Wechat suspends new user registration amid China crackdown July 27, 2021 Chinese social media giant Wechat has temporarily suspended new user registrations as Beijing ramps up its crackdown on domestic tech firms. The messaging platform, which is owned by Tencent, said it was upgrading its security technology “to align with relevant laws and registrations”. “During this time, registration of new Weixin [Wechat] personal and official accounts [...]
Gorillas on the hunt for fresh $500m funding injection March 27, 2022 Rapid grocery delivery firm Gorillas is looking for a fresh $500m funding injection to fuel its growth as investor cash continues to pour into the sector.
Jack Ma’s Ant Group emerges as a steady ship amid China’s tech crackdown August 3, 2021 Fintech giant Ant Group, the brainchild of Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, has emerged a steady ship in its first-quarter amid a rocky political climate in China. Revenue rose to $31.8bn in the three months ending 30 June, a little below analyst forecasts. Following intense scrutiny from local regulators, the Chinese fintech giant has shifted into [...]
China hands out new fines to tech giants in anti-monopoly crackdown November 20, 2021 Chinese tech giants including Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings have been fined for failing to report corporate acquisitions, adding to an anti-monopoly crackdown by the ruling Communist Party. The companies failed to report 43 acquisitions that occurred up to eight years ago under rules on “operating concentration”, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation. [...]
Vivendi sells Universal Music Group stake to Tencent consortium December 31, 2019 Vivendi has sold a 10 per cent stake in Universal Music Group to a Tencent-led consortium, in a deal valuing the label housing Lady Gaga, The Beatles, and Taylor Swift at €30bn (£25.5bn). The deal allows both companies to expand in the recovering global music market, giving Chinese conglomerate Tencent more access to US artists, [...]
Why one San Fran fintech snubbed Nasdaq for the London Stock Exchange January 30, 2024 Boku is a San-Francisco founded fintech that bucked the trend to float in London in 2017. Charlie Conchie asks its new chief how life has been on the beleaguered London Stock Exchange.
FTSE 100 continues rally as markets boosted by relaxing of China’s Covid measures May 30, 2022 London’s FTSE 100 hit its highest level in a month, buoyant by 0.4 per cent, as the relaxing of Covid restrictions in China boosts confidence across international markets. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index climbed to 7615.82, having closed at 7,585.46 on Friday. British Airways owner International Airlines Group led the charge with a three [...]
A little birdwatching: Are tech firms like Musk’s Twitter ready for regulation? November 16, 2022 ELON MUSK’s dramatic takeover of Twitter – complete with firing the entire management team and half the staff – has been the talk of, ahem, Twitter for the past week, as well as much of the rest of the world. It has also divided opinion amongst the most strongly politically engaged. Many on the right [...]
Return of lockdowns send Chinese shares tumbling March 15, 2022 The re-imposition of draconian lockdown measures in one of China’s main technology and manufacturing hubs to tame an outbreak in Covid-19 cases sent shares in Beijing and Hong Kong tumbling yesterday. China’s top index, the CSI 300, tumbled 4.57 per cent yesterday, taking total losses for the year to date close to 20 per cent. [...]
FTSE 100 today: London markets set to hold strong in bull rally ahead of UK jobs data May 13, 2024 Asian markets started cautiously, while China's CPI rose for the third month. Investors now await US inflation data and Walmart's earnings.