Editor’s note:
Wanda’s move of bringing in investment comes as part of the company’s plan to shift to an asset-light model.
Alibaba will invest RMB4.68 billion (approx. USD 744.6 million) of the total and post-deal, Wanda would maintain control of the firm with a 48.09% stake.
Kr-ASIA Daily is a five-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:
Singapore: Singapore Airlines (SIA) is packaging its airline loyalty programme KrisFlyer into a digital wallet, powered by blockchain technology. The KrisFlyer app will allow members to use ‘digital KrisFlyer miles’ for point-of-sale transactions at participating retail merchants. (e27)
Singapore: City-state’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has injected 100 billion won ($92 million) into Korean retail major E-Land Group, according to South Korean media reports. The round was part of a 200-billion won investment led by Hong Kong-based Anchor Equity Partners. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: City-state-based automotive insurance startup Vouch Insurtech has closed a S$1 million ($759,040) seed investment from Taipei-based Nogle Capital Management, GREE Ventures and several angel investors. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: Swedish private equity firm EQT Partners-backed In.Corp Group – which has been on an acquisition spree to emerge as a regional corporate solutions provider – has announced the purchase of business management and consultancy firm JMA Consultants for an undisclosed amount. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank, is proposing a $1 billion risk sharing trade finance facility to Standard Chartered Bank to help increase the availability of trade finance in emerging markets. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) will increase its stake Bharti Telecom, the parent company of Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecoms firm. (Deal Street Asia)
Asia Pacific: Asia Pacific region is expected to see around 14 percent growth in merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the first quarter of the year, according to data from Intralinks. Real estate, materials and consumer & retail sectors are predicted to be key drivers behind the uptick, while cybersecurity incidents such as data breaches are likely to bring down valuations. (Deal Street Asia)
Indonesia: Crowdsourcing music platform Kolase has raised $750,000 from local venture capital firm Global Basket Mulia. (Deal Street Asia)
Indonesia: The Indonesian and Australian governments have agreed to team up to help match Indonesian startups with potential Australian investors as a follow-up to the Indonesia-Australia Digital Forum (IADF) 2018 held last week. (Deal Street Asia)
Indonesia: After exiting the e-commerce business last year, telco company XL Axiata has announced that it will invest $500 million to venture into pay TV, broadband and fixed line business. (Deal Street Asia)
Vietnam: South Korean startup booster Lotte Accelerator will expand and diversify its investment capital in Vietnam’s startup ecosystem this year. (Deal Street Asia)
China:
China’s Dalian Wanda Group is selling a $1.24 billion stake in its listed film unit to a pair of investors led by Alibaba, as the conglomerate looks to bring in strategic partners and raise new funds. The property-to-entertainment firm will sell the combined 12.77 percent in Wanda Film Holding to e-commerce giant Alibaba and state-backed Cultural Investment Holdings for a total of 7.8 billion yuan ($1.24 billion). (Deal Street Asia)
China is to block all websites related to cryptocurrency trading and initial coin offerings (ICOs) – including foreign platforms – in a bid to finally quash the market completely. (scmp)
Toutiao parent’s short video streaming arm Douyin reached a partnership with record label Modernsky. Singers from Modernsky are going to leverage the video platform to promote their music. (36Kr)
JD reached a partnership with the local government of Zaozhuang to develop second-hand goods transactions in the city. (JD)
Didi launched its brand in Hong Kong. Users in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, will be able to access its ride-hailing service using Didi app. (36Kr)
Xiaomi is facing challenges in India as the government has raised the import tariff for mobile phones from 15% to 20%. The smartphone manufacturer is going to launch its products Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus in New Deli on February 14. (36Kr)
Update on Baidu-Toutiao war of words: Baidu announced it has sued self-media writer Luo Changping for defamation. Luo has posted that the search engine has a team dedicated to best Toutiao. Baidu also asked for a public apology and a compensation of RMB 5 million (approx. USD795,200). (tech.sina)
Tencent’s subsidiary dedicated to investment has invested in game publisher Shanda. (finance.sina)
China has produced 1.9 billion mobile phones in 2017, up 1.6% year on year. The total shipment of mobile phone exported raised by 13.9%. (Caijing)
New Oriental Education & Technology Group has led a Series C+ round in children’s healthcare app Yuxueyuan (育学园) .（36Kr）
World:
India’s largest online retailer Flipkart reported a 68% jump in losses to Rs8,771 crore for the year ended March 2017 from the previous year, as the company continued to spend heavily to maintain its slender lead over arch-rival Amazon India. (livemint)
Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee left a South Korean jail a free man on Monday after a panel of judges suspended his sentence, a surprise decision that sent shockwaves through the country’s political and business establishments. (Reuters)
Qualcomm shares fell 3 percent on Monday after two brokerages said Apple might drop the chipmaker in favor of Intel as the supplier for modem chips in its next generation of iPhones. (Reuters)
Snapchat rolled out Do Not Disturb feature a few weeks ago, confirms it’s rolling out new text styles in redesigned app available in UK, Australia, and Canada. (Techmeme)
AT&T looks to launch next-gen version of DirecTV Now this spring and a voice-controlled client that supports DirecTV Now and other OTT services by end of year. (Techmeme)