Editor’s note:
Singapore Competition Commission is currently reviewing the deal between Uber and ComforDelGro. SCC’s flagged issues including potential price coordination and fewer option for drivers and passengers.
The two companies are due to submit documents by March 5 to comply with the review.
KrASIA 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: In early-December 2017, the taxi company ComfortDelGro paid S$295 million (US$225 million) a majority stake (51 percent) in Uber’s local car rental service Lion City Rentals. The deal is now being closely scrutinized by the Singapore Competition Commission (SCC) to determine if the tie-up is in violation of local competition laws. (e27)
Singapore: Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries said on Friday it expects to raise about $380 million from the sale of some utilities assets and plans to list its Indian energy business, as it reported a plunge in quarterly profit. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: Singapore-based insurtech platform UEX has raised S$1.3 million (nearly $1 million) in funding from its seed investor Verspieren, a French insurance broker, to strengthen its presence in the Singaporean market. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: Electricity producer Summit Power International plans to list on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) by April, what is likely the first company from Bangladesh to offer shares in the city-state, as it seeks to raise funds to invest in assets across Asia. (Deal Street Asia)
The Philippines: Philippine delivery-on-demand startup Mober said it will further expand in key cities in the country after securing an undisclosed amount of investment from logistics giant 2GO Group Inc. (Deal Street Asia)
Vietnam: Private equity firm Anthem Asia is raising $40-50 million for its Myanmar SME Venture Fund, according to an investment disclosure by International Finance Corporation (IFC). The World Bank arm disclosed it is considering investing up to $15 million in the fund. (Deal Street Asia)
Malaysia: Malaysia’s Axiata Group Bhd has denied holding any re-merger talks with peer Telekom Malaysia (TM) amid speculation fuelled by a senior Axiata official saying last month that a re-merger “makes sense”. (Deal Street Asia)
China:
China’s Alibaba group is in talks to buy a minority stake in Sequoia Capital-backed Dailyhunt, a news aggregator and e-bookstore, two people aware of the matter said. According to one of the two persons, Alibaba has already proposed a valuation close to $500 million for Dailyhunt. (Deal Street Asia)
Tesla was planning to build a factory in the country but has been reportedly grappling with the issue to finalize a plan without the participation of a local partner as required by local laws. (KrASIA)
The largest Chinese ride-hailer Didi Chuxing is reportedly purchasing over one million second-hand vehicles from auto trading platform Renrenche.com, one of its investees, over the following 3 years, highlighting a step further towards a heavy-asset operations model which comes as part of Didi’s plan to become the future generations car-sharing operator. (KrASIA)
The Chinese securities regulator said it will ramp up regulation of rejected “back-door listings”, as part of a wider overhaul of initial public offerings by Beijing. In a brief question and answer published on its website late on Friday, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said companies that have their first listing rejected will have to wait at least three years before they try again. (Deal Street Asia)
Hong Kong startup Gobee.bike, the first of a wave of Asian dockless bike share operators that launched in Paris last year, has halted operations in the French capital, industry sources said on Friday. (Deal Street Asia)
HTC has laid off a large portion of its U.S. team, leaving only employees for HTC Global in the U.S. office. (Digital Trends)
China’s regulators have issued another 10 notices of penalty decision relating to commercial insurance for cars, keeping tighten the control over the sector. (iFeng)
Online marketplace for iron and steel Zhaogang.com is seeking an IPO in Hong Kong to raise USD500 million. Its investors include IDG Capital and Sequoia Capital. (PE Daily)
Xiaomi is planning to launch its new product MIX 2S on March 27. The smartphone manufacturer also announced the opening of a store in Barcelona. (tech.qq)
World:
Cloud storage company Dropbox filed to raise $500 million in a public offering on Friday, giving investors a first look at the books of a coveted unicorn start-up that was previously valued at $10 billion. (CNBC)
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in talks to invest as much as $400m in Magic Leap in a deal that would take the US tech start-up’s total fundraising to $2.3bn, even though its augmented reality glasses have yet to go on sale. (Financial Times)
Grocery delivery startup Instacart has discovered a bug in its checkout flow that affected some of its users’ ability to waive service fees and some shoppers’ ability to receive tips. In a blog post, the company says the bug was related to product updates made at the end of 2017 and fixed this week. (CNBC)
German carmaker BMW said on Friday it would recall 11,700 cars to fix their engine management software after it discovered that the wrong programming had been installed on its luxury 5- and 7-Series models. (Reuters)