FRANCE
Economy slid 0.1% in Q2
The French economy slowed 0.1 percent in the second quarter after growing 0.7 percent in the previous three months, a revised estimate by the INSEE national statistics agency showed yesterday. It is the first time the eurozone’s No. 2 economy has contracted since the first quarter of 2013. The statistics agency had previously said economic growth was flat in the April-to-June period. The slowdown was driven by a sharp decline in inventories, INSEE said, which shaved 0.7 points off national output, while trade added 0.6 points. Household spending declined 0.1 percent.
LODGING
Airbnb valued at US$30bn
Home-sharing giant Airbnb Inc just raised US$555 million and is seeking even more in a funding round that values the company at US$30 billion, a source close to the company said. The San Francisco-based start-up has taken in US$555.46 million through a private funding round that was launched in late July and remained open, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The funding round could reach US$850 million, the source said. Money taken was expected to be used to fuel growth and international expansion of Airbnb.
TECHNOLOGY
Apple buys Tuplejump for AI
Apple Inc has acquired Indian machine-learning start-up Tuplejump Software Pvt Ltd, as it seeks to expand its expertise in artificial intelligence (AI). The iPhone maker bought the Hyderabad, India-based company in June, according to a person familiar with the deal who asked not to be identified. Tuplejump’s software specializes in processing and analyzing big sets of data quickly. The deal was reported earlier by TechCrunch. The purchase price was not disclosed. The Tuplejump deal is Apple’s third acquisition in the industry this year. Tuplejump has about a dozen employees, many of whom were already based on the US west coast, the person said.
BANKING
CaixaBank raises US$1.5bn
CaixaBank SA, Spain’s third-largest lender, on Thursday sold shares for 1.3 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) to fund its takeover of Portugal’s Banco BPI SA. The company sold 585 million shares, the equivalent of a 9.9 percent stake, to private investors, CaixaBank said in a statement. Shares were sold at 2.26 euros each, a 3.7 percent discount to their closing price. CaixaBank agreed to pay about 900 million euros to buy the 55 percent of BPI it does not already own. The bank increased its offer to 1.134 euros a share from 1.113 euros on Wednesday after BPI shareholders agreed to scrap voting rights limits, a key condition for the bid and one that made the offer mandatory.
TECHNOLOGY
BlackBerry nets Radar client
BlackBerry Ltd has found a customer for its fleet-tracking device, taking a first step into the crowded market for monitoring cargo trucks and trains. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company is to install 500 units of the BlackBerry Radar on trailers owned by Oakville, Ontario-based trucker Caravan Group. The Radar is a box that sticks on the back of a tractor-trailer container and frequently updates its owner on the trailer’s temperature, location and whether the door is open or closed. A spokeswoman for BlackBerry declined to say what the deal was worth.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure