable “negative list” for foreign investment, which opens up more industries for multi-national companies.Foreign Investments Filing Administrative Rules will be updated and published soon by the Ministry of Commerce to clarify...
Proposals to make free movement of data a principle of EU law expected this autumn
Ansip said proposed new EU legislation to tackle unnecessary restrictions on where data can be stored are likely to be published this autumn.The proposals will also look to make it easier for businesses to move their data between rival cloud providers and ensure that public sector bodies can access data held by authorities in another EU country to help...
New advertising standards in the UK to take tougher stance on gender stereotypes
The new standards will be drawn up by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), according to a new report on gender stereotypes in advertising (64-page / 5.4MB PDF) published by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the watchdog that oversees compliance with UK advertising rules.The CAP will also look to "clarify standards that reflect the ASA‘s...
BREXIT: Scottish government calls for protection of devolved powers
Minister for negotiations on Scotland’s place in Europe Michael Russell wrote to all MSPs asking them for full backing of the Scottish government's position. The move comes after the UK government published the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill on Thursday last week.Russell said the Scottish government had “serious concerns about the bill in a number...
Deals
Japan heading for biggest M&A spree in the U.S.
Japan is on track this year for its biggest acquisition spree in the US as advisers tell chief executives to pounce on deals while Chinese companies are hampered by trade war tensions. The advice of bankers and lawyers to accelerate US-targeted deals has intensified over recent months in line with both the surge in trade war rhetoric and the perception...
Asia-Pacific predicted to continue to dominate M&A activity In H2 2018
Intralinks has issued its Deal Flow Predictor for the fourth quarter of 2018. In the second half of the year, growth in the global number of announced deals will resume (after a first-half pause) at roughly 7% year over year. The strongest growth in announcements will come from technology (Intralinks calls this the TMT sector because tech includes...
HNA turns M&A norms around again
Everyone used to want to be on the sell side; now they want to be on the buy side.In recent months, there has been a new game in Hong Kong investment banking called ‘Distance yourself from HNA’. It is easy to play. On the way up, everyone wanted to advise HNA, the acquisitive-though-opaque Chinese conglomerate whose big holdings include stakes in...
The Morning Leverage: Brookfield Raises at Least $3.38B for Restructuring Fund
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The Morning Leverage: EIG Global Energy Caught by Breitburn’s Liquidity Woes
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Acq Lite
'Eighth Grade,' 'Beale Street' up for top Independent Spirit Award
Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Eighth Grade, First Reformed, If Beale Street Could Talk, Leave No Trace and You Were Never Really Here were nominated for the Best Feature Independent Spirit Award Friday. The nominees in other top categories include: Best First Feature Hereditary Sorry to Bother You The Tale We the Animals Wildlife Best Director Paul Schrader First...
John Cryer to play Lex Luthor on 'Supergirl'
Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Superman IV: The Quest for Peace scene-stealer John Cryer is to play Lex Luthor on Supergirl. Executive producers Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller announced Cryer's casting opposite Melissa Benoist's titular heroine in The CW series Friday. "We are enormous fans of Jon Cryer, and he was instantly our dream actor to play the iconic...
Look: Jason Momoa stands heroically in new 'Aquaman' posters
Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Jason Momoa rules the ocean in a pair of new Aquaman posters that also feature Amber Heard as Princess Mera. Momoa, who portrays the titular DC Comics superhero, is standing amongst a waterfall while wearing Aquaman's classic orange and green outfit. The actor is also holding the character's signature golden trident. "He's not from...
Look: Ariana Grande shows fans her natural, short hair
Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Ariana Grande is giving fans a rare glimpse of her natural, short hair.The 25-year-old singer ditched her signature ponytail in an Instagram post Thursday showing her lob haircut. Grande, whose hair falls just past her shoulders, used a bunny filter in the photo. The post had received over 3.4 million likes as of Friday morning, with...
GOT7 to release repackaged version of 'Present: You'
Nov. 16 (UPI) -- South Korean boy band GOT7 will release a repackaged version of its latest album, Present: You. The Korea Herald confirmed the K-pop group will return Dec. 3 with the EP Present: You & Me. "The title of the album Present: You & Me is to convey the idea that fans represent the biggest gift to the group," GOT7's agency, JYP Entertainment,...