L'Oreal in talks to buy Migros' South Korean cosmetic unit, sources say
LONDON : French cosmetics giant L'Oreal is in final talks to acquire the South Korean skincare business Gowoonsesang Cosmetics owned by Mibelle Group, a unit of Swiss retailer Migros, according to two sources with knowledge of the deal.An announcement could be made as soon as on Monday, one of ...
Spire's sale of ship tracking arm raises antitrust concerns
WASHINGTON : French maritime data analytics platform Kpler wants to buy ship tracking company Spire Maritime, whose satellite data is a vital resource for oil traders and shipping companies, but some Spire customers fear Kpler will cut them off and have raised antitrust concerns to U.S. authorities, ...
US hospital operator Ascension says 5.6 million affected in medical data breach in May
WASHINGTON : Hospital operator Ascension told Maine's state attorney general on Friday that nearly 5.6 million people were affected in a ransomware attack that hit it earlier this year. The company said an unspecified amount of medical data - including patients' medical records, lab tests ...
OUE Reit divests entire stake in Shanghai office property for 1.9 billion yuan
Janice Lim - It is expected to reap net proceeds of about S$318.2 million from the transaction
OUE Reit divests entire stake in Shanghai property owned by Indonesia’s Lippo Group
Janice Lim - OUE Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) is set to sell its entire stake in Lippo Realty, a real estate service provider that...
Exclusive-US data-center power use could nearly triple by 2028, DOE-backed report says
NEW YORK :U.S. data center power demand could nearly triple in the next three years, and consume as much as 12 per cent of the country's electricity, as the industry undergoes an artificial-intelligence transformation, according to an unpublished Department of Energy-backed report seen by Reute ...
US: Wall Street falls at open on concerns over rate outlook
WALL Street’s main indices dropped at the open on Friday (Dec 20) on fears over high interest rates next year, although a...
OUE REIT to divest Lippo Plaza Shanghai for $357.4 mil; all remaining assets in Singapore
Khairani Afifi Noordin - OUE REIT through its wholly-owned subsidiary has entered into an agreement to divest the entire equity interest of Lippo Realty (Shanghai), which owns 91.2% share of strata ownership of Lippo Plaza in Shanghai, for RMB1.92 billion ($357.4 million). Based on Lippo Plaza’s net property income of RM ...
US stocks turn volatile as risk free rate hit 2024 high
Goola Warden - The Straits Times Index fell 91 points week-on-week to end at 3,719 during the week of Dec 16-20. The STI can fall towards 3,600, and the uptrend formed since March this year would still be intact. The moving averages are intact. However, given the volatility in the US, the STI is likely to move bel ...
Dollar poised to finish week higher after inflation data, Fed rate cut
NEW YORK :The U.S. dollar pulled back from a two-year high on Friday, but was heading for its third-straight week of gains, with data showing a slowdown in inflation two days after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and indicated inflation was stubborn enough to scale back cuts in 2025.The dolla ...
Dollar set for third straight weekly gain after inflation data, Fed rate cut
NEW YORK :The U.S. dollar retreated from a two-year high on Friday, but was heading for its third consecutive week of gains, with data showing a slowdown in inflation two days after the Federal Reserve delivered a cut to interest rates.The dollar was down 0.42 per cent against a basket of six other ...
Swiss bank watchdog blundered on Credit Suisse, report finds
THE Swiss parliament heavily criticised the previous leadership of Switzerland’s financial regulator Finma in a landmark enquiry into last year’s collapse of...
FLCT’s manager appoints Ng Wah Keong as new CFO
Khairani Afifi Noordin - The manager of Frasers Logistics and Commercial Trust (FLCT) has appointed Ng Wah Keong as its new CFO, effective Feb 3, 2025. Ng will succeed Tricia Yeo, who will be taking a leave of absence. Prior to this, Ng served as head of group financial planning and analysis at Mapletree Investments. He w ...
Singapore Institute of Advanced Medicine enters into $5 mil loan agreement
Khairani Afifi Noordin - Singapore Institute of Advanced Medicine Holdings (SAM) has entered into a loan agreement with Caterine Ltd for a principal amount of $5 million to finance the growth of the company’s business. The maturity date of the loan is three months from the date of the first disbursement, extendable at the ...
Nanofilm group CEO resigns, exec chairman and founder Shi Xu to take over again
Khairani Afifi Noordin - Nanofilm Technologies International's executive director and group CEO Gary Ho has tendered his resignation to pursue other interests, effective Jan 1, 2025. Ho will remain with the company until June 13, 2025 to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities. Executive chairman and founder ...
Weight-loss drugmaker Novo Nordisk's shares fall on disappointing study
COPENHAGEN: Shares in Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, maker of diabetes and weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy, plunged on Friday (Dec 20) after it announced disappointing results of a new drug study. The drugmaker said clinical trials had demonstrated that overweight subjects usin ...
Malaysia Airports US$4 billion takeover offer 'reasonable', deal adviser says
A takeover bid for Malaysia Airports Holdings by a consortium comprising the country's sovereign wealth fund and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners was deemed as viable for sh
Italy fines OpenAI 15 million euros over privacy rules breach
MILAN : Italy's privacy watchdog said on Friday it fined ChatGPT maker OpenAI 15 million euros ($15.58 million) after closing an investigation into use of personal data by the generative artificial intelligence application.The authority, known as Garante, is one of the European Union's mos ...
UK regulator says it could clear Synopsys' $35 billion Ansys acquisition if concerns are resolved
UK's competition watchdog said on Friday it could approve chip design software maker Synopsys' $35 billion acquisition of Ansys if the regulator's concerns are resolved.
UK watchdog says $35 billion Synopsys-Ansys deal raises competition concerns
:UK's competition watchdog said on Friday chip design software maker Synopsys' $35 billion acquisition of Ansys could reduce innovation and lead to higher prices but that it could approve the deal if those concerns are resolved.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said after its ini ...
EU approves Nvidia's acquisition of Run:ai
BRUSSELS : The European Commission said on Friday it has approved unconditionally Nvidia's $700 million bid for Run:ai.The EU's probe into the deal focused on practices that could strengthen Nvidia's control over GPUs, sought-after chips that divide and process computer tasks, but it ...
Nanofilm Technologies reappoints founder as CEO
Janice Lim - Current CEO will remain until Jun 13, 2025, to ensure a smooth transition of duties and responsibilities
Nanofilm Technologies re-appoints founder as CEO
Janice Lim - Current CEO will remain until Jun 13, 2025 to ensure a smooth transition of his duties and responsibilities
Malaysia says Facebook, X, TikTok must get licences, NST reports
The move is meant to combat rising cases of cybercrime, including online fraud and gambling, as well as cyberbullying and sexual crimes...
Foxconn interest in Nissan on hold amid Honda merger talks, Bloomberg reports
:Taiwan's Foxconn is pausing its interest in Nissan Motor as the Japanese automaker explores a potential merger with Honda Motor, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.Foxconn's decision comes after it sent a delegation to meet with Nissan's biggest ...
Foxconn interest in Nissan on hold amid Nissan-Honda merger talks, Bloomberg News reports
Taiwan's Foxconn is pausing its interest in Nissan Motor as the Japanese automaker explores a potential merger with Honda Motor, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.Foxconn's decision follows a delegation's meeting with Nissan's top sharehold ...
Foxconn interest in Nissan on hold amid Honda merger talks, Bloomberg News reports
:Taiwan's Foxconn is pausing its interest in Nissan Motor as the Japanese automaker explores a potential merger with Honda Motor, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.Foxconn's decision comes after it sent a delegation to meet with Nissan's biggest ...
Competition watchdog fines two interior-construction firms nearly S$10 million for rigging tender bids
Therese Soh - The businesses were found to have engaged in this conduct over a five-year period, which affected 12 tenders with a total value...
Trump threatens tariffs if EU doesn’t buy more US oil and gas
EU officials and member states have been bracing for a trade offensive ever since Trump’s election victory last month
Market Focus Daily: Friday, December 20, 2024
SK Hynix completes deal for US$958 million in US chips grant, loan; Indonesia weighs deep cuts to nickel mining to boost prices;...
Cofco International secures US$600 mil sustainability-linked revolving credit from OCBC
Jovi Ho - Global agri-business firm Cofco International has secured a US$600 million ($815.54 billion) sustainability-linked revolving credit facility from Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC). The facility is under the bank’s OCBC 1.5°C loan programme, and marks the first financing facility with i ...
Stocks slide as US government shutdown looms, Trump targets Europe
LONDON/SYDNEY :Global stocks slid on Friday ahead of a possible U.S. government shutdown, while European shares came under fire after Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs if consumers in the region did not increase their purchases of U.S. oil and gas.A key read of U.S. inflation later in the da ...
US stock futures pare losses after inflation data, Trump targets Europe
LONDON :U.S. stock index futures pared some declines on Friday after data showed inflation in the world's largest economy cooled slightly last month, while European shares came under fire after Donald Trump's latest threat to impose tariffs.The data showed that U.S. monthly inflation slowe ...
MaNaDr Clinic loses licence, found to have ‘entrenched culture of disregard’ for ethical and clinical standards: MOH
Renald Yeo - The clinic can no longer operate at its permanent premises at 371 Beach Road, nor temporary locations such as patients’ residences, or...
