HONG KONG: Japan’s Olympus Corp is definitely close to selling its microscope unit to some private equity firm inside a deal that could retrieve more than 300 billion dollars yen (US$2. two billion), three people with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters. Bain Capital has emerged as the frontrunner,Continue Reading
HK: Cash-strapped Chinese creator Shimao Group has proposed a two-class restructuring plan to offshore creditors to repay US$11. 8 billion over a period of three to eight years, according to 2 sources with direct knowledge of the matter and a document seen by Reuters. Shanghai-based Shimao first missed a communityContinue Reading
BENGALURU: South Korea’s main bank will raise its key rate of interest again on Thurs (Aug 25) in order to fight inflation, based on a Reuters poll of economists, but they are divided on how high borrowing expenses will be by the year-end. Inflation in South Korea accelerated to anContinue Reading
TOKYO: Japan’s Ministry of Financing is set to request 26. 9 trillion yen (US$195. five billion) for financial debt servicing in the financial year beginning in April 2023, Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday (Aug 23). That would tag a 10. 9 percent increase from a preliminary debt-servicing budget for thisContinue Reading
BEIJING: China’s Miniso Group has apologised for promoting itself as a Japanese-style brand and said that it would make changes across its stores to rectify this, becoming the latest retailer to respond to a surge in patriotism among Chinese shoppers. The company, which has more than 5,000 stores in ChinaContinue Reading
This week’s minutes and comments from a number of Fed top brass reinforced that view, with some pouring cold water on hopes for possible rate cuts in the new year. All eyes are now on next week’s central bankers’ symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where finance chiefs and central bankersContinue Reading
SHANGHAI/PARIS : From $300 bucket hats to $900 sneakers and $700 t-shirts, the high-flying luxury sector is fretting over the appetite among financially stretched Gen Z consumers for such “aspirational” purchases. Executives are troubled in particular by a hit to young Chinese shoppers, not only because mainland China has beenContinue Reading
TOKYO: More large Japanese companies are now increasing wages to attract workers and deal with chronic staff disadvantages, a monthly Reuters poll showed upon Thursday (Aug 18), a tentative indication Japan Inc might be slowly addressing spend that has been flat for many years. Still, the Corporate Survey found thatContinue Reading
SEOUL: The co-founder of the failed Terra cryptocurrency, which collapsed and wiped out about US$40 billion of investors’ money in May, has admitted he was “wrong”, but said that he was not talking to South Korean investigators. The dramatic disintegration of stablecoin TerraUSD and its sister token Luna – whichContinue Reading
BEIJING: Some Chinese civil servants have been given an additional responsibility: to help offload a big housing stock as cautious homebuyer sentiment threatens to deepen a property malaise. Sixian, a small city in the eastern province of Anhui, has required civil servants to sell property to their friends and family,Continue Reading